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Putting a price on your app? | ErrantX: > Is it ok to change prices around in the beginningNot really... or rather you risk pissing off users. However if you take an initial 3 or 4 month hit to run a free "beta" of some description that might help you figure out reasonable pricing. At that point you will be able toa) confirm the exact cost per user ... |
Putting a price on your app? | HeyLaughingBoy: I love this talk about pricing software: http://venturehacks.com/articles/pricingI've had it on my MP3 player for about a year and I only just noticed it's by Steve Blank! Audio's a bit crappy in the beginning, but gets better. |
Evil but brilliant business models? | noodle: automatically generated spam blogs. i hate running across them, but people make some serious $ off of them. |
Evil but brilliant business models? | mtholking: Get Satisfaction
http://37signals.com/svn/posts/1650-get-satisfaction-or-else |
Evil but brilliant business models? | ErrantX: I cant decide over Demand Media; I mean as I read it they dont necessarily provide really bad content (though not great content either).On the other hand they are employing a reasonable number of people and spreading some good money around (so it's not like they treat the content providers wholly unethically).... |
Evil but brilliant business models? | callmeed: "Is it unethical or is it a normal use of free markets?"Are those mutually exclusive?Are you asking about business models that are unethical/immoral but legal?Those are pretty good examples with regards to Internet companies. I think you can find just as dubious actions in the finance industry. From charging ... |
Evil but brilliant business models? | mbrubeck: Scientology. |
Evil but brilliant business models? | wmf: Evil regulatory arbitrage is in the news thanks to AT&T and Google: http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/10/28/googles-response-to-fcc... |
Why not criminalize unsubstantiated assertions made in public? | russell: The first amendment to the US Constitution pretty much covers that. There isn't anything much than the government deciding what is true and what isn't, what can be said and what cannot. |
Evil but brilliant business models? | earl: The domain tasting companies -- I read a profile of one, whose name I unfortunately have forgotten, but this company seemed to have a ~$17MM annual run rate by bulk purchasing domain names, running ads on them, and returning the ones that didn't generate enough income during a trial week. Really really scummy bu... |
Putting a price on your app? | pclark: great ebook on pricing: http://www.neildavidson.com/dontjustrollthedice.html |
Review my experimental API | atamyrat: Hi folks,This is the experimental project I've been working for last couple of weeks.It is HTTP API to access IM networks.Why do we need it? For example, IM status message is really interesting place to publish real-time status updates that haven't been exploited yet by web applications. Twitter is really not... |
Evil but brilliant business models? | joeycfan: ah - the Goldman Sachs thread... |
Examples of sites with 'customer class' freemium? | bjclark: Most of the "backup services" (jungledisk, mozy, etc.) do either free or really cheap "personal" backup, but have expensive "business" plans.RubyMine is free for "Open Source". |
Virtual PBX for startup? | jec31moto: Use Virtual PBX. They've been around the longest (1997) and started the hosted phone service craze. They use their own service as well. I haven't found another hosted phone service that actually uses their own stuff. That's telling. |
Evil but brilliant business models? | JimmyL: Inkjet printer cartridges/Gillette Fusion razors/battery-powered electric toothbrushes/etc. (all the same model in different guises) |
Service like compete.com that tracks total browser requests? | kakooljay: How would that work, without access to server logs? There's no way for a 3rd party to track every request. One note: Alexa is getting better: "On April 16, 2008 many users reported dramatic shifts in their Alexa rankings. Alexa confirmed this later in the day with an announcement that they had released the n... |
Putting a price on your app? | Vandy_Travis: Do the Steve Blank price-boxing experiment. "How much would you use this if it were free? $50 / month? $1 million dollars?"Your customers will tell you what they're willing to pay. If that number is below your operating costs, however, be prepared to either drastically change your model or move into a... |
How have you dealt with corruption? | gstar: I've dealt with this when I had to mop up after a predecessor made a habit of taking bungs at a government department.My advice to you is that you should have absolutely nothing to do with this. You should forget the sale now (it's a possibility that it was only entertained in the first place because your assoc... |
How have you dealt with corruption? | fiaz: You did perfectly fine - seriously.Alternatively, you could have gone the comedic route by making the whole thing into a big joke, but it's not like things would have been better. |
How have you dealt with corruption? | zackattack: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fRcamEx7EmAJust kidding. |
How have you dealt with corruption? | percept: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/03... |
Podcast Recommendations? | coderpourmanger: http://www.kcrw.com/podcasts for To The Point, Left Right & Centerhttp://wamu.org/help/podcasts/ for Diane Rehm Show, Kojo Nnamdi Show featuring Tech Tuesday and the Computer Guyshttp://www.npr.org/rss/podcast/podcast_directory.php Wait Wait Don't Tell Me, Planet Money, All Songs Considered, Live Conc... |
