Awesome.
I just launched my bootstrapped startup. Pray for me.
91–100 of 251 posts
Re: I just launched my bootstrapped startup. Pray for me.
#92What's so scary? The worst that can happen is nobody uses it. Even in that case, you'll probably still learn something about programming, and might learn a bit about product development. If you put effort into it, it will be a good experience even if it doesn't take off. And if it does, so much the better.
The worst case scenario I keep imagining is getting a lot of bad press with key social media folks (blogs, twitterers, etc) and then having my chances for good press be dried up even after I fix the bugs.
I doubt that some "social media people" can hurt you all that much. Above commenter was right, the worst is that no one uses it.
Is this a full-time day job sort of thing, or an on-the-side thing?
Also, by posting it on HN, you keep many of the more wanker-oriented SM people away.
It looks like an excellent app. Well done.
Re: I just launched my bootstrapped startup. Pray for me.
#93Facebook only displays a url in facebook's convenient box where images should show up (the thing, where, if you add a URL to your status, it parses the page for the first image, and includes). I'm assuming there aren't any images small enough, or something...to which I'd suggest you cut out the "sprout Robot Beta" in the top left, and let it be its own image...seamless enough on the website, but adding an image to fa…
Good idea... I had no idea that Facebook worked that way for status messages. I'll add it to the list.
Re: I just launched my bootstrapped startup. Pray for me.
#94All your "Instructions" pages go out to "Feeling lucky" google searches. That makes the site seem very incomplete. I'd consider getting all those setup in a Wiki or similar page on your own site so you can keep everyone here.
There are lots of places where I just did the simplest, easiest, stupidest thing I could to get it to work. Definitely we're going to have on-site instructions, but I wanted to get it out there as soon as possible.
Thanks for the feedback!
Re: I just launched my bootstrapped startup. Pray for me.
#95I 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 checked into it, and the problem is that SproutRobot doesn't have weather data for Puerto Rico yet, so things are broken for you. I'm sorry about that... the site should've handled that more gracefully. Support for places outside of the continental U.S. is definitely on the todo list but it will be a while. If you follow @sproutrobot on twitter, you'll be sure to get the announcement when we get Puerto Rico in ther…
No worries! Just one less bug for other people to find!
Wish you the best in your endeavor!
Re: I just launched my bootstrapped startup. Pray for me.
#96You make some political sensitive comments on your personal blog linked directly from your product site (affirmative action). I personally would not buy from you having read those as I disagree with your position. It seems like putting out stuff like that while your trying to build a brand is risky, while some/many of your target may agree, I can see some not e.g. Libertarian types who believe in self reliance i.e. y…
Did you even read his blog post? Or just see "affirmative action" and kneejerk it?
And what do his political leanings have to do with buying plant seeds?
Re: I just launched my bootstrapped startup. Pray for me.
#97Congratulations! Fantastic idea and really nice MVP site! Some minor feedback that may be in the comments already (I only read through some of them):
- zip lookup was very slow for me
- When I went to checkout on the Patio option, the text at the bottom of the page that says "You can easily change your choices later, or upgrade to a different plan." renders strangely. More specifically, the word "You" is just to the right of the "Radishes" check box, the word "can" is just to the right of the "Spinach" check box, and the rest of the sentence is at the bottom of the third column of checkboxes. (I am using Safari 4.0.5)
- Need a way to get back to the home screen
I'm also wondering if there is a way to draw interest (and user signup) from people who play Farmville. I have never played Farmville myself so I can't offer any concrete suggestions. But maybe there is something you could incorporate that is already familiar to Farmville users. Any readers here that play Farmville have any ideas? :)
Re: I just launched my bootstrapped startup. Pray for me.
#98Erik, the design is really good. The signup page could get improved, but many people have suggested how so I wont get into that.
When I see how HN reacted on your idea and execution(which is simply ... FANTASTIC in my opinion), I immediately got more motivated to work. I'm confident that this will be a badass business!! :D
Congratulations, once more.
Re: I just launched my bootstrapped startup. Pray for me.
#99Good stuff. Really like the artwork and the idea.
I just dug out a bed in the back yard which is waiting to be planted, so I would seem to be your target customer. However, I'd be inclined more to use your free email reminder service and buy seeds and seedlings from another source. I wouldn't describe myself as cheap; just that I want control over the source/type of the seeds and would like to know whether I'm paying a reasonable amount. One thing might be to make it clear what kind of seeds I'm getting earlier in the purchasing process. Bulk? Heirlooms? Makes a difference, I think. But maybe I'm just a snooty gardener.
And I know this an extreme suggestion, but I think a heftier garden planner would also make me more likely to buy... work on summer/winter layout and buy the calculated seed quantities. That gets away from the subscription model though.
Re: I just launched my bootstrapped startup. Pray for me.
#100Great idea. I don't have the love/attention/time to garden but I'm signing up my mom as a belated mums day gift.