Ask HN: Review my startup
42 comments
I'm probably in your target market. I host/organize pickup games in several sports. I attend lots of other pickup sports. Finding other games, and getting people to come to my games is a constant struggle.
Kudos for shipping something, that's awesome!
Feedback:
Network effects are working against you. If lots of events are on here, it might be a useful place to search for sports. If lots of people search for sports on here, it might be a useful place to recruit people to my events.
Without either, this provides no value to me.
Product:
* As a person who wants play a sport, this app is not useful to me. There were no "events" nearby me to join.
* As a person who organizes pickup sports with friends, I'm not sure why I'd use this over my favorite messaging app to organize.
* As a person who wants to recruit new people to join pickup sports game, this app isn't useful for me. I help "advertise/promote" my pickup games on email lists, FB pages, and a meetup page. Creating an event here doesn't seem worth my time since I'm not convinced that it'll bring in people to play with.
Technical * Facebook login didn't work for me, it said some error about a bad location or something.
* Loading is painfully slow.
* It crashed after I tried to create a "I want to play sports" event.
Kudos for shipping something, that's awesome!
Feedback:
Network effects are working against you. If lots of events are on here, it might be a useful place to search for sports. If lots of people search for sports on here, it might be a useful place to recruit people to my events.
Without either, this provides no value to me.
Product:
* As a person who wants play a sport, this app is not useful to me. There were no "events" nearby me to join.
* As a person who organizes pickup sports with friends, I'm not sure why I'd use this over my favorite messaging app to organize.
* As a person who wants to recruit new people to join pickup sports game, this app isn't useful for me. I help "advertise/promote" my pickup games on email lists, FB pages, and a meetup page. Creating an event here doesn't seem worth my time since I'm not convinced that it'll bring in people to play with.
Technical * Facebook login didn't work for me, it said some error about a bad location or something.
* Loading is painfully slow.
* It crashed after I tried to create a "I want to play sports" event.
To OP - read this carefully as this is great, honest, kind feedback. Also, to OP don't fixate on the technical feedback - the non-technical feedback here is even more important (assuming your goal is a product people want).
To wsetchell/the feedback giver - kudos on giving great, honest and kind feedback.
To wsetchell/the feedback giver - kudos on giving great, honest and kind feedback.
Yes, indeed it is a great feedback and I'm taking it into total consideration.
thanks :)
All of these can be summed up as the chicken-and-egg paradox, or network effects. You need users to make the app useful, to get more users, to make the app useful.
Look at how other business get around that, e.g. facebook launched to just one market first, Harvard students, then slowly expanded out one market at a time.
Look at how other business get around that, e.g. facebook launched to just one market first, Harvard students, then slowly expanded out one market at a time.
Yup! 'the chicken-and-egg paradox' is the thing here. I'm going to focus on how to increase the number of users from a local market first.
I am developing something similar that localise to my region, can i pick your brain about this? If i could PM you, it would be great :)
Thanks for this detailed feedback. The app is still in beta so we are working hard to get rid of any technical issues.
is there any way to contact you?
First, kudos for the app! Creating any product and shipping it is a sucess.
That said, I suggest you take a look at http://bestpitchdecks.com/ to see some of the additional information you need in order to make a startup.
Having a MVP is a great start, but if you haven't done customer research, SWOT market analysis, etc. you don't know whether the app you created is a real MVP that can progress you down the road to product-market fit, or a collection of features that you think would be good (and you may be right, but without customer input, you might not be profitably right).
That said, I suggest you take a look at http://bestpitchdecks.com/ to see some of the additional information you need in order to make a startup.
Having a MVP is a great start, but if you haven't done customer research, SWOT market analysis, etc. you don't know whether the app you created is a real MVP that can progress you down the road to product-market fit, or a collection of features that you think would be good (and you may be right, but without customer input, you might not be profitably right).