How have you dealt with corruption? | Mz: I don't see any benefit to taking a strong stand face-to-face. It's not like he would see the light or something. It would only ensure that he has a heads up, putting you in a seriously dangerous position. |
How have you dealt with corruption? | dasht: So, really and truly this government guy hit you up for a bribe?Tonight, write down every detail, sign and date (ideally with witnesses). Tomorrow morning, call the FBI. After speaking with the FBI, unless they advise otherwise, brief your CEO.Only do these things if you are really, really sure the guy actual... |
How have you dealt with corruption? | edw519: You nailed it.If you had not stood your ground, you would have sacrificed all your hard work for nothing.If you had pushed any more than you did, you would have created an unnecessary drama that would have diverted your focus.You feel badly right now because you're normal. This shall pass.Even the fact that yo... |
How have you dealt with corruption? | alecco: Watch out! Go to a lawyer first. Always lawyer. And a good one.FBI might squeeze you to do things you don't want to do. Also the accused will retaliate in some way to discredit you and your company. Never deal with law enforcement without going to a lawyer first, unless it's an emergency (911 first, lawyer 2nd.... |
How have you dealt with corruption? | jhg: Welcome to the real world, Neo.Kickbacks is what drives business deals in many countries, including the US, Canada and you name it. That's an integral part of business culture. In some places to a lesser degree, in some - to greater. Government contracts are especially lucrative type of deals, and I would very sur... |
How have you dealt with corruption? | gojomo: Without prematurely compromising your identity or giving more details than you're comfortable sharing, can you say(1) which country;(2) which level of government (fed, state, city, etc.);(3) anything else about the geographic region or field-of-work? |
"Porting" HTML from Firefox to IE | timf: odesk or rentacoder? |
How have you dealt with corruption? | justlearning: If I may ask - which country? |
How have you dealt with corruption? | dkokelley: My only non-professional advice is do not in any way do business with the firm he works with until after the situation is dealt with. Even if you get the contract through normal channels, it could blow up in your face later if this guy was found out. Report it, and get a record of you reporting it. That way,... |
How have you dealt with corruption? | raffi: Wow. Just wow. I don't know what agency/department you're dealing with and I'm making an assumption that you're in the US.Try searching for "fraud, waste, and abuse" and your agency's name in Google. If you're dealing with the DoD, try these folks:http://www.dodig.mil/HOTLINE/fwacompl.htmNot sure if this falls u... |
How have you dealt with corruption? | zaidf: I don't know who to hate for the repeated advice to talk to lawyers for anything half-legal.Hey, when people ask legal questions, they have already considered seeing a lawyer. |
How have you dealt with corruption? | jason_tko: Running an IT service business for 7 years, I've run into a number of dubious situations. Heres a couple.A client introduced me to a salesperson who works for a competitor company. We sat down for coffee, and his opening line was that he has a million dollars of deals in the pipeline (which would have been... |
How have you dealt with corruption? | ratsbane: I've been trying to compose a response to this, describing a similar situation I was involved with. I just can't do it without saying more than is prudent. I was slow to catch on to what was going on but I did the right thing when I did and the guilty weren't punished. I don't mind talking more about it pr... |
How have you dealt with corruption? | elviejo: An effective way to deal with corruption is to make it clear that you don't participate in it.It only takes for you to fail once and then everybody will know that you are ready to de "business" with them.Whereas if you make a name for yourself as a clean contractor, you will also attract other kind of customer... |
Rate our Twitter game, Atlibs | rriepe: http://atlibs.matchstrike.net/Clickable |
Rate our Twitter game, Atlibs | timrosenblatt: I think your site is [[adverb]]. I really [[verb]] the design too. It's funny [[noun]]. |
Rate our Twitter game, Atlibs | birthdayzoot: At first I was like... madlibs on twitter? But its really pretty fun and super easy to use/understand. Much impressed. |
Rate our Twitter game, Atlibs | unflores: Some people might take the easy route and use madlibs to compliment the site. I will do no such thing.....I'll just say the site had a good look and feel and was straight forward. The rest of the internet could learn a thing or two from it. |
How have you dealt with corruption? | 9oliYQjP: You need to withdraw your product/service from consideration by this customer. In other words, refuse to sell to them. Come up with any reason. This guy sounds like your typical corrupt politician or organized criminal.They typically do you a "favour" that you didn't even ask for, one that is executed in such... |
How have you dealt with corruption? | visitor4rmindia: It makes me sad to realize I read the OP and thought "Isn't this normal?"Then I read all your comments and realized just how different the US is from India and how far we still have to go.Sigh |
How have you dealt with corruption? | seven: Do not put yourself into a position in where you are susceptible to blackmail. This is a big risk when dealing with dubious stuff.
