HN user
Founder of zenedy.com, anyvite.com and tweetvite.com
In terms of needing to eat and pay rent, iPhone App developers are still in demand. Why don't you pick up some contract work, take a percentage up front and the rest on completion of the app, and continue trying to make headway with Apple on the side?
While I like the app and what you're trying to do, just a heads up that you're going to come across as super shady by automatically following the @glu Twitter account when you have users login with their Twitter credentials. The problem is that you're not making it clear up front that by logging in, you're going to be adding a follower to their Twitter account, which will be interpreted as a violation of their privacy, and will almost certainly cause a backlash at some point.
I understand that in order for your app to work, the user has to be following the @glu account, but automatically opt-ing someone in is not the right way to do it. You need to update the content and design to make it painfully clear to anyone logging into your site that they are also consenting to following the @glu account.
Just keep in mind that while a lot of artists are able to create some great looking designs, many are not versed in human cognition and user interface design concepts. You may end up with a great looking interface which is largely unusable, or at least irritating to use on a regular basis. If you're going to go down this route, make sure that someone on your team has a good grasp on UI/UX basics in order to vet the designs that are proposed and suggest changes as needed.
#11 the difference between "upload" and "download".
Aren't you supposed to be on a plane?
It's a new app. Our startup is called Simpletastic Inc. and created both Anyvite and now Tweetvite.
That's a fair comment. The domain name (as much as some of you are going to hate it since it follows the whole twit, tweet, etc. nomenclature) is a pretty good one. The interface is entirely different if you compare the two side by side, so yeah, it's possible that there might be confusion, but we've done everything that we could to differentiate there.
Uhm, the community votes on whether the submission is good or not. Who cares who submits it?
I thought the exact same thing actually.
Excellent final blog post for this series Tom. I think a lot of us are right there with you, so thanks for putting your thoughts down on paper.
It's easy to get sucked into the stereotypical startup lifestyle of working all day, every day, while sacrificing everything else...only to realize a year later what a toll that's taken on you and the people around you. Posts like this help to set things back into perspective and re-evaluate if you have your priorities straight.
Keep up the good work with TS!
Our "office" (read living room filled with computers) was actually sealed off with sheets in order to keep the cool air from the in-window AC confined to that room.
The real killer was the two mile hike to YC for weekly dinners and meetings. Unfortunately walking to the T, taking it a couple stops, then walking to YC was the same equivalent distance, so we ended up just hoofing it over there in the heat and humidity.
Oh man, almost ungodly humid. But I agree, that was a fine piece of writing by Tom.
Here is the link to the invitation:
All of those (+numbers) next to guest names means that they are bringing additional people, which is added into the tally of total guests.
Uhm, that is the entire guest list. It's an open invitation so anyone can sign themselves up for the event.
Wait til Thursday. April Fools on the web is a complete mess and your release won't get the attention that it probably deserves.
Ah, my bad, I didn't realize you were linking directly to a node. I guess that makes sense if you anticipate most people being referred from a search engine to a specific node, but if you're thinking they're going to be hitting your homepage, then I would probably get feedback by dropping users there first.
On that note, I would definitely work on the homepage a bit. Add in some pictures of people doing outdoors things (rock climbing, hiking, boating, etc.) Get people excited about doing something outdoors. I get that you're going for simplicity here, so obviously accentuate the search box (maybe make it and the search button a little bigger). Also, more contrast with the nav bar and background...green on green doesn't really set off the most important elements on the page (logo/brand and main navigation). Maybe also list further down who this might interest (hikers, backpackers, kayakers, etc.) and tell why. It seems obvious to you, but if you call out "Find Great Places to Hike", and I'm a rock climber, I may just bounce.
Subnav on the homepage: Recent Reports means nothing to me. Featured Content, a little more interesting, but still not the first thing I'd click on (if I click at all), Park Index is getting better (I can equate hikes to parks) and finally About Trailbehind, which is probably what I am going to click on if I don't immediately do a search. Move that up the priority list, and downplay some of the other stuff that isn't relevant to first time visitors (or make it clear why it is relevant).
