ASquare

Ah I see it now - thanks! Fixed it.

Also added an OVR label next to that stat by player names.

Did both swaps not work for you or just one?

Trying to figure out why that would even happen - it works fine in my testing so a bit confused as to how to even troubleshoot.

And the number next to the player is their OVR or Overall Rating. It represents a player's combined skill attributes. It's calculated from weighted base stats (shooting, passing, defending and pace) that are displayed under their names.

Would love to know what HN thinks of the video itself and the product idea too!

Yes it will. The way the organizer is laid out is by trip decision. So initial research, orientation etc, for eg, falls into a "Basics" bucket that provides you the best information to get a sense of the place.

The initial iteration isn't geared towards giving you the answer (need a lot of data to make this happen) vs presenting you with the best & most relevant resources to help you arrive at the answer that best answers your questions

So in terms of finding hotels, as in your example, the tool wouldn't currently do it, but would give you the best resources to help you figure that out as quickly as possible.

Re: users. This is clearly one of the biggest challenges with travel startups given the 1-3 times a year use for most.

We've been testing a community passionate about travel and we're extremely encouraged by the results from the last couple of months in bringing people back almost daily (either to submit content, engage with it or just consume). Bottom line they're coming back for a reason other than to plan travel. But by coming back, we're staying top of mind as the place they discovered these great travel resources so that when they're ready to plan a trip we're likely going to be the place they do it. We're also working on something that ties this community more tightly into the platform down the line so the entire journey from initial discovery through planning is seamless.

We haven't pulled any of the levers that allow for content sharing content or referral mechanisms etc as yet that will serve to bring others to this community, which will serve as the top of the funnel, on an ongoing basis.

10 bucks say a reporter came up with that name initially

A good framework, for overall organization and cleaning, to co-opt, is the 5S methodology used in Lean Six Sigma Manufacturing environments

https://goleansixsigma.com/5s-infographic/

https://goleansixsigma.com/how-to-easily-apply-5s-to-your-wo...

Its actually quite easy to understand and implement.

My reasoning: http://blog.planitwide.com/about/

There's a couple I know:

1. Engagement Pyramid: http://www.socialmediamodels.net/social-media-overview-model...

2. Hook Model: http://www.nirandfar.com/2012/09/desire-engine-in.html

Getting eyeballs is one thing - keeping them is another.

Cheers!

Just one thing with respect to the books mentioned at the end of the post.

I've read all of them and don't think that you need any of them.

If you are going to pick one up - get "Running Lean" by Ash Maurya - it's literally a step by step manual on how to do whatever it is you need to.

"Ask users what they want." - This!

Flyertalk forums: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/index.php

Serious question - have you asked this question of people who might really have this problem?

This is customer development 101.

This is a great resource on the topic: https://blog.kissmetrics.com/26-customer-development-resourc...

Cheers!

Try betali.st and erlibird.com

There's no guarantee of when they'll show up (unless you pay) but there are the most common ways to get your pre-launch startup in front of an audience who is interested in seeing new product everyday.

You can do it with Zapier. See: https://zapier.com/zapbook/disqus/mailchimp/

1. Landing Page Copy:

This piece of text is your USP "Identifies which of your subscribers are influencers"

I think that all you need is , with a slight modification:

i. "Identify influencers in you email list" and

ii. the 4 bullet points above the How it works video. ie

"Generate relevant content for your audience (more traffic)

Segment your audience so you can send targeted offers (save money)

Create offers that will convert better (more revenue)

Target advertising dollars that reaches your ideal audience (higher ROI)"

Everything else is too much to read - most people are just not going to do that.

2. How it works Video:

This can then come directly under this copy (in place of the infographic you have currently.

3. Background Image:

This is just too random. You want something that's more reflective of your users end state after they've used your product.

4. Call to Action button:

Instead of what you have, induce a little excitement/urgency by changing the text in the button to something like "Get Early Access".

Being "notified" is just boring.

Note: Everything to this point, ie the landing page copy, the video and the CTA button should fit on one page without scrolling.

