Startups I'm a solo technical founder, my dilemma is whether to get a day job or push forward |
- I'm a solo technical founder, my dilemma is whether to get a day job or push forward
- CheKin - complete solution for the management of guests in your tourist accommodation
- I was fired on the spot after 5 weeks at my startup because I questioned one of the founders about funding...was I out of line?
- What is a reasonable price for a cross-country flight, when given no budget limit?
- Subreddit to acquire first users?
- I need some advices
- VC's Want Forecasting for Something Impossible to Predict. Help??
- Launching our first mobile app MVP, need advice
- Local Shop Shipping Service
- What is the viability of a REST API business model?
- How important is having your product/niche name in the domain?
| I'm a solo technical founder, my dilemma is whether to get a day job or push forward Posted: 29 Nov 2018 02:34 PM PST I am a solo technical founder and launched a social media platform initially on mobile web and just 6 months ago, launched its native iOS app after learning how to code in Swift. In the beginning, I was making about $4k per month on the site from ads and I was able to signup 160k users. But growth slowed down since last year due to my site falling off Google ranking. Now, I'm not making enough money and just living off my savings. The platform used to get 15k visitors per day from Google search and about 200 people signing up. Now it's down to about 1k visitors per day, 30 new signups and 10 app installs per day. The app still needs some more work. I still have to work on features that are not on the iOS app but on the mobile web. I still have to work on a native chat/video messaging feature to improve engagement. The app is still free and no ads. Right now, what you can do with the app is just like a typical social media, follow users, follow channels... post link, text, photo, 10-second video. There's a Tinder-like feature called Match. There's also a feature for users to find like-minded people. The app is like 3 apps in one and I'm planning to split the app in 3 in the future. Right now, the platform's major demographics are people who wants to meet other people. So I know, the app will make money. But it's been 5 years and I'm almost running out of savings. My dilemma is:
Has anyone here managed to get back easily on a day job after yeas on their startup? I know I can get a job since I developed a social platform both on web and iOS. I'm just not sure how hiring people will perceive me. Thanks. EDIT: Just to explain what my platform is... it's like Instagram/Tinder. Users post links, texts, photos, and 10-second looping videos. I'm just finishing the messaging feature where users can create group chats and message each other. So it will be a full featured social media platform. How is my app different from Instagram and Tinder? You find LIKE-MINDED people to follow. How? Users provide what they LIKE and DISLIKE in a hashtag format. Based on this info, users get recommended people with common interests. For example, some users put LIKES: #CasualEncounter #Dating and DISLIKES: #Sexting. So there are two considerations... LIKES and DISLIKES. I wrote an algorithm to connect like-minded users based on these info. It's not just simply finding users who shares what you like... it's more complicated than that... the reason why users has to provide dislikes. This ensures that who you discover is someone who is EXACTLY just like you. It's not how hashtag on Instagram works like some people on the comments assumed. In Instagram and Tinder, you just discover random people and celebrities. In my platform, you discover like-minded people. Users can then filter by gender and nearby users. Now if users want to meet exact type of people, there is another feature that requires them to put detailed information such as gender, sexual orientation, ethnicity, etc. Just like in a real dating app. Then based on this info, the system do a more detailed matching. [link] [comments]  |
| CheKin - complete solution for the management of guests in your tourist accommodation Posted: 30 Nov 2018 01:48 AM PST Hello, I would like to introduce our startup:
More information about CheKin: We are a start up that came up with a solution which helps to speed up the process of the check-in process in hotels, short term rentals, campings etc. The built in scanner enables to automatically fill in all the required information avoiding bureaucracy and saving time for the guests as well as the managers or receptionists. The features of the app include: - Passport and ID card reader, which extracts and uploads guest data in a split second. - Guest entry documents can be signed directly on the mobile screen. CheKin automatically sorts and stores them in the cloud database in the format required by the authorities - Automatic connection that sends data to the Police, Guardia Civil, Ertzaintza and Mossos d'Esquadra - Assigning the check-in process to employees or collaborators, delegating and managing check-in tasks while the owner has full control. - Pre-checkin, a comfortable option for guests to enter their details online before arriving at the accommodation making the process quick and easy. - A full detailed summary of guests that have been registered on each CheKin - Desktop version for a more comfortable viewing of the application. [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 30 Nov 2018 03:20 AM PST Hi! First reddit post and figured this is the right place to be. Bit of background - I was hired in Oct for a travel startup along with 3 other people - the company had been around for less than a year