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10 points by theremora ↗ HN
Boston Launch: www.genotrope.com could you please check out the site and critique and comment? As a cold start peer produced database, the data is only robust for the Boston Market currently. If you are from Austin..etc.. the experience will be less than fulfilling for now, so to get the idea, use a Boston company like Lotus or ITA software in your profile. Then you will be able to see what companies are matched to you. Feel free to add your companies and founder/investor connections. thanks

57 comments

[ 2.9 ms ] story [ 115 ms ] thread
mcxx
From a developer's point of view: HTML 4.0 and table layout stinks! Use CSS. Write in UTF8 and add a DTD. Use mod_rewrite to rewrite your URL (port number in a URL doesn't look profesional).

From a visitor's point of view: The colors suck. And why do I have to log into the app to read the FAQ? The "welcome page" doesn't have navigation, other pages have it. BTW your home page is different from the welcome page, fix that too.

bfioca
No user cares about HTML 4.0 and table layouts. I hate this complaint. Also, don't use mod_rewrite because it adds unnecessary overhead to your webserver.
agentbleu
no mod rewrite? ever heard of something silly called seo?

ref tables etc, Im with you - who cares

s

bfioca
You can do smart URLs without mod_rewrite. Ever hear of rails?
agentbleu
is that something you put your curtains on?
agentbleu
anyway forgive me but I was under the impression RoR had performance issues?
bfioca
Saying language X has performance issues makes no sense. Saying implementation X has performance issues does. It's not the language, it's the application/developer/configuration.
gojomo
You're right about HTML4/tables... but the suggestion to use something (mod_rewrite or whatever) to get off a non-standard port (8081) is a good one. Non-standard ports look sketchy to many people -- and sometimes company networks even block access to them.
bfioca
Yes but you can do that without mod_rewrite.
theremora
thanks, the faq issue was an oversite, the rest we can fix. what is the issue with colors, what site colors do you like
kungfooguru
The images are fuzzy, and the large image is distracting.
johnrob
First thing I noticed was the graph of companies. I figured the site was a database of corporate relationships (company A funded company B, which acquired company C, etc..). Then I saw the 'job hacks' tab, and the 'Opportunities at Emerging and Start-up Technology Companies' tab on the top. Ah, this is a job site.

The message needs to be clearer: This is a job site (which happens to have a nice company analyzer) or this is a Company database (which happens to have job listings). There is probably too much info on the front page.

I would probably lean toward the Company database that has jobs version over the other.

theremora
thanks, yea, a destination to stay informed about local startups, and if you want, pursue job opportunities.
hhm
I agree with this one. Btw, I liked the site.
bosko
The entire site is a confusing mess. That chart is fuzzy and scares me. I don't even want to look at it. Text is horribly contrasted throughout the site. Constantly opening links in a new window when I don't want that. Clicking on the "Limited Access" link to let me do a search loads a page that nearly crashes my browser. Java is slow to load and other portions had to wait.

Don't see why you had to use JAVA to show a graph that has no real value. Cool, we can move the arrows around the central point! But it has no value .. just make it a nice static, clear image

bmaier
strangest name I've encountered in a while and thats saying something on today's internet.
edw519
Too slow to load. I gave up. But from the looks of the other comments here, it's just as well.

Looks like you're getting good (and ruthless) feedback. I'd expect nothing less from this group.

Good luck to you. Let us know when 1.1 is ready.

pg
The frontpage doesn't explain what the benefit is for the user, or what he should do to try it out. There's also at least 2x too much on the frontpage, though better graphic design would make it look less distracting.
dpapathanasiou
Is this supposed to be like LinkedIn for startups?

Or is it just a research site, like a Hoover's for startups?

theremora
you could say that, founders move from company to company and create similar work environments and hire similar quality people
dpapathanasiou
If it's supposed to be a startup jobs site, you should make that more clear, right at the beginning (maybe split the page into "For Startup Job Seekers" and "For Startup Founders Who Are Hiring", for example).
theremora
uncle, uncle,,thanks, may I have another. I was expecting brutal good feedback so keep it coming. Ok, we are down now. will get it back up and try again. thanks for the pressure
Magua
Very confusing graphics and layout. Also, strange name. If you have to explain what your name means, you've got a problem.
lanceusa
Google and Yahoo are not strange?
theremora
loopt, xobni, scribd, wufoo, weebly, zenter I dont know, names are hard. Is it memorable? hangoutandlearnaboutyourlocalstartupmarket.com was taken :)
Magua
exactly why I don't remember some of them. At least scribd is sort of mnemonic.
theremora
back up, well see how long it lasts
alexsolo
Seems to be down again...
theremora
just checked , is working now, sorry for the problems. finding problems along with getting the feedback
mynameishere
I guess I don't see the point. People are complaining about fuzzy images or whatever. I thought the interface was okay, but the question of where and how value is being added is not at all clear.

