Startups Share your startup - November 2020 |
- Share your startup - November 2020
- I think it's ok to "not like" your customers, especially as you get to scale
- How do I contact any business owners and start conversations with them to understand their business problems?
- Should I leave my stable job for a startup during UK lockdown 2.0 and Brexit?
- FAQ mobile app
- AppStore fee avoidable?
- Is there a tool that lists which sites have gained/lost the most traffic in the past month/year/...?
- Opening up and consultancy & outsourcing company
- MVP catch 22 ?
- How to formalise a partner leaving?
- How is seed funding typically used by startups?
- Where would I put "Logo Design" on the three financial statements?
- How to hire an off shore developer?
- An idea, how to make it work
- Steps to validating a physical product (and getting it developed/sold)
- I’m trying to open a phone reselling store
- Equity for an interim technical lead helping us part-time.
- Built a great start up,, but are low on capital... Your feedback would be appreciated
| Share your startup - November 2020 Posted: 01 Nov 2020 03:06 AM PST Tell us about your startup! /r/startups wants to hear what you're working on! Contest mode is on, so remember to select 'Show All' to see all the replies. If you don't see your post, you probably need to load more comments at the bottom. Also, all posts are sorted randomly, so the sort function doesn't seem to work.
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| I think it's ok to "not like" your customers, especially as you get to scale Posted: 01 Nov 2020 06:50 AM PST I know this is controversial, but I think it's absolutely ok to not like your customers. Especially when you get to noticeable scale. Context : Solo founder, working with 2 freelancers. B2C Subscription SaaS. We're at about $1 million ARR. Little to no funding(!), with 500~600k unique visitors to our website each month. 3.5 years in and we're popular enough that customers come naturally without us having to do much. We serve a bit of a niche-y market. Don't get me wrong, we're definitely successful. But I remember the first few days of release and all of our users loved us, cheered us on, messaged us with feedback, and generally was positive. We were so much better than the incumbent so people rooted for us. The first 500 users really felt warm. 3.5 years later, we're now at scale. Objectively speaking the product is much better (like 50x better) than when we started out, but customers are nasty and aggressive now. We give off the impression that we're "established", and that seems to give people the permission to go ballistic at us for any small margin of error. Customer service emails are more nasty than before, and if our product doesn't do the exact, once-in-a-lifetime exact use case that the customer needs, they will shout "WHY ISNT THIS POSSIBLE ARE YOU DUMB" into our inbox or on twitter. I know for a fact that people still love us, but users seem to think that this level of good product is just a given now, and just want more and more. The entitlement is pretty crazy, and vastly different from before. If I read the online reviews for Stripe, Amazon, Paypal, Airbnb, Uber, anything that achieved any sort of scale, it seems to be a similar story. The reviews get nastier as you scale. I think, in order for us to evolve further ($2M~$4M ARR), it's necessary for me to like our users at a macro level to produce great product designs. But I no longer feel it's necessary to be personally close to our users anymore at the micro level. It's more of a defense mechanism probably. This is a rant for people who might be in a similar situation and feel the same internal conflict. I think it's ok to no longer "like" your customers. Thanks for listening. And I know that I should just hire someone to do CS for us, and I do plan on doing that in a few more months. [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 01 Nov 2020 06:54 PM PST I wish to communicate with business owners, understand their problems and then provide software solutions to them. Any help will be useful. My plan is to provide a software solution to the business owners after finding out their problems and then later make it a product, right now i feel I don't know a way to initiate conversation. [link] [comments]  |
| Should I leave my stable job for a startup during UK lockdown 2.0 and Brexit? Posted: 02 Nov 2020 01:55 AM PST I have been offered a job at a startup in the same industry I currently work in with a 50% pay increase, more responsibility and opportunity to improve my career prospects. There is a 6 month probation period and the company is offering fewer benefits than I have now. My current job has counter offered with a 15-20% pay increase on my current salary (hopefully finding out exact numbers today and tomorrow) and a title change but no changes in responsibility. It has been made clear to me that it is unlikely I'll see any significant career progression at my current workplace with "just" bachelors degree over the next few years. I currently work at a big company that is doing very well. The industry as a whole is pretty stable and will be for the foreseeable future. The start up has received a big investment but currently not making money. COVID and the new UK lockdown are factors playing on my mind, as well as Brexit just around the corner (changes in trade deals will likely impact the industry in the UK). I don't want to leave my stable job for something risky, but also don't want to be in the same