> SWOT market analysis
First time I've come across this acronym. Googled it to find SWOT expands to "Strengths, Weaknesses Opportunities, Threats".
Any inexpensive way to do this for an MVP? I'm currently working on shipping my 1st side-project and am very interested in learing more about how I can utilize SWOT approach.
First time I've come across this acronym. Googled it to find SWOT expands to "Strengths, Weaknesses Opportunities, Threats".
Any inexpensive way to do this for an MVP? I'm currently working on shipping my 1st side-project and am very interested in learing more about how I can utilize SWOT approach.
The two most important things are:
#1: BE HONEST. This analysis is for you (individual or team) to use for yourselves. It's not a sales tool. Think deeply and honestly: is this truly a strength or something you like? Are you discounting the risk of competitor X?
For example I have benefited from the fact that competitor X was hung up on an existing, legacy market. I have also (at a different company) been screwed by competitor Y recognising that my "product" was really a feature and simply integrating it into their offering.
#2: be clear what you're doing the analysis on: your company or your product. They seem the same when you're a startup but they aren't.
And surveying people adds to the analysis, it is not the primary input.
#1: BE HONEST. This analysis is for you (individual or team) to use for yourselves. It's not a sales tool. Think deeply and honestly: is this truly a strength or something you like? Are you discounting the risk of competitor X?
For example I have benefited from the fact that competitor X was hung up on an existing, legacy market. I have also (at a different company) been screwed by competitor Y recognising that my "product" was really a feature and simply integrating it into their offering.
#2: be clear what you're doing the analysis on: your company or your product. They seem the same when you're a startup but they aren't.
And surveying people adds to the analysis, it is not the primary input.
When you say inexpensive, what do you mean? In terms of time or money?
It's inexpensive to do (just use a whiteboard or piece of paper), but can take time to get the data and analyze it without bias. Getting feedback from potential users on the weaknesses & opportunities takes time too.
To reduce this effort, spend 30 minutes to draw up a cursory SWOT and then continue to think about it while in the shower, driving, on the bus, etc. The answers will come to you over time.
It's inexpensive to do (just use a whiteboard or piece of paper), but can take time to get the data and analyze it without bias. Getting feedback from potential users on the weaknesses & opportunities takes time too.
To reduce this effort, spend 30 minutes to draw up a cursory SWOT and then continue to think about it while in the shower, driving, on the bus, etc. The answers will come to you over time.
Thanks. By inexpensive, I meant in terms of money.
Example:
> Getting feedback from potential users on the weaknesses & opportunities takes time too.
I know there are individual sites that let you poll users, or send them questions or surveys etc. But the good ones cost money. I don't mind paying at all, but wanted to know if there are any good websites / Saas etc that will help do each piece of the SWOT. Or maybe I am overanalyzing this?
P.S. My project is a niche job board. Any ideas how I could try to do the SWOT analysis?
Example:
> Getting feedback from potential users on the weaknesses & opportunities takes time too.
I know there are individual sites that let you poll users, or send them questions or surveys etc. But the good ones cost money. I don't mind paying at all, but wanted to know if there are any good websites / Saas etc that will help do each piece of the SWOT. Or maybe I am overanalyzing this?
P.S. My project is a niche job board. Any ideas how I could try to do the SWOT analysis?
[deleted]
There are sites that let you ask your users questions, and building a mailing list can help you create your list of users.
I think you'll get much more bang for your buck if you talk directly to customers though. With a survey you can only ask the questions you know to ask. The more important questions? They are the ones you don't know yet that you need to ask. You'll find out about those from one-on-one conversations with potential users. Very little beats getting out of the office and talking with potential users face to face.
If you can't do individual user visits then going to a relevant conference and talking to people there can be similar - just be aware that lots of people there are rushed.
Regarding a SWOT how-to... a full thing would be a book, or blog post series, but some tips and URLs follow.
* Strengths and Weaknesses address internal factors.
