Ask HN: Review My Startup - Thankuz.com
8 comments
There's something special about receiving a hand written thank you card that gets lost when converted to a font (even a nice looking "hand written" font).
Here's an idea I had to keep the hand written allure and still eliminate the major hassles (stamps, stationary, envelopes, etc.).
What if a customer signed up and was given a template to print out on any old printer. This template has a To/From section at the top similar to a fax cover sheet and below that, a large rectangular outline.
The user would fill out the top contact info, hand write the thank you note inside the box, snap a picture with their smart phone and then email the picture to you. Your servers would identify the user based on the email address, place the hand written contents of the rectangle into a gorgeous thank you note template, OCR the contact field at the top of the page and then email a sample copy to the user for approval. If everything checks out, user clicks 'approved' and copy gets sent to intended recipient.
Obviously that is an over simplified explanation and a good amount of work would need to go into something like that, but I can absolutely imagine having a stack of these pre-printed forms sitting on my desk and scratching out a quick thank you note to people.
4 for $1, 50 for $10, unlimited for $100/year? Or do freemium where you charge for premium or custom templates, remove thankuz branding from the email, etc.
You'd probably also want to do some image processing so the hand written section looks like it belongs in the template and wasn't just pasted in.
Hopefully that brainstorm is useful to someone, good luck with your business!
Here's an idea I had to keep the hand written allure and still eliminate the major hassles (stamps, stationary, envelopes, etc.).
What if a customer signed up and was given a template to print out on any old printer. This template has a To/From section at the top similar to a fax cover sheet and below that, a large rectangular outline.
The user would fill out the top contact info, hand write the thank you note inside the box, snap a picture with their smart phone and then email the picture to you. Your servers would identify the user based on the email address, place the hand written contents of the rectangle into a gorgeous thank you note template, OCR the contact field at the top of the page and then email a sample copy to the user for approval. If everything checks out, user clicks 'approved' and copy gets sent to intended recipient.
Obviously that is an over simplified explanation and a good amount of work would need to go into something like that, but I can absolutely imagine having a stack of these pre-printed forms sitting on my desk and scratching out a quick thank you note to people.
4 for $1, 50 for $10, unlimited for $100/year? Or do freemium where you charge for premium or custom templates, remove thankuz branding from the email, etc.
You'd probably also want to do some image processing so the hand written section looks like it belongs in the template and wasn't just pasted in.
Hopefully that brainstorm is useful to someone, good luck with your business!
Excellent feedback! We agree wholeheartedly that handwritten is the way to go and have been working hard to address that very issue. We came up w/ something pretty similar during a few Thank Tank sessions based on some other products and technologies we've seen used elsewhere.
Our concept was that the user would download and print a special font card w/ the various characters and symbols listed, along with corresponding boxes for them to fill in each letter / symbol in their own handwriting. Once complete, the user could snap a picture w/ their smart phone, or scan and fax, what have you, the card back to have a custom font made by us using their own writing. There are some challenges, but the technology exists to make it all happen.
The user could then begin using their own handwriting, or choose an attractive one (as they currently can) for any notes they create.
We're also planning physical delivery as an option, and are working on a privacy layer for private notes. The biz model you suggested looks very similar to a couple of the ideas we've brainstormed.
Loved you ideas about removing branding, and your thoughts on the freemium model.
Your thoughts are right on and re-affirm what we've thought, and what we've heard from users thus far! Thanks so much for chiming in, and for the warm wishes.
Feel free to email me any time (address in profile), should you think of anything else. You obviously grasp the art of thanks very well and we'd love to hear more!
Our concept was that the user would download and print a special font card w/ the various characters and symbols listed, along with corresponding boxes for them to fill in each letter / symbol in their own handwriting. Once complete, the user could snap a picture w/ their smart phone, or scan and fax, what have you, the card back to have a custom font made by us using their own writing. There are some challenges, but the technology exists to make it all happen.
