Twilio and 99designs Join This Week's AppSumo Lean Startup Bundle

http://blog.twilio.com/2010/10/twilio-and-99designs-join-this-weeks-appsumo-lean-startup-bundle.html

by noahkagan • 16 years ago

75 60 16 years ago

blog.twilio.com

Mc_Big_G5• 16 years ago

This is a very cool deal and I just bought it, but please be careful when redeeming the twilio promo code.

You must purchase $20 of twilio credit, but if you get the promo code wrong, it will charge your card and tell you that the code wasn't found. There is no way to enter the code without paying again. I put in a helpdesk ticket about the issue.

The problem for me was that the appsumo page is really cluttered and disorganized. There are two columns, one named "Product" and the other one is named "Code", but there are some rows that encompass both columns which make them seem like dividers and it isn't clear what the text in those columns are supposed to be associated with. Anyway, there is one "divider" line a few lines above Twilio that says "Promo code is XXXXX" and I assumed that was the code for all of the products below it, without realizing that there was a "code" column. Yes, it's my fault for jumping the gun, but in my defense, that page is pretty bad.

johns4• 16 years ago

Unfortunately our promo code system requires a payment and we tried to make it very clear on the AppSumo page what the requirements are. We couldn't change our system in time for this promo so we had to run with it as is. If you run into this issue, please email help@twilio.com and we will take care of you.

Mc_Big_G5• 16 years ago

I knew a payment was required and I'm okay with that. My suggestion is that the payment isn't processed if the code is invalid. This gives the user the chance to correct the code if they made a mistake.

noahkagan12• 16 years ago

Mc_Big_G

Agreed. Our page sucks and needs some serious work.

We just did a push so the code should show up in the right place. Let me know if that's better.

If you or anyone has issues / questions, noah [at] appsumo or call me 415 886 SUMO

Mc_Big_G5• 16 years ago

Hmmmm, I don't see the difference when I refresh the page. My suggestion would be to place a divider between each row in the table, similar to the <th> row.

metamemetics3• 16 years ago

Has anyone used or can comment on Selenium for testing?

edit: context: one of the bundle inclusions is selenium cloud testing (sauce labs)

hugs4• 16 years ago

Yes, what do you want to know? ;-) Ask me anything! [Disclosure: I created Selenium.]

metamemetics3• 16 years ago

Is its common use case to enable testing for people who aren't normally writing them, reduce total number of tests maintained for people who are writing them, or for writing additional supplementary tests to guarantee a higher confidence in interface functionality?

edit: context is prototypical M-V-C python or ruby web app development

jtchang• 16 years ago

This is absolutely why I love hackernews. I mean really...how often do you have a question about a piece of software and the creator jumps right in to provide some insight!?

frozencanuck• 16 years ago

Yep. I used the Selenium framework to build a framework called Lebowski that does test automation of SproutCore applications.

chrs_mcmhn• 16 years ago

I have used Selenium in combination with 2 different wiki-based controllers/frameworks and found it very useful. I designed a number of features for Selenesse http://github.com/marisaseal/selenesse with my colleage Marisa Seal and contributed substantially to a 10,000+ test step suite of tests using http://search.cpan.org/~lukec/Socialtext-WikiTest-0.06/

I won an iPad from Sauce Labs using Selenium, also: http://saucelabs.com/blog/index.php/2010/05/announcing-the-s...

Disclosure: I was working at Thoughtworks with Mr. Huggins when the first version of Selenium was released. Also, I was the very first user of the Watir browser test tool, and at one time I was fairly active in both communities. I have been familiar with these tools since the beginning of their existence.

StavrosK• 16 years ago

This is about Twilio, not Twill.

aaronblohowiak• 16 years ago

it is great! easy to use, and it works to make regression testing automatic. i haven't used sauce labs yet.

j_mccaffrey• 16 years ago

I've used selenium pretty extensively since 2007. There are a lot of good examples out there, the docs are good, and its written in a very extensible way, so I've always been able to find a way to accomplish what I'm trying to do. (anything you can do in javascript!)

