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I just launched my bootstrapped startup. Pray for me.

news.ycombinator.com

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Re: I just launched my bootstrapped startup. Pray for me.

#61

Post by erikpukinskis »

Scott_MacGregor wrote: post #55

This business seems like a money maker in a unique niche--if you work it. I think you should try promoting it in forums dedicated to organic living by manually linking it in "hot threads" in addition to buying skyscrapers. If it were my site, to get some extra money in the door right now I would try upselling a 3 year package for the price of 2 on a special page just before the customer hits the shopping cart. Plus a…

Thanks for the comments. Yeah, I haven't done any performance tuning yet really, except writing it in such I way that I can easily scale to multiple machines.

Who knew the seat of your pants could fly so well?

Re: I just launched my bootstrapped startup. Pray for me.

#62

Post by daeken »

shill wrote: post #58
cwg wrote: post #36

Awesome idea, and a great MVP at that, congrats! I don't live in the US and I don't have any place for gardening right now, but other than that, I'd sign up in a heartbeat.

What does the MVP acronym mean in this context?

Minimum viable product

Re: I just launched my bootstrapped startup. Pray for me.

#63

Post by erikpukinskis »

bshep wrote: post #48

I get: "Ooops. Something went wrong. The right people have been notified of the details, and we'll do our best to fix the issue right away." after signing up and if I try to sign in. My username is the same as here so check it out if you have a chance. NOTE: I'm just asking for help why am I being voted down?

I voted you back up. :) Checking it out right now...

Re: I just launched my bootstrapped startup. Pray for me.

#64

Post by profgubler »

I don't know if this is a good thing, but my wife thought I was signing up for a facebook game when she was looking over my shoulder. Probably the logo and the planting mentions caused her to think that.

Other than that she and I both love the idea of the site. Good luck and congrats.

Re: I just launched my bootstrapped startup. Pray for me.

#65

Post by sh1mmer »

I like it the idea a lot.

But, you could really do with some performance optimization on that first screen. I think you'll loose a lot of people waiting for their zipcode lookup.

If you can't find a way to make that quicker (e.g. caching popular zip codes) you should at least put some good visual interstitials in.

Re: I just launched my bootstrapped startup. Pray for me.

#67

Post by olalonde »

sh1mmer wrote: post #65

I like it the idea a lot. But, you could really do with some performance optimization on that first screen. I think you'll loose a lot of people waiting for their zipcode lookup. If you can't find a way to make that quicker (e.g. caching popular zip codes) you should at least put some good visual interstitials in.

IP geolocation / HTML5's location API could be an option too.

Re: I just launched my bootstrapped startup. Pray for me.

#68

Post by vaksel »

bug:

Current plan: Family/$69.99 (up to 10 varieties). Upgrade to Small Garden/$39.99 to get 3 more.

also make the logo take the person to the home page

also make the background image wider(at least 1400px wide)...anyone on a wide screen monitor sees the bad blue color.

Re: I just launched my bootstrapped startup. Pray for me.

#69

Post by Mongoose »

What a cool idea. I've been trying to think of how urban farming could benefit from software, but it looks like you beat me to the punch. You might try networking with the people at Window Farms (http://www.windowfarms.org/). This service in conjunction with modern hydroponics would be a match made in heaven.

Re: I just launched my bootstrapped startup. Pray for me.

#70

Post by po »

erikpukinskis wrote: post #5
aresant wrote: post #3

Very cool concept - a few comments: a) The "buy" page screams out for some pics - people eat (and buy!) with their eyes :). b) "We choose seeds that are perfect for your climate and the time of year" then the next page asks me to select my own choices? A little confusing - maybe you're building a list of options dynamically? c) Consider for future "upsells" on the buy page or a more expensive $99.95 starter pack that…

Thanks for checking it out! a) I know, I've actually got the illustrator working on some illustrations for that page. That page is 1st on my list for some design love. b) Ah, interesting. So, you choose whether you want tomatoes or cucumbers, but we pick the right variety of cucumbers for your climate. I'll think about making that clearer. c) Yea, that's a great idea! Definitely targetting first time gardeners. I don…

As for option c just raise the price until you're willing to do it. :-)

Or find a place nearby that stocks everything you need and pay a neighborhood kid to run down and buy whatever you need whenever an order like that comes in. The buyer is purchasing your expertise to pick the right stuff.

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