5. Other Links:

The purpose of this pre-launch landing page is to get people to click on the CTA button and give you their email address, not click around.

a. If you take the suggestion I made in #2, that removes the need for the "How it works" link in the header

b. Similarly, the CTA button in the header is redundant

c. The Pricing link: Given that people haven't had a chance to play around with your product, giving them info on pricing is without context and they can't really judge whether the features make sense or not. Also, there's no comparison info to similar products to judge the value of your offering.

I suggest one of 2 paths:

i. Either remove pricing info for now and see if the landing page with the video itself converts or not or

ii. Try testing pricing with a 3-page landing page strategy like Buffer did: https://blog.bufferapp.com/idea-to-paying-customers-in-7-wee...

Hope that all made sense.

Agree with this. Some sort of wizard or interactive product tour to hand hold me through the aha moment described by another commenter might be quite helpful for the onboarding experience.

You could use something like this to assist with that: http://github.hubspot.com/shepherd/docs/welcome/

Here's a perspective: http://blog.launch.co/blog/googlewinseverything-part-1.html

Cheers!

Check out this (relatively short) e-book on pricing.

I found it quite helpful.

http://download.red-gate.com/ebooks/DJRTD_eBook.pdf

I think you'll find a lot of inspiration here:

http://www.outsideonline.com/adventure-travel/road-trips/Ame...

and

http://www.outsideonline.com/adventure-travel/road-trips/Out...

I think if they can understand the concept of measurable outcomes i.e., how will you know that x has happened (answer: something like “because i can see/hear/do/feel etc. y many things”) – that’s a huge win.

To me understanding this concept is the foundation of everything. How you achieve this mindset is then a matter of tactics, whether that's LEGO or anything else.

The biggest reason many managers are bad managers is because they haven't defined measurable goals and outcomes for the individuals on the team and for the team as a whole.

This leads them to micromanage, be stressed and every other characteristic associated with the stereotype.

If you are able to define measurable outcomes/goals - then how those are achieved really should be left in the hands of the individuals/team.

This is what makes you (imo) a capable manager.

If you want to take it up a notch, learn how to motivate them.

I highly suggest watching

a) Dan Pink's talk on Motivation for this (and perhaps also picking up his book "Drive"): http://www.ted.com/talks/dan_pink_on_motivation and

b) Simon Sinek's talk on leadership (and also picking up his book) on starting with why: http://www.ted.com/talks/simon_sinek_how_great_leaders_inspi....

I think this will give you a strong foundation to build off of.

Serious question - why are you gauging interest AFTER you've spent time/money/energy building something vs 6 months ago before you even wrote a line of code?

I think you may have a more informed discussion on this question on Inbound.org simply because SEO is a huge focus of that community (vs HN) .

Not being facetious - and I'm not an SEO guy - but opinions on SEO by people who do not have expertise in it are not as relevant and may simply feed your confirmation bias, rather than get you (closer) to the true answer/conclusion (whatever that may be)

You pointed to the answer in your question: It's about sustainability.

You work hard at it because you're genuinely trying to build something that will last vs the kind of crap you alluded to that will come and go as long as there is money to be made.

To say it more specifically, you're not busting your hump PRIMARILY for money.

If over 95% of startups fail then the odds are stacked against you before you even begin. On top of that, if money is your primary motivation the odds of you sustaining your interest in this startup are almost guaranteed to fizzle away.

I'm one of those who is extremely vary of FB.

What info can/cannot FB see?

Is there anyway you can highlight the aspect of data being kept private - that may go a long way way towards allaying (some people's fears).

This!

tl;dr:

# of current subscribers is irrelevant. Build authority.

---------------------------------------------------------

It's not about today - it's about building up your authority over time.

It's a near guarantee that you will be blogging (literally/metaphorically) just for yourself for ~ 6 months - and that's ok - you have to keep that big picture in mind.

So even if you have 1 person that signed - that's one person besides you that gives a crap about what you do. That alone puts you above most people.

Do whatever it takes to keep them engaged - from blog posts to skype conversations to whatever the hell it takes to build your community for when you really need it.

You will likely learn some lessons for when your audience s realy big - which is helpful for when you do have more attention and can't afford to be making those kinds of mistakes.