I agree, I think it's unfortunate when services get shut down post acquisition.
I also agree with you that all startups should have a clear path to monetization. I would assume that institutional investors would require as much before investing, but I think that would probably be assuming too much these days.
However, I don't think that all startups should "turn on" the monetization immediately. For those us trying to build two-sided platforms, we need to get one side of the platform on first. Typically this will be the users as brands and retailers are still very much focused on reach and are very slow to make decisions.
Thanks for the feedback... will definitely watch out for those 2 things going forward. Were the contests you were running for groups of friends or for the broader public? (we're experimenting with both)
Yep, we have thought through a number of different monetization strategies including sponsored challenges, private games / events, virtual goods and paid / ad-supported versions. The most important thing right now for us, though, is building a product that people love. With that in mind, we'd love any feedback you might have from that perspective.
Hi mindhunter thanks for the feedback. I think we had put the same character limitation on the pw as we had on the username. Agree with you that shouldn't be the case and it will be changed in the next version. Welcome any other feedback if you have any.
Pictorious is a game where you and your friends participate in and create memes. We're combining the fun game mechanics of social games (Draw Something, Words with Friends) with the ubiquitous activity of photo-sharing. Would love to hear the HN community's feedback on our little project!
I also agree with you that all startups should have a clear path to monetization. I would assume that institutional investors would require as much before investing, but I think that would probably be assuming too much these days.
However, I don't think that all startups should "turn on" the monetization immediately. For those us trying to build two-sided platforms, we need to get one side of the platform on first. Typically this will be the users as brands and retailers are still very much focused on reach and are very slow to make decisions.