(edit: s/the biggest/a big/) |
How have you dealt with corruption? | fauigerzigerk: You did the right thing. You are the victim in this situation. Nobody, especially not yourself, should expect that you damage your own cause beyond not participating in the crime. If everybody acted like you did, corruption would not exist. |
How do you evaluate a web site? | davidw: Useful and non-spammy. |
How do you evaluate a web site? | mitchellh: 1. Clear goal - If I don't know what the website does from the first look at the home page, I close that tab and move on with my life.2. Clear feature set - Just a basic overview. But once I see the goal and it matches up with what I need, I look for features.3. Conciseness - As little text as possible while... |
How do you evaluate a web site? | ankeshk: 1. Ease of use2. Accessibility of information (no one wants to click 8 times to find what they're looking for)3. The mood the design creates (colour / spacing / layout / font)4. Uniqueness |
How do you evaluate a web site? | apsurd: Neat, organized, simple, clear, understandable, scoped, engaging.-- Neat and organized.Messy and chaotic looking websites turn me off. Everyone has their idea of "style" but if it feels like I have to make effort to digest any kind of content, its a huge turn off. Being organized and tidy solves this problem mo... |
How have you dealt with corruption? | Edinburger: I worked for a small company in Europe selling software into much larger companies. I am pleased to say that over four years, there were only a couple of times when I think we lost a sale because of corrupt tactics by a competitor and even then, I can't be sure. Certainly, we sold a fair amount of software ... |
Rate our Twitter game, Atlibs | JosueTorero: This was a fun amusement during my evening which was otherwise being spent feeling blue about the current state of "enterprise" software. @[[friend]] is a nice touch -- it made me check who is following me for the first time in a few months. |
How do you evaluate a web site? | genieyclo: 1. Intuitiveness of design2. Simplicity3. TOS/Privacy concerns; Can I delete my account and data with it? Who controls it? Who gets to look at it?4. Use of open space in design of pages5. Speed6. Novelty factor7. Connectivity with OpenID/Google account8. Types of ads running on it9. Customer service in case ... |
How do you evaluate a web site? | JosueTorero: 1. Lack of visual clutter; looking at something that is simple and does not tax my concentration makes me feel relaxed, and thus makes me want to visit the website again.2. Any kind of news about the website that does not seem like a press release.3. Advertising that is relevant to me, or none at all; mone... |
How do you evaluate a web site? | ErrantX: #1 An introduction to the site (aka what your doing and how to do it) |
How have you dealt with corruption? | paulcarey: A contrasting approach - when Mo Ibrahim set up a mobile network in African counties he knew a no-bribe approach wouldn't fly, so bribes were limited $30,000.http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2009/feb/01/mo-ibrahi... |
How do you evaluate a web site? | tcarnell: 1. Purposeful2. Coherent3. Intuitive4. Responsive5. Distinctive6. EnjoyableAnd more or less in that order. It's certainly how I have designed http://www.femtoo.com (sorry about the obvious plug!) |
How do you evaluate a web site? | kuldeep_kap: I think we should also add point 'Memorable'. I think it should leave an long-lasting impression, which should sub-consciously lead a user back to the site, repetitively. |
How do you evaluate a web site? | uggedal: To the point, uncluttered, whitespace, minimalism |
How do you evaluate a web site? | robgough: Honestly, in the first second or so it's all about adverts. If an advert is the first thing that catches me eye, then usually I'm gone. I'm particularly sensitive to moving adverts.After that I'm looking for an about page. If I see generic marketing spiel then I'm outta there (either on the home page, or abou... |
How do you evaluate a web site? | rubinelli: I think you can't talk about general criteria for web sites, just like you can't talk about general criteria for automobiles. Is a truck better than a family sedan? It depends on what you plan to do with it. You can say that a site that goes down almost every week is obviously bad, but what about Twitter dur... |
Good feature, minimal product. Go forward or move on to something else? | jmonegro: Provided that you find a way to have a substantial amount of businesses listed, you have a great idea. |
Good feature, minimal product. Go forward or move on to something else? | zaidf: I believe google acquired a super early-stage startup that was doing precisely this. |
How do you evaluate a web site? | edw519: # Metric Formula
- ---------------- ------------------------------------
1 effectiveness sum(EffortExpended) / OriginalGoal
2 efficiency sum(EffortExpended) / sum(ValueReceived)
3 speed "0" or "1"
(TimeToLoad < TimeWillingToWait)
4 readabil... |
Good feature, minimal product. Go forward or move on to something else? | petervandijck: AS you say, the value is in the data, not in any website or iPhone app you may build on that. So you could expand the data, build an iPhone app just for kicks, and try licensing or selling that data (not the app) to companies. The value is in the data, and perhaps even more so in the systems you build to... |
Good feature, minimal product. Go forward or move on to something else? | maxklein: Release an iPhone shell to test the concept. Refine until people buy it. Then make a web service and so on. |
How do you evaluate a web site? | notauser: Credible.If I hit a road block (such as having to register) before I feel that you are going to deliver on your promises then I move on without bothering.For example: I won't register for your new social network, because I feel there's a very good chance it won't change my life for the better (not even enough... |
Rate our Twitter game, Atlibs | blaix: I love that you included the ability to make your own. |
How do you evaluate a web site? | Freebytes: tcarnell, I went to see what jonsen was saying about Femtoo.com, and well, I think we should add compatibility to that list. While I dislike IE6, there are many users still forced to use it.Internet Explorer 6 is not supported.
