Show HN: I'm bootstrapping my company and this is my first product. Thoughts?
Published in 2012, this chronicle by @ktusznio details the mechanics of building a profitable, self-funded business without venture backing.
The community focused on B2B customer acquisition channels, cold email vs SEO distribution, and balancing full-time employment with side-project development.
The web page could be much more reader friendly (and less about you).
Specifically, the reader shouldn't have to search around the page to get a clear picture of what the app does. The top section of text (The Mission) does very little to explain the app. It says that you built this app to scratch your own itch (which is nice for you, but which we don't care about)... and it asks your readers for favors before we even know what the app is.
I'd dramatically shorten this. At the very least, the features section should go ahead of the request that we tell our friends about it.
I know this page is just something temporary to get the word out, but it will be more engaging and effective with small changes to make it more reader-oriented.
On an aesthetics note: pick a cleaner, more serious font than the script. It shows that you mean business with your app and it's meant to be used seriously rather than as a fun one-off.
On a consistency note: the examples in your copy should match those in your example image. You have 30 min for exercise and 1 hour for emails in the image but they're the opposite in your copy.
The app looks good though and quite useful. Might I also suggest, instead of listing all the features to have them displayed around the image with arrows pointing to what they're referring to. Context can make all the difference, especially with a long page.
Well, I can see that this app is going to be useful for me (assuming I don't forget to use it). Thanks for making it! A few comments:
- I'd like to start multiple tasks at the same time (like running, and listening to music--done at the same time, but have different limits)
- Make the granularity of time equal in 'Today' (curr min: seconds) and 'Goal' (curr. min: minutes)
- 'Goal tracking' on/off was a bit confusing, I think because it's on the screen that manages the goal and not on the one that creates it.
I like how you have the 'at least' and 'at most'. There are things with no end in sight but need an hour a day.
It might be fun to play the background music of your video while the clock is running in the app, it reminded me of a Sega Outrun feeling for some reason and might help in gamifying speed.
You could allow for a pomodoro time metric perhaps? (Instead of 45 minutes for X, I can spend 2 pomodoros) that way you can piggy back into that particular community.
Would also be handy to store info on a web interface so I can work on it from my computer.
Quick pitch: It's a time tracker with a robust goal-setting system that allows you to set up 'at most' and 'at least' goals. Spending too much time in your inbox? Set up a 'Do at most 1 hour going through email' goal. Want to work more on your side-project? 'Do at least 2 hours of side-project development'
I found this method of goal-setting to be pretty helpful for me both in maximizing time spent on things I want to do, and minimizing time spent on things I do that I'd rather not. What do you think?
Here are some free promo codes for those hesitant to take a closer look:
``` 6TKWP4KAH37H JJM7MA4HK7RL 94YR7XMJPNTW 77XMHW96TPNJ RHHXLR7LFYXN
``` Please comment if you take one so I can take it off the list.
I'd love feedback on just about anything: design, execution, features, etc.
Thanks so much for taking a look!
-Kamil