position for the next few years with little change in pay and prospects. Other factors include: -The "start up" will mean I have will have to commute 1-1.5hrs each way a day, or relocate - after changes in the cost of rent, food, travel etc I'll be in the same position financially as I am now since I currently live with parents and commute to my current workplace. -The nature of my job means I cannot work from home. -I have been saving a large portion of my salary since starting my current job so I do have savings to fall back on. -I am in my early 20s and don't have major responsibilities like kids, dependants, mortgage etc. My partner is supportive of whatever decision I make. -other well-being factors that my current job can offer but the new job can't include : great benefits and work life balance, close work friends, minimal stress, close to hobbies and friends/family, familiar with job, yearly performance based bonus and generally I really do like working at my current job, I'm just scared of stagnating. TL;DR - risky startup but better career opportunities, stable workplace but dead end I posted a similar q in personal finance (I left out some of the well-being and perks aspects) but was hoping for people's opinion, experience or advice who have worked in a startup before. I am very torn on what to do and have to decide this week [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 02 Nov 2020 01:50 AM PST I'm looking for a mobile app that can be used for customers queries. It's basically a database of questions and topics that can be searched and information copied. Not AI or anything automated. For example, a user messages the company FB page with a question. The company rep receives the question on FB messenger and searches the app by topic or key words. The rep copies and paste the most relevant the answer as a reply to the query. I know this can be done with any word processor but I was thinking of something more specific and stand-alone. Any suggestions? [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 02 Nov 2020 01:39 AM PST AppStore fee avoidable? Hi guys, there was already a pretty similar post/question a few days ago, but it didn't answer my specific question.. I have a platform/website, where people sell their online-video courses. Now we want to make an app for iOS & android. Is there a way around that fee? We only charge a few % and can't give away extra 30%. Do we have to add that to the sum? Is there a rule for platforms who sell content from others? I know how Spotify is doing it - you can't buy premium in app. And twitch have their 30% more expensive tokens in app. And is it allowed to do it like patreon and open just a browser inapp to process the payment there? Thanks in advance! Cheers [link] [comments]  |
| Is there a tool that lists which sites have gained/lost the most traffic in the past month/year/...? Posted: 02 Nov 2020 12:20 AM PST For example, something like https://www.similarweb.com/top-websites (or Alexa), but sorts the list via how much the website ranking has changed in the last week/month/year etc ... The closest I've come across is https://rockingpage.com, but they don't allow sorting by year. Plus it's run by such a small operation that I'm not sure where you can trust it. Seems like a pretty obvious tool that exists since it'd allow you to keep up to date with what's happening in the market, but I can't seem to find it. [link] [comments]  |
| Opening up and consultancy & outsourcing company Posted: 01 Nov 2020 07:25 PM PST Hello everyone, I have been an it developer for the past 7 years and recently an opportunity has arised for me to open up a consultancy and outsourcing company. The current company I work for is going down the path of disaster due to the lack of skills my boss has managing both consultans amd clients. The client that I'm on really appreciates my work and is most likely to accept to hire the services of the new company I'll be making(this has happened in the past). Along with me there are 2 other consultants there from other companies that aren't quite happy with their companies but do enjoy the client and I've openly asked if they would join me as employees and they are willing. So I would say I have things +/- aligned for a good start. My thing is the next step, getting new clients, I'm not experienced on this field, I have a few connections that can land me a contract or 2 but apart from those I don't know anyone else in that position. How do I pitch and get to know potential clients? Recruiting people and evaluating their skills Is rather easy for me since I've done interview processes in the past. [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 01 Nov 2020 09:38 PM PST All over this sub, it's advised to get something through the door quickly, see feedback and improve, or, fail fast, fail hard. But, in software projects, getting something half assed is (in my opinion) worthless...if the user comes and sees the lacking website/app he's unlikely to come again, let alone share with others.. On the other hand spending 10 developer months can be costly, a gamble.. What am I missing here? [link] [comments]  |
| How to formalise a partner leaving? Posted: 01 Nov 2020 03:03 PM PST Hello We are still in our early months and one of the partners has to leave due to personal reasons. I am drafting a memorandum of understanding to set out his departure. I want to be sure I am not forgetting anything. Is there anything I should add to the statements below (in the text they are written out properly).