and wasnt profitable yet. I was a bit cautious when I was offered the job but I assumed they had funding. First couple of weeks were great - in a fun coworking office, free beers, ping pong, cool people all that stuff. Now both founders were young (under 30) and while they had good careers before I couldnt see where they could have got enough money from to hire 3 people with office space in central London. There was no transparency either, from day one we were just told to believe in them and not worry. Now fast forward a few more weeks and I'm told they're really happy with my work and love what im doing etc - great, I'm happy, I feel indispensible and my worries cease slightly. But a few days later founder A starts shouting at us about not making enough revenue and not selling out some of the events we had on. At this point im confused, we're a month in and i assumed all our efforts were mainly brand building - especially as the events we were putting on were no way going to even cover the 10-15k monthly running costs. So in this confusion I turn to founder B on a Tuesday and ask how much revenue we need to make in the next few months, what are the targets, KPIs, and finally, should I be worried if we are relying on it this much? I thought these were totally fair questions - we had been given no insight in to the financials, there was no transparency and we didnt even know where their initial seed money had come from. I have a background in startups and we have always had budget and finance meetings - especially in such a volatile industry with such a small team. So clearly founder B took offence to my question as cut to Thursday and I'm dragged in to an office and told that what I said was entirely disrespectful and shows I'm not right for the company, and no employee should ever question the money situation. Founder A got a bit hysterical and even tried to show me his bank account to prove they had money?! I tried to calmly explain that I've worked for startups before and we always had an idea of how much we needed to make - but in this job i was going in blind - imagine i try to spend £500 on marketing and then im shouted at because theres no budget - it was chaos. But they wouldnt listen to any of my reasoning told me i shouldnt be thinking about my previous jobs and i should be passionate about this one. My 'bad attitude' aka questioning the founder was enough to sack me on the spot. I even questioned them about praising my work the week before but apparently that didnt matter. Myself and another colleague was let go (no real reason for him, just hes my friend and clearly agreed with me) but of course, the one person who stays was a personal friend of the founder (nepotism, shock). Oh, another part of it was I wouldnt drink the Kool-Aid - I didnt wear the hoodie everyday and didnt spend every evening networking (its the run up towards Xmas, I'm busy, I have friends etc) they would ask me on the day to come to an event and i would genuinely be busy - so part of me thinks this is the reason too. Oh and they wanted me to flyer on Saturdays when I have 5+ years of experience and frankly someone can do that for £5 an hour... I'm not looking to challenge them on this - I have two weeks notice in my contract (and I managed to change that from a weeks notice when I signed - thank God!) i just want to know if what I said was as bad as they're making out - I was a loyal and hardworking team member so I cant see why they've done this. I imagine its a mixture of ego and them actually not having enough money to keep us all on and we were just scapegoats - I firmly believe transparency in a startup is key and we are your first hires - we want trust. But yeah would be good to hear other peoples thoughts! [link] [comments]  |
| What is a reasonable price for a cross-country flight, when given no budget limit? Posted: 29 Nov 2018 05:14 PM PST I'm working for a Series A, ~ $25M funded start-up with around 100 employs and some pretty good revenue. The company is doing great. I was asked to work from a different office for a week, which requires a cross country flight of over 5 hours. They asked me to book the flight, for which I will be fully compensated of course. When asked for a budget, I was told "we trust you, make it reasonable". Now, economy is $400 and that's very reasonable, but maybe I'm underplaying my hand here and they expect me to take something a bit more lucrative? There aren't a lot of options, but this is my first business trip with them and I don't want to seem greedy, but also don't want to suffer through a somewhat long flight just because I don't know what expected of me. What do you think? [link] [comments]  |
| Subreddit to acquire first users? Posted: 29 Nov 2018 09:12 AM PST I'm wondering if leveraging Reddit to create a user base for a startup is a good idea. There are definitely challenges in transitioning a subreddit to an independent community but I'd like to know if it's done before and how. Is creating and growing a subreddit a valid way to establish a community of first users for a startup? If the community grows significantly what is the next step to convince the users to move to an independent platform? For instance, say I want to create an online dating platform for gamers or any kind of common preference. I would first create a Reddit community about the subject and once I reach X number of users and I have an indication there is interest I would proceed advertising my dating site on the subreddit. What are the pros and cons of this strategy? [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 29 Nov 2018 08:05 AM PST So i will start of with talking a little bit about myself and the position i am in and also talking about my idea. I am a 17 years old boy from Albania a small country in Europe near Greek. 