* Opportunities and Threats address external factors.
* Strengths are things (tangible or intangible) that give you a competitive advantage (e.g., you have an existing business relationship with businesses in the tri-state area).
* Weaknesses are things that might hold you back, hinder your growth, or erode your strengths (e.g., not enough money, not enough technical talent).
* Opportunities are events representing positive shifts in your environment that you could take advantage of (e.g., new technologies, new markets), or areas where your competitors are weak.
* Threats are events representing negative shifts in your environment (e.g., commoditization, a big name like Google entering your niche), or areas where your competitors are strong.
* One technique you can use is to roleplay your competitors. What makes you as them be confident, and what makes you as them be afraid?
* Another technique is to segment your users into personas (fictional user characters that represent with their traits a segment of your user base) and for each use an Ishikawa (aka Fishbone) diagram to do a root cause analysis of what made them choose to buy. Also do the opposite to analyze what could make them pass on buying. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ishikawa_diagram
http://articles.bplans.co.uk/marketing-a-business/how-to-per...
http://www.leadershipthoughts.com/how-to-use-a-swot-analysis...
I think you'll get much more bang for your buck if you talk directly to customers though. With a survey you can only ask the questions you know to ask. The more important questions? They are the ones you don't know yet that you need to ask. You'll find out about those from one-on-one conversations with potential users. Very little beats getting out of the office and talking with potential users face to face.
If you can't do individual user visits then going to a relevant conference and talking to people there can be similar - just be aware that lots of people there are rushed.
Regarding a SWOT how-to... a full thing would be a book, or blog post series, but some tips and URLs follow.
* Strengths and Weaknesses address internal factors.
* Opportunities and Threats address external factors.
* Strengths are things (tangible or intangible) that give you a competitive advantage (e.g., you have an existing business relationship with businesses in the tri-state area).
* Weaknesses are things that might hold you back, hinder your growth, or erode your strengths (e.g., not enough money, not enough technical talent).
* Opportunities are events representing positive shifts in your environment that you could take advantage of (e.g., new technologies, new markets), or areas where your competitors are weak.
* Threats are events representing negative shifts in your environment (e.g., commoditization, a big name like Google entering your niche), or areas where your competitors are strong.
* One technique you can use is to roleplay your competitors. What makes you as them be confident, and what makes you as them be afraid?
* Another technique is to segment your users into personas (fictional user characters that represent with their traits a segment of your user base) and for each use an Ishikawa (aka Fishbone) diagram to do a root cause analysis of what made them choose to buy. Also do the opposite to analyze what could make them pass on buying. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ishikawa_diagram
http://articles.bplans.co.uk/marketing-a-business/how-to-per...
http://www.leadershipthoughts.com/how-to-use-a-swot-analysis...
Thank you so much for all the info! I really appreciate the help.
Thanks a ton for your kind words here.
My two cents:
- As a fan of pick-up basketball games, I could definitely imagine myself using this (in fact, I've read people ask for this exact app). I wouldn't use it unless there was a good deal of activity in my area. Try and incentivize first-time downloads.
- It'll be difficult for people to find your app with the name Sportal--it's the name of a Bulgarian sports site. Aside from ease of discovery via search engines, there might even be a copyright issue.
- Try to get on to iOS as soon as possible to expand your audience.
- As a fan of pick-up basketball games, I could definitely imagine myself using this (in fact, I've read people ask for this exact app). I wouldn't use it unless there was a good deal of activity in my area. Try and incentivize first-time downloads.
- It'll be difficult for people to find your app with the name Sportal--it's the name of a Bulgarian sports site. Aside from ease of discovery via search engines, there might even be a copyright issue.
- Try to get on to iOS as soon as possible to expand your audience.
Thank you for giving this nice and small feedback.. I got your points!
you've done some nice work on the app! hopefully that was fulfilling in itself.