Our company is really young, actually not formally established but our mentor at the incubator said it would be wise to draft this text. We don't think a lawyer is necessary at this point. It is just a formal document to avoid problems in the future. [link] [comments]  |
| How is seed funding typically used by startups? Posted: 01 Nov 2020 02:49 PM PST Some quick background - my goal is to be accepted into an incubator with my co-founders. Other than server costs, legal expenses, and other one-off contractor work we would pretty much be working for "free". I would expect that most costs would actually come from personal needs as opposed to any large capital expenditures. e.g. - Let's say I wanted to rent a "hacker house" just for me and my co-founders so we can work together in a shared space (only 2 - 3 of us). Obviously because of COVID co-working spaces are not a thing. I don't think this is unreasonable, but is this kind of thing a typical use for seed funds? The typical incubator seed (~$100k) is not even enough to hire a Senior engineer in the Bay Area for 6 months so I guess it's not clear to me what startups usually use it for. [link] [comments]  |
| Where would I put "Logo Design" on the three financial statements? Posted: 01 Nov 2020 08:43 AM PST I'm starting to run a mobile app business and so far the only thing I have paid for my business is for a freelancer to design my business's logo. Where would I put "Logo Design" on my income statement, balance sheet, and cash flow statement? Are there any other financial statements that I should consider? [link] [comments]  |
| How to hire an off shore developer? Posted: 01 Nov 2020 08:13 AM PST I'm the only technical hire for a small UK startup. We're looking to hire another developer (backend Node), ideally for the long term but a contractor / freelancer could work. Does anyone know how to go about finding someone? I've used TopTal before and found a great guy, but at 80 USD / hour it's pretty much a UK rate and we can't afford that. [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 01 Nov 2020 02:06 PM PST I have recently developed a open source c2c platform for some specific product which i think can be successful. However i am not sure whats the next steps. How can i improve coding on commercial level as i am still not 100% proficient in that coding. What are the next steps involved after this? Any suggestion is welcome. Thanks [link] [comments]  |
| Steps to validating a physical product (and getting it developed/sold) Posted: 01 Nov 2020 08:23 AM PST I had a basic product idea for something that could be manufactured out of wood/plastic. Problem is: as a software developer I have not the slightest clue of the development process behind traditional, physical products. I can describe what I need/have in mind but no idea how to really get the ball rolling from there. What would folks recommend me to do? Can someone outline the process? I'm thinking: - try to put something together with photoshop that vaguely resembles the product - create a funnel, either 1) try to validate it with a landing page that collects sign ups or 2) start a kickstarter as its b2c - put some ads on facebook - if cpi is good on ads that I use to gain traffic for my finnel, hire professional product designer who creates a manufacturing blueprint and more realistic design - repeat step 3, but collect pre-orders on landing page - find manufacturer who can create the product at scale - start selling at scale if early numbers are good, possibly iterate on the products design [link] [comments]  |
| I’m trying to open a phone reselling store Posted: 01 Nov 2020 02:21 AM PST I'm wondering if I keep my own stock I would presumably go bankrupt if no one buys. 1. How does other stores work around this situation? Do they return phones to parent company? 2. How to make profit from this kind of business? It will be of great help if I get some tips and ins outs of this store business mechanism. Thanks in advance for comments! Edit : I'm not indicating used phones only new ones [link] [comments]  |
| Equity for an interim technical lead helping us part-time. Posted: 01 Nov 2020 06:00 AM PST Hey guys, we are 2 non-technical cofounders building a fintech startup. We're 2 months into building it and are working with a part-time developer, who was introduced to us by a mutual friend. He leads all of our technical development, while the both of us take care of content / marketing, product, regulations, legal, and everything else. He mentioned that he doesn't want any cash compensation and is fine with some equity. That said, he won't be continuing with us long term, as he wants to go for his masters in the next 4 months. He is just helping us until then. Given this situation, what is appropriate equity amount that we should allocate to him, since we want to do right by him and also not hamper our prospects to potentially bring someone onboard as a technical cofounder? I've been trying to find resources on it, but haven't been very successful with it. Would appreciate any insights. [link] [comments]  |
| Built a great start up,, but are low on capital... Your feedback would be appreciated Posted: 01 Nov 2020 02:07 AM PST Hello,, So you think you've built a great start up, but now your low on capital. It's there remote jobs marketplace for Latin America (I don't want to break any rules so won't say anything else about it)., What would you do, if you were in my shoes? (Tried angels and VCs. (Probably a mistake made was getting in touch with them before launch) We thought about selling it. (But are undecided). Any feedback would be greatly appreciated! [link] [comments]  |
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