???????????I?,~+??~+,~+=~+,~,:+?,~+~+,:=+:+,:+=~++~==? |
Good feature, minimal product. Go forward or move on to something else? | replicatorblog: I would step back and think about the problem this is solving for people and why your early users are getting value from it. Opening/closing times are helpful, but what about the fastest times in an out of the DMV over the course of a day/week/month? If you are visiting Disney World, when are the best t... |
Good feature, minimal product. Go forward or move on to something else? | synnik: This isn't really a feature or a product. It is a data set.
Your best bet might be to develop the process to gather, store, and maintain the data, then sell the set to implementers for their sites. |
How do you evaluate a web site? | synnik: "So what?"If the site doesn't quickly answer that question for me, it fails. All other criteria are simply components of that answer. |
Good feature, minimal product. Go forward or move on to something else? | nishantmodak: data set is useful.
what if you build an app for this. and also provide this data from API.? I think that would be good! |
Good feature, minimal product. Go forward or move on to something else? | lloydarmbrust: This is really interesting--I've always been annoyed by this problem, and amazingly Google hasn't fixed it yet. My startup is actually selling a product that is very similar to this, and looks to solve the same problems, but I really really like the "if a business isn't open, it'll tell you about simila... |
Good feature, minimal product. Go forward or move on to something else? | danvoell: +1 on the value is in the data comment. Pick one platform and go all out. You should be able to partner with quite a few existing products.
+1 on the time of day comment. It's most definitely a different business to the one you are proposing but a valid thought. There is value to a system which can show how ... |
Launch without paid plans or wait until payment is integrated? | bradleyjoyce: Jim... I just wrote a post about this very issue: http://squeejee.com/blog/2009/10/29/charging-from-day-1-geni...Are you writing all your own payment code? If so, why? I would recommend using something like Spreedly or Chargify (we use spreedly with TweetSaver). Getting payment integrated using Spreedly w... |
Launch without paid plans or wait until payment is integrated? | MrMatt: I'd release free accounts now, and put the paid accounts on hold until you've had chance to see how your site runs under normal usage. If you get people using it now, then* They will uncover bugs that have been missed* They will show you where usability is poor in your app* You will build an audience of people ... |
Good feature, minimal product. Go forward or move on to something else? | akrymski: you do both. don't ever bet on a quick exit. if it happens, and you get an offer you can't refuse, great. but you have to have your own course of action: turn it into an iphone app, sell the data via an API for others to embed in their app, etc. the big companies will take notice.every business looks like... |
Launch without paid plans or wait until payment is integrated? | cperciva: With Tarsnap, I got the basic functionality working and started inviting people into private beta testing while I wrote the money side of things. Once I had the money side of things written, I told my beta testers that it was time to start paying (I had warned them from the start that at some point the free ... |
What's your "setup?" | unalone: My only computer's the laptop, a 17" Macbook Pro. It's probably a bit too big—next computer I get I'll drop down to 15"—but it's not a computer I anticipate getting rid of any time soon. It's a bit grungy, but it works beautifully.OS X for the main operating system. Nothing on the menubar but battery life, Dro... |
What's your "setup?" | peterhi: Having recently got this job I have a Mac Mini with 4Gb and a 24 inch monitor. Editing with Textmate and the rest is just the usual command line tools (I'm a rails developer)The machine is probably overpowered CPU wise (2Ghz, Intel Core 2 Duo) but the ram is a godsend when running the database and the applicat... |
What's your "setup?" | kevinherron: At home I have a 15" MacBook Pro.At work I have a Dell Precision workstation. Core2Quad, 8GB ram, 2x500GB RAID 1, Windows 7. I spend the majority of my time in Eclipse, but I also have VMWare Workstation running 32- and 64-bit Ubuntu. |
Start-up friendly banks in San Francisco? | mselfridge: Hi Michael - I manage Northern CA for SVB. We've had an office in SF for many years now - 1999 to be specific (down at China Basin, but moving to 555 Mission in Q1-ish 2010). Sorry we have not reached-out to you. We have a number of tech, lifescience, VC/PE clients in SF and we are very bullish on the reg... |