The user could then begin using their own handwriting, or choose an attractive one (as they currently can) for any notes they create.
We're also planning physical delivery as an option, and are working on a privacy layer for private notes. The biz model you suggested looks very similar to a couple of the ideas we've brainstormed.
Loved you ideas about removing branding, and your thoughts on the freemium model.
Your thoughts are right on and re-affirm what we've thought, and what we've heard from users thus far! Thanks so much for chiming in, and for the warm wishes.
Feel free to email me any time (address in profile), should you think of anything else. You obviously grasp the art of thanks very well and we'd love to hear more!
Interesting idea. I see that your main competitor is email and other media. People send thank you notes by email or Facebook these days. For me your solutions is less personal and it is crating an overhead: you are still using email/facebook to send the message. Just my $0.02. Unless you plan do add something on top of this to make it more personal or rewarding to use it?
Your points are well received.
The idea was to go where the users are already thanking each other (since, as you mentioned it's the norm these days). We didn't feel that it made sense to try and replace these traditional forms of media, but rather to embrace and attempt to extend their use for our purposes. The overhead right now is next to nothing, so it made sense.
Another challenge has been extending interaction beyond the first, "Thank you" and "Your Welcome" (hence the comments). We are already working on adding "Winks" and "P.S.'s" in order to accomplish this.
Myself, and 100's of people we've talked to have said, "that thanking via social status' ISN'T as personal as a handwritten note and that they only do it to save time, expense and so they don't feel guilty about NOT sending anything."
As I mentioned in the previous comments response, we plan on adding Physical delivery as an option in a later iteration. We think having that option will make it much more personal than just a Web link to a Note page (which, in the opinion of users we've polled, is more personal than just a status message).
Thank you for the input, we'll keep asking our users how they feel and go from there!
The idea was to go where the users are already thanking each other (since, as you mentioned it's the norm these days). We didn't feel that it made sense to try and replace these traditional forms of media, but rather to embrace and attempt to extend their use for our purposes. The overhead right now is next to nothing, so it made sense.
Another challenge has been extending interaction beyond the first, "Thank you" and "Your Welcome" (hence the comments). We are already working on adding "Winks" and "P.S.'s" in order to accomplish this.
Myself, and 100's of people we've talked to have said, "that thanking via social status' ISN'T as personal as a handwritten note and that they only do it to save time, expense and so they don't feel guilty about NOT sending anything."
As I mentioned in the previous comments response, we plan on adding Physical delivery as an option in a later iteration. We think having that option will make it much more personal than just a Web link to a Note page (which, in the opinion of users we've polled, is more personal than just a status message).
Thank you for the input, we'll keep asking our users how they feel and go from there!
Thanks for the reply. I meant that the overhead is going to your page, instead of just shooing an email from an email client; it is minimal but still it's a big step to remember your site.
I commented this because I had similar idea before. I planned to have it more public with points, so most thank you notes would be public and it would say "Jack Jones thankend Jill Jones" with a note. Each of them would get points each time they thank and get thanked (Two counters). In a way this would be like recommendations on linkedin. People would have their profile pages with all thanks and they could use it to show if off.
An idea: video thank you notes, that could go for a premium. You can easily capture and record video from a browser. That's more personal than physical note.
I commented this because I had similar idea before. I planned to have it more public with points, so most thank you notes would be public and it would say "Jack Jones thankend Jill Jones" with a note. Each of them would get points each time they thank and get thanked (Two counters). In a way this would be like recommendations on linkedin. People would have their profile pages with all thanks and they could use it to show if off.
An idea: video thank you notes, that could go for a premium. You can easily capture and record video from a browser. That's more personal than physical note.
Ok. Yeah, makes sense now that you put it that way. I don't think an extra click is all that much more, especially considering if there's an attachment (picture or video) in the email that you have to download and open. If they don't remember the site, they can always pull up that email, or check their FB or Twit page to find it (assuming they save it).