2 years ago i was with my mom at a shopping center around new years eve and i bought a rubiks cube as a gift learn how to solve it and became addicted to it. i also emailed someone from the World Cube Association if it was possible to do a competition Fast forward a year later we were going to have the first cubing competition here everything went great even tho not a lot of people showed up. Now we have another one in February so cause of that i keep my cube with myself most of the time to practice and i have seen that it gets a lot of attention and people are interested in it and have asked me thing about it where i got it. Now my idea is to open a shop that i can sell cubes at cause i order them online and i know most of the people here are not really a fan of buying online so it would be really great to have them buy it at there own place now my problem is there are 2 option i can go on this The first one is to open an online shop on instagram and Facebook and sell them from there but i gonna need some money to do this i dont my parents can help me with this and i have to be 18 to work which will be too late by the time i make the money cause i wanna do it before February so i can promote the competition also the store Second one but i am kind of afraid with this one is to tell a store here to get the cubes and i will send people there. This store is perfect cause it sells like gaming and pop culture stuff so the cubes are perfect there but i am afraid that the store will just steal my idea and i will get nothing What do you guys think in what way should i approach it ? (I hope everything was clear i just wrote what was in my head so i hope it make sense if you have any question leave it in the comments) [link] [comments]  |
| VC's Want Forecasting for Something Impossible to Predict. Help?? Posted: 29 Nov 2018 04:11 PM PST Hey folks. I'm doing a healthcare startup where we're selling a popular prescription drug directly to consumers. We're meeting w/ VC's and they all want forecasts for "how much you expect to make/sell/profit". We all know forecasts are bullshit, but even more so, doing something that's never been done is even more difficult to predict. My question is, does anyone know any software, or an affordable service you can do this with quickly? Or any advice on how to calculate forecasting from data you might have? Thanks! [link] [comments]  |
| Launching our first mobile app MVP, need advice Posted: 29 Nov 2018 07:23 AM PST Hi, my co-founder and I are about to launch our very first mobile app and we need help regarding marketing and distribution. We're both quite young and first time entrepreneurs and are looking to avoid typical mistakes people do when launching a product. We built an app entirely dedicated to nightlife, that allows you to discover interesting clubs/events around you and create plans with your friends. We have two main questions:
Thanks [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 29 Nov 2018 01:21 PM PST Hello Reddit, I am working on making it easier for local (boutique, small, craft, cutsie) shops to ship items. Patrons can purchase items in store and then I would pickup, package, and deliver to carrier for a fee to the customer. Making it easier for people to send gifts. There are other applications I am working on too(open to ideas). I am struggling with payment, how collect fees. How would you want to be charged? Pay at the store? Sent a link for online payment? Etc? The service is relieve the process of packaging and finding the best shipping option, both which can be daunting for small businesses/shipping. [link] [comments]  |
| What is the viability of a REST API business model? Posted: 29 Nov 2018 07:43 AM PST Are there any success stories out there of small businesses/SaaS startups doing such a thing? I'm aware Google has a few but obviously they have the scale to offer really unique software; has anyone here built an API and charged people for it with success? I'm building an internal API for a University comparison website and was wondering if building a robust, unique API made available to the public would result in people actually paying for it, given that it is just well-organised data. I don't intend on making any serious money, I was just wondering if money can be made on the grassroots level through this sort of endeavour especially since free software is so ubiquitous with the likes of npm and github. [link] [comments]  |
| How important is having your product/niche name in the domain? Posted: 29 Nov 2018 06:49 AM PST Hello everyone, I'm new to the start-up game (fetus-noob here) and am not sure if this is the right sub-reddit, but thought I could pick the minds of some accomplished and progressing people on startups :) I'm right at the first steps of purchasing a domain but I'm already stumped. 1) I have a niche but the entirety of the website isn't going to be "just about the niche". It's going to share a joint 50/50% with something else (that may or may not talk about the niche). 2) The actual niche name is 11 words! There is a shorter version, but I'm not 100% sure if it's as well known as the original word. Thus my questions are, in terms of SEO and traffic, is it mandatory to have the actual niche word in the domain? Is it okay to combine the word with something else? Could the niche just be searched from the website pages and key words, not domain? Any advice would mean the world, thank you! [link] [comments]  |
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