Ways I've used it: 1. create basic smoke tests that test the happy path of an app, to be run after a new deployment

2. use the Selenium IDE firefox plugin to record a 'how to recreate a bug' scenario, and attach it to a bug report, greatly reducing the amount of time to document and explain the steps it takes to get a bug to happen.

3. when integrated into the app, with some customizations, allow a QA user to dynamically choose elements to feed the selenium test (2 adult, 1 child, ord-sfo, round trip, with refund)

4. to fill in forms I don't want to fill in again (chili's and home depot receipt surveys)

5. Setting up accounts, re-initializing my stupid vonage motorola router that loses its settings if the power goes out

Selenium is great, and has gotten people thinking about how to test the app and drive it the way that the user experiences it.

There are certainly some draw-backs, and other tools that should be explored, but I think Selenium is part of a 'balanced testing diet'.

zaidf2• 16 years ago

$200 in credit? Now I might just buy this :)

I do question AppSumo's longterm strategy. It seems like they are trying to make a deal so damn good by adding more and more stuff. But for me, I don't go so much by quantity as quality. Meaning, I'd sign up for $42 for $200 in twilio credit regardless of the other offers which aren't attractive to me. But there may be folks who would sign up for uservoice regardless of the other offers. So I guess appsumo may be shooting themselves in the foot by combining so many offers vs. just focusing on a kickass offer at a time.

noahkagan12• 16 years ago

Great comment. We've tried it both way. Just experimenting to see what people like most..

See past deals here: http://www.appsumo.com/previous

metamemetics3• 16 years ago

A thematic bundle seems necessary because people buy apps based on use case as tools. The consumer is exceedingly unlikely to have heard of randomly selected application_foo unless it has already been marketed successfully. Which defeats the benefits for app-makers of getting in on a promotional bundle.

Groupon can get away with decreased items per bundle (1) at a higher frequency (daily) because: A) they have a ton of repeat viewers, B) each individual product use-case (ex. restaurant) is usually extremely obvious and non-specialized in appeal

noahkagan12• 16 years ago

Good point. One thing that works out well with these bundles is we get to help some lesser known companies get discovered.

One coming out shortly I'm really excited to promote is for http://healthmonth.com

zaidf2• 16 years ago

Fair point. The solution may be somewhere in the middle: don't have one offer, but also don't have 20.

Problem with having so many is it dilutes the value and makes AppSumo sound like one of the scammish offerings that offering 1,000 ebooks for $9.99.

Jun8• 16 years ago

I loved the bundle idea! Two suggestions:

* Not everyone is familiar with everything. Can you add a section to the site that better describes what the included services can be used for. I don't mean full-blown tutorials, although links to these would be great. Right now the descriptions are just publicity blurbs for each service.

* Can you add voting so that people nominate what services/books they want to see in the next round of such a bundle offering, if you want to continue this startup bundle idea.

noahkagan12• 16 years ago

Awesome feedback.

1- This is so true! If we had more money / people / time we'd personally like to make videos of each product. Will try to add more in the future. 2- Good call. Added to roadmap. Something similar to https://www.dropbox.com/votebox . For now you can submit any suggestions here: http://www.appsumo.com/opinion/

innovate• 16 years ago

just grabbed it, excellent stuff for our small team and lots of it

misterbwong• 16 years ago

Awesome. I bought this bundle yesterday when it didn't have Twilio + 99designs and AppSumo added them on to my purchase for free! Great customer service.

ajju5• 16 years ago

It looks like you can buy 3 bundles but many of the included items are only for new customers. So will they allow redeeming 3 promo codes on the same new account?

noahkagan12• 16 years ago

Smart but unfortunately most of the codes are for new users only. Some companies like Twilio allow you to add 1 to your existing account.

ajju5• 16 years ago

Yeah, I am not sure it would make sense for anyone to buy more than 1. So I wonder why they let you buy 3!