Login: I know it seems logical that if you want to register and can't find where to, then you would click login. Don't make users do that if you've already convinced them to register (which you need to do more of...I still don't know why I would) Make the registration link over obvious if you're looking for visitors to register, and make it clear what benefit there is to registering (can you save locations, favorites, link up with other outdoors people, etc.)
Sorry, not trying to be overly critical here at all. I really like the idea and what you guys have built so far. We've just found with Anyvite that the more feedback we get, the better grasp we have on what needs to be changed. Iterate rapidly, right? Anyway, best of luck with things.
First off, I really like the concept of being able to see potential outdoor activities within my area.
Some feedback:
- As some other people have mentioned, it's tough to tell exactly what is happening when you drop onto the page. You need at least some description as to what you are all about, even though it seems obvious to you.
- Have a key for all of the different icons that show up. It may seem obvious that a notebook is information about something, and a water drop is a river/stream/etc. but it won't be obvious to everyone. A followup to that is to show more information when I hover over an icon. Showing me a name when I hover over a waterdrop doesn't do me much good. Tell me it's a stream, river, lake, pond, puddle, etc. as well as its name and why I would want to know that this exists (the point of the website is to find places to do things outdoors, right?). Tell me that I can go fishing or boating on a lake. Whitewater rafting on a river with rapids. That sort of thing.
- Clicking on an icon adds a point, but it's not altogether clear as to why it does that. I would expect it to show additional information (which it apparently does in the floating pane...I'll get to that momentarily) but why do I need multiple points? And reclicking on a point does a reload of the page? Again, just make it blatantly clear why some of these actions occur.
- The floating pane. I totally get why it's there...you need some sort of window to display detailed information about all of these different icons, but let me hide/minimize or close it if I want to. The title of whatever I click on looks like it's in an input box, which makes me think I can edit it...which I can't. Make it look like a title not an input box. Additional, if I've clicked on an icon and want information on what that is, then just show me information for that point. If there isn't any, then don't show the point. You'll quickly have a bad user experience if you have lots of points with no content. (It appears that there is a user generated content aspect to this where people can input information about a point, so this may be a tough balance...maybe have a toggle to add content to the map, but hide points with no content if you're just searching) Give me the option to view other related/interesting areas in proximity to this, but don't default to that if there is no content. Also, clicking on the title of a nearby/related trip report should show more information in the pane about that trip report, not take me away from the site to somewhere else. Let the URL at the bottom do that, or have a link to the source website.
- Your homepage (the place that your Home link goes to) just goes into a continuous loading indicator when searching on my zip (21045). Are you planning on having people drop onto this page when going to Trailbehind? If not, why have it if you already have a location search on the map? If it's an About page rather than Home, then call it that, not Home.
- Eventually do some geolocation to default the map to a point close to the where the user is accessing Trailbehind from. Defaulting to a location in Ghana does not help me at all (no offense to the country of Ghana).
Anyway, there were just a few thoughts after a quick glance through the site. Congrats on getting something out there and keep iterating!
Agreed. Sometimes "more features" and "more interactive images" doesn't always translate into a better experience for the user.
I may be a bit biased on this one, but I'm curious to know where the 10 million that they raised went to? Some more features and more interactive images? I have a feeling that Ticketstumbler will out perform in the long run as they're still motivated by the "innovate or die" mentality.
I'm pretty sure you're not going to see any startups up at 9am PST. Coding sessions til the early hours of the morning and waking closer to noon are more of the norm.
Congrats on the bookmarklet guys! Tumblr better watch out...
Use Google's Website Optimizer to do AB testing with the different phrases that you've come up with.
Agree with Luke. Very sweet...congrats John and Brett!
Oh man, I was totally waiting for the Ticketstumblers reactions to this news.
Hey Ben, totally didn't mean to leave you out! Like Dan said, the pic of Tom (wearing lipstick) is a running joke. You get just as much love as the other YC companies involved!
That actually sounds really sweet. Working in the mountains on your startup with decently close proximity to the Bay Area if you want to come into the city for events. Great plan!
And just so for the record, so is that other founder of Ticketstumbler:
http://multimedia.heraldinteractive.com/images/f9833f0a6c_ti...
He really is, isn't he?
Links down, here's the cached version: http://209.85.173.132/search?q=cache:YchvBt7eH24J:www.cs.cal...