Ask HN: How to cope up with fear of failure before starting up?
9 comments
You probably have no real understanding on how to find customers for your projects. This is why you failed. Not because your software wasn't good enough.
So, your life intuition is telling you to not do it again: and it is right.
Learn first how to win customers. Prior to that you are not qualified to build a business successfully.
You can ask specific questions on that topic here, because a lot of know how in that area is on HN. But be specific, otherwise nobody can help you.
So, short answer to your question: Don't. Don't cope with a signal from your psyche, but interpret it right.
So, your life intuition is telling you to not do it again: and it is right.
Learn first how to win customers. Prior to that you are not qualified to build a business successfully.
You can ask specific questions on that topic here, because a lot of know how in that area is on HN. But be specific, otherwise nobody can help you.
So, short answer to your question: Don't. Don't cope with a signal from your psyche, but interpret it right.
I created this marketplace website
xyzdevs.com - a marketplace for hiring coders based on tech stacks.
Although, it has tonnes of visitors, but rarely an order is placed.
While the developers feedback was great, It has around 100 developers signed up with 20 services.
On Buyer side, I have tried reachout's on linkedin like freelancing hiring posts, DMs, tried google ads but got no sales.
I need some validation or even invalidation to get some signal if its right or wrong. Its been 2 months trying this.
What to make of the buyer silence. Its frustrating.
The signal is clear, product isn't good enough. I also think, Maybe the target customer is someone else and not who i thought. I have so many questions who only prospective buyer can answer.
The signal is clear, product isn't good enough. I also think, Maybe the target customer is someone else and not who i thought. I have so many questions who only prospective buyer can answer.
Thank you for providing the URL, that way I could take a look at the project and I can tell you what your problems are.
I will just write all the problems I see at first glance, I try to acknowledge what you wrote here on HN.
1) When I read the parent I first thought "xyzdevs.com" was your way of obfuscating your domain in order to stay anonymous. That's how a bad a brand that one is. This name will never, ever be taken serious.
1.a) The whole site looks like a github or so. This is the best way to make sure no business type will take you serious.
1.b) The stock photography on the site just makes it worse. Unless you show photos from you, your team, your office, etc you just look like a scam.
1.c) No real business contact. Just a "feedback" form, which is not a form but a sort of a box I don't even know. No phone number. Nothing. All that says: it's probably a scam. Until you read "Wyoming" in the footer, than you think, I don't know what, just "Coyotes!" or so? (I am not from the U.S.A., btw.)
2) Hiring coders based on tech stacks is a worthwhile offer. The main problem I see here is a severe lack of clarity in communicating the offer.
2.a) "bring your startup idea to life" does mean what you think it means only to one single group: nil.
2.a.1) People who think themselves as entrepreneurs who are running a startup do usually hire people as full time employees.
2.a.2) All other people who hire developers in any capacity do not think of themselves as "startup" anything.
2.b) Instead of talking about "startup" you should observe what language the people who hire devs from marketplaces use.
2.c) I still have no idea what it actually is that I can buy on your site. Can I hire people on a per hour basis? Do I get employees? What am I actually buying? Or is there something to buy? It's not clear. at. all.
3) The listed devs show no photsos either. They are represented by a "screenshot" of their "work"? What? This ist almost not recognizable as what it is. Scam, must be a scam.
4) You seem to expect that I "hire" one of these screenshots by hitting a green retangle with a number on it? Or am I mistaken? (Again 'what?')
Okay, I don't want to go fruther. You probably get the idea.
Now, regarding your outreach in order to sell…
First, it's good in general, that you have an idea what could be done.
If you have read the above it should be clear to you why that is that neither LinkedIn PM nor GoogleAds resulted in any sales.
What you have to do is to get a clear idea, who exactly should by what exactly. What exactly is it that you offer? I am still not clear on this. A screenshot gets pais 2000$ by me and then?
Who needs that?
So, you want to find clients for developers. That's the general thing you are doing here.
Okay, then tell me: who wants to buy that? In the exact form you are offering it.
If you can tell me that, than you will have mastered the next step.
Because all the above, the name of the brand, the site layout, requirements etc it all hinges on that.
I will just write all the problems I see at first glance, I try to acknowledge what you wrote here on HN.
1) When I read the parent I first thought "xyzdevs.com" was your way of obfuscating your domain in order to stay anonymous. That's how a bad a brand that one is. This name will never, ever be taken serious.
1.a) The whole site looks like a github or so. This is the best way to make sure no business type will take you serious.
1.b) The stock photography on the site just makes it worse. Unless you show photos from you, your team, your office, etc you just look like a scam.
1.c) No real business contact. Just a "feedback" form, which is not a form but a sort of a box I don't even know. No phone number. Nothing. All that says: it's probably a scam. Until you read "Wyoming" in the footer, than you think, I don't know what, just "Coyotes!" or so? (I am not from the U.S.A., btw.)