I must hasten to add that even limited to 1, this is an incredible deal and I am jumping on it. Great stuff!

p.s. it looks like the appsumo.com is down!

mise2• 16 years ago

Turns out a lot of the ebooks mentioned are only some chapters rather than the whole book. Nice deal all the same, I guess.

noahkagan12• 16 years ago

Yea, we tried to make that as clear as possible. Let me know if you have any suggestions...

mise2• 16 years ago

Ok, sorry. I must be your typical (nightmare) happy clicky visitor.

dchest2• 16 years ago

What did you change since yesterday when the bundle have been criticized for the same thing?

markmywords• 16 years ago

Awesome deal. Thank you very much for this one! I am busy redeeming everything. Some stuff might not be useful for customers outside of the US. Maybe "geographic deals" might be an interesting idea for a future bundle? :)

noahkagan12• 16 years ago

Let me know what you want :) noah@appsumo

ryanwaggoner• 16 years ago

It's ironic that the top two stories on HN right now are a post promoting a 99designs deal and another decrying design contests.

proexploit• 16 years ago

Simple explanation though: As a buyer, design contests are great. Plenty of ideas and you only pay if you see something you like. As a designer, design contests are awful. Most people don't get compensated for their time and it gives some people the idea that they should only pay for your time if they love your work.

psyklic• 16 years ago

I used 99designs, and I agree with you on the designer end. Not so sure about the buyer end in this case. If you offer $x, to make it worthwhile each designer has to "spend" ($x)/N dollars to submit, where N = (avg # of competitors). So you end up paying $x to one designer, yet each designer only "spent" a small fraction of that to make their submission. In other words, you get tons of low quality submissions.

Your hope is that with the diversity, either by chance a hastily made cheap one will be decent or that someone will take a risk and "spend" more than ($x)/N dollars on your submission, hoping for the full $x. It usually works out "okay," but there is a good risk that you as a buyer won't get exactly what you're looking for.

YuriNiyazov• 16 years ago

I think maybe this is what I like best about HN - both the guys from Twilio and the guys from AppSumo are hanging out in this thread.

hugs4• 16 years ago

Other folks involved in this appsumo bundle are watching, too. ;-)

ajju5• 16 years ago

Just signed up for saucelabs. Newbie question: Do you guys let me export my selenium scripts so I can also test it manually later?

johns4• 16 years ago

Just a heads up. There's a new process for redeeming the Twilio credit, which is outlined in your AppSumo dashboard. We had to change the process due to fraudulent use of the promo code. If anyone has any issues with redeeming their Twilio credit, please email help@twilio.com

Yoms• 16 years ago

Just redeemed my code using the new process, and it was totally painless.

This deal was already amazing, and you guys made it 10x better (for my app at least :)).

justinchen• 16 years ago

I bought the deal just for the Twilio credit since we're existing customers. Prob won't use any of the other apps.

GBond• 16 years ago

I've been wanting to build a "scratch an itch" app using twilio. This gives me no excuse. Thanks!

mcdowall• 16 years ago

Excellent deal, just wondered how quickly I need to redeem the offers. Is it possible for me to use them in say 4-8 weeks time, I would rather purchase when available now than lose out.

Sindrome2• 16 years ago

I've been staring at this deal all day.

I can't figure out how they got a $85 as the regular price for a website and logo design. If you look on 99Designs site they charge $295 minimum for just a logo design.

Am I missing something? About 3-4 weeks ago I wanted to use 99 Designs for a IPhone App Icon. But went there to find that they raised their minimum price for everything.

Sindrome2• 16 years ago

I just figured it out. The 99 Designs deal isn't for an actual contest. It's just for a Free Power Pack Upgrade.

tapp• 16 years ago

As long as the appsumo guys are in this thread, quick observations from a new user:

1) The "refer friends, get $10 link" in header doesn't seem to work (it prompts me to login or register, and no further info re: referring friends is provided.)

2) The logout link in header doesn't seem to work either (it triggers snapabug, but won't let me logout.)

Cool deal, though, I will undoubtedly purchase anyway. Thx for offering.

Twilio and 99designs Join This Week's AppSumo Lean Startup Bundle

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