Also, go through your codebase, and anytime you see something like this:

"Please login to access 'Find Companies / Jobs"

...do a total re-write. I'm not logging it to an unfamiliar website, and neither are 95 percent of people.

theremora
point well taken, since users can enter and edit the database of companies, how would you approach trying to keep some semblance of security for the database without knowing who is modifying it?
maxwell
Anyone can see it, log in to write to it.
theremora
thats how it works. Then to see matched companies, an email is all that is required for registration to be able to create a profile (past and current employers) and then have Genotrope create a graph of related companies which show up on the find page.
cstejerean
Try to get past needing to create a profile. Let the user enter as much data as necessary and save it in the session. If they like what they see they can decide to create a profile.
hollywoodcole
- Need a clear sentence on what you do or what the site is about.

- Images have been stretched

juanpablo
Wow. An actual Java applet. It's like 1998 all over again. Too much for a simple graph. You should consider replace it with flash... or even pure Dom/Javascript, like these guys: http://www.genoom.com
theremora
thanks yeah, there is a flash version about ready to drop. it is overkill for the simple graph, but when we map all web 2 startups in boson. or compare two VC to see if they have invested together in the past, being able to zoom and pan will be more useful.
wallflower
Did you roll-your-own graph display UI library or use someone elses?
theremora
see prefuse credit at bottom of graph window
sammyo
YC dotted?
theremora
i dont know what that means? y (space) combinator in the database
sspencer
sammyo is asking if the site has been brought down due to heavy traffic. Although if YC is nailing your site, you have serious problems.

See "slashdotted" here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slashdotted

I thought everyone knew that term by now...

theremora
yea I know the term, didn't connect the dots , brain is YC dotted as well
theremora
sorry, brain not connecting the dots,
juanpablo
"Add your company and the connections to investors and past companies of the founders and executives."

???? So this is for company owners? Why they should reveal their connections?

"Adding companies and links add credit points."

Credits points?

theremora
it is public knowledge what companies the founders and executives came from. Are you thinking connections like people they know ie friends . look at the graph for y combinator or ITA software and you will see what the connections refer to. Yes companies are the clients.

would you prefer karma rather than credits?

lanceusa
A startup built on the idea of tracking startups...what will they think of next.

Looked good though.

streo
What is the etiquette regarding asking the YCombinator community to review a site? I just recently joined and I absolutely love the interaction with other community members with submissions like this....

...also I have something I'm working on (surprise surprise) and I would like to submit something of this nature for all to see, once things are up. I wanted to know if asking the community to review my site is something that would get me the feedback I'm looking for (I REALLY want to know why my project sucks or won't work) or if it's something that is not encouraged.

theremora
no etiquette, just post it and they will come. I dont think you will have to worry about what people REALLY think.
streo
The fact that the rounded rectangle boxes are not evenly spaced shows lack of attention to detail. (yes I'm being a jerk here, but I've found that negative feedback from others has helped me make my project better)

The graphics are grainy. They should be stark and clean. There is too much use of two colors. It feels too monochromatic.

You need a better descriptions to communicate what benefit you have for people to join. Why should I join? There needs to be a more obvious "in your face" explanation highlighting something. The message should be along the lines of "If I join, then _______ is a possibility for me" - what I mean here is that this is the feeling that needs to be evoked within your visitors perception when they read one of the rounded boxes.

The graph could be a 3D graph, it will look unique and at the same time convey a hidden message to explore the site. It's a subtle message that if somebody sees an object of depth then they have an inclination to explore the site

On the about page, you need to have a margin on the sides. Feel free to make the font size bigger.

I click on the "about" section and have no clear way to get back to the main page - BIG MISTAKE! I see that there is an orange "return" button, but this is not intuitive. Clicking on the logo to take us back to the main page would be more intuitive for users and it will let people believe that this is easily navigable.

sharksandwich
Obviously not the most important point to address, but one of the first things I noticed was that there's a grammatical mistake (it's for its) in your introduction. It's a minor error, but it also undermines the professional image you're trying to project
tlrobinson
The image quality is awful and gives the site a cheap feel. I'd use PNG.
neelesh
The 404 not found page is tomcat's default page. A custom page would be better. The favicon is again tomcat's default. As someone mentioned earlier, the image quality needs improvement.
cmer
My advice: hire a graphic designer. the ui is way too cluttered and just plain unpleasant.