Previously discussed: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21947551
Weird that the blog post is dated Oct 2020 but was apparently discussed on HN in Jan 2020...
I wasted $40k on a fantastic startup idea
71–80 of 408 posts
Re: I wasted $40k on a fantastic startup idea
#72Re: I wasted $40k on a fantastic startup idea
#73The author brilliantly makes the case against single payer healthcare. Bravo. Job well done, sir.
Re: I wasted $40k on a fantastic startup idea
#74That was a fun read. I wish the author mentioned how much he was trying to sell the service for. It could have been $59 a month or $599 a month and with doctors you could potentially expect the same answer. I'm not a psychologist but some of the author's quoted text came off extremely demeaning in written form. If the author happens to read this, did you really say those things directly to them? For example, Susan (p…
If you are to proud to visit stackoverflow or Google to search for best practices you're not a very good developer. Sounds like the same rule should apply to a doctor or psychiatrist. Do they have such fragile egos that they can't have someone showing them the "new Google for doctors" without feeling offended? (Sorry if that came out a bit edgy. But this hole story irks me. It's frustrating when value can't be delive…
Doctors do have curated platforms where they can lookup information, and also have diagnosis tools / checklists in them.
Re: I wasted $40k on a fantastic startup idea
#75Perhaps this would have been a great business model to start astroturfing big pharma by focusing on SEO, allowing users to upvote meds that worked well for them and letting big pharma pay to bump theirs to the top or highlight it or something like that. Or for a given class of med, charge big pharma or individual chemists a certain amount for referral back links.
As a consumer your flow is probably naturally: what type? which brand? where is cheapest in my area?
There are plenty of energy comparison companies making money that way. They have a lot less tangible data.
I’ll be honest - the tech is so cool you nearly made me want to reach out and buy where you got upto. 'Nearly' is code for, yes I'd be interested, but I don't have enough $$ to make you interested vs the work required to build a profitable model.
Re: I wasted $40k on a fantastic startup idea
#76Oh man! I'm laughing and crying at the same time. I had a very similar experience in my first "startup". It hurt me so bad, both financially and emotionally, that I could do another "startup" for 7 years.
Luckily, the next time I came across Steve Blank and YC Startup School materials and instead of burning all my cash over a two years I managed to FAIL my next three startups withing few weeks with a negligible cost.
Those books and articles saves your life and money!
This is yet another cautionary tale for founders.
Re: I wasted $40k on a fantastic startup idea
#77Maybe its just me but I would have approached drug companies to partner with their marketing teams. THAT would have been something worth paying for TO THEM.
Never approach marketing teams unless you’re Theranos sized courting Walgreens.
Corporate marketers hate risk. It’s a great way to lose your cushy job. What I have seen happen is that they embrace innovation, parade you around their offices and never close on a deal.
I saw this happen. The founder of BuyYourFriendADrink was the doyenne of Diageo’s hallways but after burning six months of runway no revenue producing contract was inked. Some corporate politicians simply exist to take meetings.
Re: I wasted $40k on a fantastic startup idea
#78I love the author's writing style. I found it kind of funny. But there's a lot he could've done better.
My top recommendation would've been to find someone in medicine as a co-founder. This could've helped him find flaws in the economic model faster. I still think his project has amazing potential, except that it's going to have to go through a couple of iterations. For example - what if he somehow integrated this information to make it so that it's easier to connect customers to future doctors and take a affiliate fee?
Also imagine if we had a better medical search engine. There's so much information in medicine that is still blocked off to consumers. The author mentions that consumers do not want to go through the details - maybe we can make something that can dumb it down for people and put a directory of doctors who can help explain further?
Re: I wasted $40k on a fantastic startup idea
#79The author has a great sense of humor. This was really fun to read:)
Re: I wasted $40k on a fantastic startup idea
#80That was a fun read. I wish the author mentioned how much he was trying to sell the service for. It could have been $59 a month or $599 a month and with doctors you could potentially expect the same answer. I'm not a psychologist but some of the author's quoted text came off extremely demeaning in written form. If the author happens to read this, did you really say those things directly to them? For example, Susan (p…
It's actually a very good sales question, I don't find it demeaning at all. If you're on a sales call selling a product that increases user retention and someone says "no we don't need that", you would often reply with "So you have perfect user retention then?" to probe them and re-open the conversation. It could come off as standoffish but when used correctly it's very effective because it gets the person on the oth…
>If you're on a sales call selling a product that increases user retention and someone says "no we don't need that", you would often reply with "So you have perfect user retention then?" to probe them and re-open the conversation.
Assuming that I didn't initiate the call, if I tell some sales punk that I don't need their product and they come back at me with "So you have perfect user retention then?" my answer is going to be "fuck you" followed by ending the call.
Arrogance might work in used car sales but it's not a panacea for closing the deal.