(but there's always a 'but'...) most small businesses (startups or otherwise) are a marketing problem, not a technology problem.
i've seen a ton of event discovery apps like this over the years (i even worked on one myself! =), and, while it seems logical on the surface for something like this to exist, such apps almost never solve a burning need for users.
discovery just isn't something recreational athletes go to an app for. social networks and search are generally good enough initially. and once you find a single location or event (in my case, a basketball league), your now expanded network provides all the further discovery you need (including other sports you like).
because of this, every casual sports discovery app i've seen either dies or pivots very quickly.
i would advise you to think about what else you can solve in this space that doesn't have a substitute product (e.g., don't pick messaging, as that's well covered by social networks as well).
(but there's always a 'but'...) most small businesses (startups or otherwise) are a marketing problem, not a technology problem.
i've seen a ton of event discovery apps like this over the years (i even worked on one myself! =), and, while it seems logical on the surface for something like this to exist, such apps almost never solve a burning need for users.
discovery just isn't something recreational athletes go to an app for. social networks and search are generally good enough initially. and once you find a single location or event (in my case, a basketball league), your now expanded network provides all the further discovery you need (including other sports you like).
because of this, every casual sports discovery app i've seen either dies or pivots very quickly.
i would advise you to think about what else you can solve in this space that doesn't have a substitute product (e.g., don't pick messaging, as that's well covered by social networks as well).
Thank you for the feedback and kind words. :)
I cofounded a social discovery company a while back, so have thought through similar issues.
Consider a dating site -- at the minimum, it must laboriously onboard a number of users at each location.
Your site faces a much more difficult challenge -- you not even need lots of users per location, but you also need them to be continually posting events. I encourage you to consider how to add value to users even when there is no constant stream of events (and perhaps even when there are few other local users).
Consider a dating site -- at the minimum, it must laboriously onboard a number of users at each location.
Your site faces a much more difficult challenge -- you not even need lots of users per location, but you also need them to be continually posting events. I encourage you to consider how to add value to users even when there is no constant stream of events (and perhaps even when there are few other local users).
I think this could be awesome. Especially for sports leagues. I play some sports my friends don't play, but there isn't a great way to find a team. And most leagues have a shitty system to sign your name and hope a team needs a spare. But all in all, it's kinda shitty. It would be awesome to be able to join a sports league and connect with everyone else who doesn't have a team so we could make one.
Don't forget that Sportal is an existing name (I saw it advertised in the 90s/early 2000s), and people will try going to sportal.com.
How do you grow your local user base in your town?
Good question! This is what is needed to be figured out. I'm thinking about this. Do you have any ideas or advice on this? Please let me know.
[deleted]
I would love the same app for tennis partners :)
does it do games as well as sports?
it helps in finding players for playing outdoor sports and not for mobile or video games.
I'm asking about games that would require a similar sized group of people that an outdoor sport would. board games, roleplaying games, etc.
haven't thought about considering board games etc into this but this is something we can think of integrating in the app.
An Android app isn't a startup.
then what are Instagram, Uber, WhatsApp, Tinder and Snapchat?
They are startups with mobile apps.
let's not be nitpicky. He apparently wants it as a startup, maybe not as big as snapchat/instagram, but they all started with an app.
also - how do you know he didn't incorporate the company already?
also - how do you know he didn't incorporate the company already?
there is no point in calling your project a startup if you are only a wannabe fasting growing app. You can call it but people will appear to contradict you. And it is not a problem to have an app instead of a startup. I actually think it is a lot better and less biased.
> will appear to contradict you
Sometimes "startup" is used instead of "project". Is it really that big a deal? All this time wasted over such an insignificant detail.
Sometimes "startup" is used instead of "project". Is it really that big a deal? All this time wasted over such an insignificant detail.
Looks like he did. Most of the replies to the reviews are from "Sportal Inc."
Businesses that have an app.
It's a good start
Here's the link to the app: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.getsportalapp.sportal&hl=en