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Grove.io shutting down

grove.io

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Re: Grove.io shutting down

#41

Post by zhoutong »

pbiggar wrote: post #23
heretohelp wrote: post #5

This is why I refuse to use external services hosted by small/tiny companies that haven't open-sourced their tech. Even in this moment, they still don't seem to be bothering to open source any of it. There's a lesson to be learnt here in terms of gaining buyer trust when you're small. I continue to use our own setup for IRC.

Its a self-fulfilling prophesy. You can't get big without customers, but customers won't use you because you're small. How do we overcome this? (Edit: I was asking a rhetorical question to counter the parent. But great discussion below.)

There are always early adopters that are passionate about every new product they can find, and there are also skeptical customers that refuse to use anything provided by startups. That's actually how sustainable startups grow.

Re: Grove.io shutting down

#42

Post by pbiggar »

ricardobeat wrote: post #39
pbiggar wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I really meant my point to be a counter to its parent. But since we're on the topic, presenting social proof is also pretty useful. Show customers that people know, show the press that featured you, show them who you are, who your advisors/investors are, show them whose tweeted about you. (Maybe writing this will be a catalyst to take my own advice for CircleCi)

But that's hacking trust. It's opposite to just being honest and having a publicized contingency plan, or open-source code. edit (since I can't reply): logic being that social proof is good for business, but has no substance. It doesn't make it any better for users when it comes to shutting down.

I would like to hear the logic behind that assertion.

Re: Grove.io shutting down

#43

Post by vida »

smhinsey wrote: post #13
gkoberger wrote: post #2

This is disappointing. Grove.io was really awesome. IRC channels seem easy, but are (relatively) hard to get going: - Finding a server - Registering it properly - Explaining it to non-tech people The last one is way harder than you'd think. With Grove, you just send them a URL and it's easy. It's a shame they're shutting down. I stopped using because it was too expensive for a channel with a few friends (a channel wi…

I set Grove up for my distributed team but it didn't stick. I still think team-level chat is a problem worth solving, but nothing I've tried has gotten any real traction.

We use Flowdock at Testive and we _love_ it.

Re: Grove.io shutting down

#44

Post by ricardobeat »

Rayne wrote: post #7

It's getting a little difficult to trust stuff by Leah Culver. Everything (that I know of) that she has done so far has either shut down or been acquired and shut down. That said, no hard feelings. It's hard out there. I've never tried to run a company, so I can't judge.

The funny part is that http://convore.com/ redirects to grove.io with the shutdown notice :)

Re: Grove.io shutting down

#45

Post by sown »

Rayne wrote: post #7

It's getting a little difficult to trust stuff by Leah Culver. Everything (that I know of) that she has done so far has either shut down or been acquired and shut down. That said, no hard feelings. It's hard out there. I've never tried to run a company, so I can't judge.

I wish I could create things that people might actually want but I can't think of anything that I could make that people would want.

Re: Grove.io shutting down

#46

Post by pbiggar »

Rayne wrote: post #38
pbiggar wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And yet you just did. As a community we praise people for trying, then when it fails we pillory them? A dick move, sir.

If it came off that way, I apologize. I was just expressing the thought that popped into my mind when seeing this. I'm not at all trying to judge her. I think she does excellent work and has just had a few bad apples. I hope her next project is successful.

I think you might still have time to edit the post to come off the way you intended.

Re: Grove.io shutting down

#47

Post by jdoss »

Here is why this failed... Anyone with half a brain is going to be able to:

* run their own IRC server

* run a XMPP server (cough openfire)

* Sign up for another service that has more features (Campfire or Hipchat)

Not to be mean, but the pricing on grove.io is stupid for what they offer. I run a XMPP server at work and costs us nothing for the basics, which is group chat and private chat. They could have offered this for far cheaper and maybe they would be alive now... and by cheaper I mean a flat fee, no slot pricing for a hosted solution. IRC has low overhead so really, offer IRC+ features for dirt cheap and people will sign up. Hell, if they wanted a higher end one time fees, they knock out a self hosted solution with high end support on a yearly support contract.

If the features are that good for your IRC based service, knock it down to $5/mo unlimited users and get a user base going, find out what they want and then add on value addon features based on that feedback. If you can't offer the service for that cheap, then you have too much overhead (bodies).

Re: Grove.io shutting down

#49

Post by btipling »

Rayne wrote: post #7

It's getting a little difficult to trust stuff by Leah Culver. Everything (that I know of) that she has done so far has either shut down or been acquired and shut down. That said, no hard feelings. It's hard out there. I've never tried to run a company, so I can't judge.

Leah is out there creating things, writing code and spending valuable time on new ventures, despite the risk and opportunity cost. I admire her courage and creativity and I can't imagine why you would say something like this.

I'm sure she would have loved to have all of her projects succeed.

Grove.io is a high quality service. We love using it at Leftronic and are very sad to read this news. I wish Leah and her team the best.

Re: Grove.io shutting down

#50

Post by flatline3 »

pbiggar wrote: post #23
heretohelp wrote: post #5

This is why I refuse to use external services hosted by small/tiny companies that haven't open-sourced their tech. Even in this moment, they still don't seem to be bothering to open source any of it. There's a lesson to be learnt here in terms of gaining buyer trust when you're small. I continue to use our own setup for IRC.

Its a self-fulfilling prophesy. You can't get big without customers, but customers won't use you because you're small. How do we overcome this? (Edit: I was asking a rhetorical question to counter the parent. But great discussion below.)

Sell software and a service. Make it so I can install your code and run it indefinitely. Provide your source to paying customers.

See Atlassian for an example.

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