I completely agree that a site like this would benefit greatly from some Game mechanics, like points. You'll notice in my previous comment I alluded to that, only called it kudos or karma. I also think the social aspects can play a much bigger role in the future. I'd love to see something like a "circle of thanks" and having the explore option allows users to browse other peoples notes for wording ideas, and to learn more about how others send thanks.
Love the idea of video thanks. We had the same idea, only a different implementation. Basically, we were thinking a user could upload a photo or record a short video from the browser or Web cam to attach (for a more personal touch).
Would love to continue this discussion, if you'd be up for it. It really sounds like you understand what we're trying to do, and are obviously passionate about it. Maybe there's an opportunity here to collaborate on this.
Are you a hacker? Or?
Feel free to email me using the address in my profile!
Matt Franklin
I completely agree that a site like this would benefit greatly from some Game mechanics, like points. You'll notice in my previous comment I alluded to that, only called it kudos or karma. I also think the social aspects can play a much bigger role in the future. I'd love to see something like a "circle of thanks" and having the explore option allows users to browse other peoples notes for wording ideas, and to learn more about how others send thanks.
Love the idea of video thanks. We had the same idea, only a different implementation. Basically, we were thinking a user could upload a photo or record a short video from the browser or Web cam to attach (for a more personal touch).
Would love to continue this discussion, if you'd be up for it. It really sounds like you understand what we're trying to do, and are obviously passionate about it. Maybe there's an opportunity here to collaborate on this.
Are you a hacker? Or?
Feel free to email me using the address in my profile!
Matt Franklin
What's the business model?
Great question.
We're thinking of a couple different model opportunities:
First, a Freemium model where users could upgrade their account in order to unlock additional features (physical sending of notes, additional themes, textures, fonts, using their own handwriting, etc.).
We're also looking into a Virtual Currency (kudos, karma, etc.) model where users would start with a set number of notes, and could "earn" more by reaching certain milestones, using the site, interacting with other users, sharing w/ friends and of course, using real currency to reload their notes. If we went this route I'd personally like to see some Gaming mechanics built in (something like stamps instead of badges).
We're also building a mobile version of the Web App so thanks could be sent wherever the user is, at any time.
We're thinking of a couple different model opportunities:
First, a Freemium model where users could upgrade their account in order to unlock additional features (physical sending of notes, additional themes, textures, fonts, using their own handwriting, etc.).
We're also looking into a Virtual Currency (kudos, karma, etc.) model where users would start with a set number of notes, and could "earn" more by reaching certain milestones, using the site, interacting with other users, sharing w/ friends and of course, using real currency to reload their notes. If we went this route I'd personally like to see some Gaming mechanics built in (something like stamps instead of badges).
We're also building a mobile version of the Web App so thanks could be sent wherever the user is, at any time.
The Problem:
It's too darn difficult, time consuming and expensive to send genuine thanks regularly. Traditional thank you notes required way too much planning in today's fast paced environment (ie. stamps, stationary, envelops, contact info, etc.). Not to mention the environmental impact using all that paper has.
E-Greeting card sites are just as tedious as traditional thank you notes. The typical process requires a user to first sign up, then they have to take several steps to create a card before actually getting to do what matters most, send it. Not to mention that during creation many users are bombarded with 100's of fonts, themes, graphics, etc. (too many choices). These sites don't solve the problem very well in our opinion.
Many people have resorted to sending thanks via social status messages, which isn't nearly as personal, meaningful or effective. We created Thankuz as an alternative to these options and think it fills the large gap between traditional handwritten thank you notes, and less formal social status updates.
The Proposed Solution:
First and foremost, we built Thankuz for ourselves.
The Thankuz Web App was created to make it easier for anyone to say, "Thank You" to People, Places or Things for Gifts, Acts and Expressions via instant thank you notes.
We've recently released our MVP and would greatly appreciate some feedback from the HN community.
Here's an example note: http://thankuz.com/notes/io0w0rf
Thank You, Matt Franklin