2) Hiring coders based on tech stacks is a worthwhile offer. The main problem I see here is a severe lack of clarity in communicating the offer.
2.a) "bring your startup idea to life" does mean what you think it means only to one single group: nil.
2.a.1) People who think themselves as entrepreneurs who are running a startup do usually hire people as full time employees.
2.a.2) All other people who hire developers in any capacity do not think of themselves as "startup" anything.
2.b) Instead of talking about "startup" you should observe what language the people who hire devs from marketplaces use.
2.c) I still have no idea what it actually is that I can buy on your site. Can I hire people on a per hour basis? Do I get employees? What am I actually buying? Or is there something to buy? It's not clear. at. all.
3) The listed devs show no photsos either. They are represented by a "screenshot" of their "work"? What? This ist almost not recognizable as what it is. Scam, must be a scam.
4) You seem to expect that I "hire" one of these screenshots by hitting a green retangle with a number on it? Or am I mistaken? (Again 'what?')
Okay, I don't want to go fruther. You probably get the idea.
Now, regarding your outreach in order to sell…
First, it's good in general, that you have an idea what could be done.
If you have read the above it should be clear to you why that is that neither LinkedIn PM nor GoogleAds resulted in any sales.
What you have to do is to get a clear idea, who exactly should by what exactly. What exactly is it that you offer? I am still not clear on this. A screenshot gets pais 2000$ by me and then?
Who needs that?
So, you want to find clients for developers. That's the general thing you are doing here.
Okay, then tell me: who wants to buy that? In the exact form you are offering it.
If you can tell me that, than you will have mastered the next step.
Because all the above, the name of the brand, the site layout, requirements etc it all hinges on that.
Thanks for your feedback and perspective. I wanted to hear this. Thanks for that.
I get some ideas now from it where the problems lies.
I am a tech guy and devs is short for developers in software world.
Maybe the common man doesn't understand it.
xyzdevs stands for "hire developer for any <-XYZ-> tech stack". I thought it was good enough.
Thats why most developers gave good feedback, lol. as my site speaks to them but not to buyers. Thus, no sales occurred from buyer side.
My target customers are remote tech startups, or founders who are technical enough to hire developers quickly for cheap around the world as hiring full-time itself is very hard and time consuming process. The cost mentioned is total price for a project in their packages. On developer side, it gives a developer chance to monetise their skills in different tech stacks.
Thats why most developers gave good feedback, lol. as my site speaks to them but not to buyers. Thus, no sales occurred from buyer side.
My target customers are remote tech startups, or founders who are technical enough to hire developers quickly for cheap around the world as hiring full-time itself is very hard and time consuming process. The cost mentioned is total price for a project in their packages. On developer side, it gives a developer chance to monetise their skills in different tech stacks.
Thank you for receiving my feedback.
Regarding the brand, business people understand the word "developer" and "devs", the problem lies more in the xyz.
Most developers gave good feedback because you are promising to them to end their marketing problems, without taking money from them. That is a very good proposition.
In fact, it is too good to be true. No sane person believes this to be real.
Your target customers are "remote tech startups and technical founders" and do you have asked any of them, if they would hire "quickly for cheap"?
You business case is not really clear. So, I hire a freelancer for a project over your site. Why don't I just hire someone on Fiverr then?
Why wouldn't I just contact the developer directly? Why go through your site?
Regarding the brand, business people understand the word "developer" and "devs", the problem lies more in the xyz.
Most developers gave good feedback because you are promising to them to end their marketing problems, without taking money from them. That is a very good proposition.
In fact, it is too good to be true. No sane person believes this to be real.
Your target customers are "remote tech startups and technical founders" and do you have asked any of them, if they would hire "quickly for cheap"?
You business case is not really clear. So, I hire a freelancer for a project over your site. Why don't I just hire someone on Fiverr then?
Why wouldn't I just contact the developer directly? Why go through your site?
This is from your site:
"XYZDEVS Hiring marketplace is straight-foward, You can hire devs worldwide based on their quality instantly and straightforward. No Joke."
First, it reads exactly like a joke. Second, it has typos.
I applaud you for starting businesses. But please team up with someone who has at least an inkling of an idea what a business is and how a business works. Alternatively you could acquire that knowledge yourself, but that would be a long road.
"XYZDEVS Hiring marketplace is straight-foward, You can hire devs worldwide based on their quality instantly and straightforward. No Joke."
First, it reads exactly like a joke. Second, it has typos.
I applaud you for starting businesses. But please team up with someone who has at least an inkling of an idea what a business is and how a business works. Alternatively you could acquire that knowledge yourself, but that would be a long road.
The person who fails the most will win.
I get enthusiastic about ideas daily but eventually I dont execute it as I feel it will end up in failure. The fear maybe due to my past experiences as I tried 2-3 side projects/MVP that didn't picked up much traction. I eventually shut them down. Now I feel I dont have courage to do it again.
How do you move past this mind-block and try once again?