There's no argument or lesson learned from it. Its simply a story.
The backstory is that I got so frustrated at Facebook's api changes that I had almost lost hope on anything working with beepl. And just when i was abwt to give up, i said 'fuck it' and did a mobile version for a change.
And this happened.
We're hiring based on the fact that the week before it was 10 download per day.
As I say in the article, its based on incremental improvements. I've never built for mobile before so still figuring out non-ad-based methods of getting traction.
One such option is multiplayer. (But i'm always concerned when a new feature is the solution, cuz, feature creeping is the best product killer)
So, what's your feedback to make it more fun and less rudimentary? :)
Yes, I am using Tinder's name a lot. Its a trick to get downloads. Many people search for tinder, find about Swypeout and downloaded it. Some ever contacted us for support. (Not my friends)
Well, the pivot itself was not intended.
Normally, you read data and decide to pivot in a direction you're aware of based on the data.
In this case, I had in mind building a mobile version of Beepl, NOT a trivia game. I never intended the pivot to happen and for some while I was lost as to what the hell had just happened.
I might even argue that its not a pivot in its right sense because the end products are absolutely unrelated. I mean, how is a trivia game the pivot of a CRM? :P
From a UX perspective, if you click on the logo or the name of the website you're at, would u expect to be redirected to another page, or go to the root of that page?
Look at buffe'rs blog: http://blog.bufferapp.com/
Logo with the name of buffer goes back to the root. They added a "Whats buffer" link to point to the website.
Attention to detail VS. scrappiness / Get Shit Done.
At an early stage when you're doing an MVP and validating your product, which would you recommend I go for?
The blog is based on a ghost theme, that I forked and adapted yesterday: https://github.com/BeeplApp/ghostwriter
Feel free to fork it. If you're that attentioned to detail, then Beepl will definitely be a challenge for you ;) (And i'm hiring: [email protected])
The article itself was written in a couple of hours. Nothing badly done there? ;)
Last but not least, as I say in the post, You can't please everyone.
Its a bummer for you, but not for the people who flocked to the website. (1110 unique visitors since the post on HN.)
I'm a perfectionist, I wish I could nail everything down. But I have to be realistic.
Solo founder, bootstrapper, one man show. Tradeoffs are necessary. And i'd gladly miss a link to my website that can be fixed easily vs making sure my website is live when massive unexpected traffic hits my server.
again, missing link or website down?
perfectionisme or scrappiness?
P.S. check the blog now. I made a mistake, you pointed out ( thanks :)) and now its fixed :) Cheers!
Look, anyone is ready to pay for what they need. So instead of finding something people are willing to pay for, start by finding something people NEED (=> solve a problem).
Cash will come on its own ;)
Looks nice. Love the flat design.
However, I am wondering how much is it still relevant to use QR codes nowadays.
Also, what if the user does not have a QR reader?
Probably the best way to know how to build a successful one is knowing how to build one that won't fail!