Good feature, minimal product. Go forward or move on to something else? | timcederman: As product manager for the restaurants product at TripAdvisor, I'd love comprehensive opening hours. |
Start-up friendly banks in San Francisco? | mselfridge: sure - what is your phone number? |
How to create a successful Hackathon? | kadavy: Are these experienced coders Tweeting about this? Maybe there's a specific project or problem that is planned beforehand for everyone to collaborate on. |
Is there any excuse not to know Java? | icey: It only makes sense to know Java specifically if you have some use for it. The limited Java I know is only because I do some work with JVM languages and it becomes a hindrance to not know any. Otherwise, I could have gotten by just fine without knowing it at all.I think it might be better generalized as knowing s... |
How to create a successful Hackathon? | cpup22: You could try a direct approach if you know who is attending sending them a personal (or seemingly personal) note to tell them you're excited they're joining and what the prizes are. Might also be more specific. You could win $50,000 (not sure how specific you are being). You could win "a new mac pro" versus... |
Is there any excuse not to know Java? | DanielStraight: You're asking (or implying) a lot of different questions here.Is is expedient for a young person entering the job market to be familiar with Java (I'm changing this to a positive formation becasue negatives are confusing)? Of course. The TIOBE index answers this is two seconds. Java has over 18% market ... |
Is there any excuse not to know Java? | cj_basu: I can't think of any valid excuse. Quite a few very good open source projects are in java and it will be highly beneficial if you know Java to use the code for your own purposes. Also I believe Java is one of the heavily used language in the industry currently if not THE most used. And it is also a well design... |
Alternatives to Facebook Translation for crowd-sourcing localization? | jasonlbaptiste: We used amazon mechanical turk for Ramamia. We've thought about building a solution for the general public, but we're pretty busy. Pretty easy to do, but if you need help drop me an email: j[at]jasonlbaptiste.com |
Is there any excuse not to know Java? | karthikm: There is no reason for not knowing something. That being said, knowing Java at this point might be advantageous in many respects because of the mature state of third party libraries available to support all aspects (development, testing, deployment) of any kind of work you are into.If you are a good programme... |
Is there any excuse not to know Java? | _pius: Why should someone have to know Java?I know Java because it was the language of choice for my undergraduate software engineering lab (6.170), but I specifically do not take Java work because I've found other languages I enjoy more. One of the joys of being a professional engineer is the freedom to choose your t... |
Is there any excuse not to know Java? | fjabre: I'd say .NET is more valuable than Java if you're looking for an 'industry' job.But at the very least you should have some familiarity with C. |
Is there any excuse not to know Java? | rmason: I thought this little corner of the web was about startups, not how to get industry jobs.If you want to be big and lethargic. If you want to write twice as much code to get the job done then go ahead and use java or C#. |
What do you wish you were better at? | bgnm2000: coding from scratch, not procrastinating, eating more |
What do you wish you were better at? | yan: Focusing my efforts, managing my time, and figuring out what my priorities in life are.regex, on the big scheme of things, is a pretty easy problem to solve. If you think about them in terms of state machines, they become easier to grasp your mind around. |
What do you wish you were better at? | davidw: Doing nice visual design stuff. I'm apparently not all that great at it, but frankly don't really notice (I like the look and feel of this site, for instance) so it's not like I have anything to benchmark against. |
Best eCommerce Platform | davidw: Apache OFBiz might be worth a look. If nothing else than for the data models, which are top notch. It's done with lots of Java and XML. |
Is there any excuse not to know Java? | cscotta: The wording of this question (as summarized in the headline) suggests professional negligence on my part for not having spent a year, five, or ten learning Java. I'd like to respectfully disagree.Ruby is my primary programming language, but I've also built apps and scripts in Python, C, C++, Objective-C, PHP,... |
What do you wish you were better at? | maxcameron: Writing. I'm not a bad writer but man it'd be great to be better. |
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