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I just launched my bootstrapped startup. Pray for me.

362 points by erikpukinskis ↗ HN
I'm kind of freaking out. Been working on this for a while (too long), but finally decided it was time to push the button, backlog be damned.

It works. It does something. It has bugs. But that's the point of the MVP, right?

Anyway, I could use some moral support. This is very scary.

Link: http://sproutrobot.com/

250 comments

[ 3.4 ms ] story [ 245 ms ] thread
chime
It's a great looking site but I can't do anything unless I signup. I entered my zip expecting to see some results but all I get is a link to sign up form. Is there a demo that visitors can check out? Or maybe allow Google/Twitter/FB logins so I don't have to sign up?

I do like the idea of growing my own veggie garden. The site concept and design is very promising. Good luck!

erikpukinskis
Yea, there's a link on the plans page to preview your calendar, but it's not coming up because of a bug I overlooked! Fixing....
erikpukinskis
OK, it's fixed. So, once your calendar is ready you can click "preview your calendar" and see the calendar.

I definitely want to streamline the site for non-signer-uppers. Basically I'm planning on having a page for every city in the US (automatically generated) with a planting calendar that people can check out right away without signing up. I think that will be good for SEO, too.

But that's a few notches down on the todo list.

nekopa
I think you should move this up a few notches in your todo list. If you can generate the pages for every city, do it, publish them, I think you will gain great google juice. Especially as a lot of people are looking at growing there own veggies in the US right now (my opinion, judged by a recent spate of 'grow your own' articles I am seeing nowadays)

Technically this shouldn't be too hard: You have the info from zip codes already, just make a nice template to feed all the info into. Collate by groups of zips that are in, say, the top 100 US cities(by population).

jpletka
I agree with this. In my mind the ideal workflow is Zip Code -> Choose your Veggies -> Show your Personalized Calendar in the top half (with more details than just "carrot, June"), show signup options underneath.
aresant
Very cool concept - a few comments:

a) The "buy" page screams out for some pics - people eat (and buy!) with their eyes :).

b) "We choose seeds that are perfect for your climate and the time of year" then the next page asks me to select my own choices? A little confusing - maybe you're building a list of options dynamically?

c) Consider for future "upsells" on the buy page or a more expensive $99.95 starter pack that includes soil, pots, etc. for people that have zero knowledge but like the idea - not sure if that's your audience or people already gardening?

Great concept and I think you're on the right track - a "starter pack" would have got my money.

erikpukinskis
Thanks for checking it out!

a) I know, I've actually got the illustrator working on some illustrations for that page. That page is 1st on my list for some design love.

b) Ah, interesting. So, you choose whether you want tomatoes or cucumbers, but we pick the right variety of cucumbers for your climate. I'll think about making that clearer.

c) Yea, that's a great idea! Definitely targetting first time gardeners. I don't think I want to get into stocking bags of soil in my living room, I'll keep the starter kit idea on my radar as I look into drop shipping and such. For now I want to try to get traction with the seed mailing, but we'll see how it goes.

Thanks for the feedback. This is exactly why I launched. :)

po
As for option c just raise the price until you're willing to do it. :-)

Or find a place nearby that stocks everything you need and pay a neighborhood kid to run down and buy whatever you need whenever an order like that comes in. The buyer is purchasing your expertise to pick the right stuff.

erikpukinskis
I pick one millllion dolllars.

Seriously though, the bottleneck right now is my attention, not funding. Although I'll think about it some more when I'm doing my next planning session. :)

po
OK then, put 1 million dollars as an option on the form. Maybe you'll get lucky and can become someone's private gardener instead of being an entrepreneur. :-D
jmtulloss
I'm all for idea C. I signed up for some seeds, but getting pots and soil and tools and whatnot seems like such a pain (and I'm half a block from a hardware store that has all these things). I'd definitely pay some sort of up front fee to get everything at once!
jaytee_clone
Why think? Just put up the button and see if people click "order now". Worry about your attention when your customer actually demands them.

Awesome idea btw.

Retric
IMO, pick something like 999$ for something like that. If nobody does it you are out a few hours, but plenty of people have far more money than time and you would be shocked what people will pay a little help.
adk
I wonder if there are places that will drop ship these for you.
hugothefrog
I'd just like to echo others comments about C being a really good idea. I live in London, and have recently moved into an apartment with large windows that are just screaming out for planter boxers.

My partner and I are trying to figure out what to plant, etc, but all we really want to do is have someone deliver two planter boxes, the right amount of dirt and fertilizer, and some flowers and herbs that we can plant now, as well as in a few months time.

We would pay quite a bit for this privilege - even more so if the planter boxes showed up with the dirt already in them. Doing any sort of work like this in an apartment is an exercise in frustration - there's just not enough room, and dirt goes everywhere.

We can't find anything that sells what we want..

jules
Are you trying to grow plants in your apartment, or outside (on the balcony)? There are many herbs that grow easily in pots: basil, thyme, oregano, chives, parsley. Bay Laurel is good for a big pot.
sharkbrainguy
Genius concept. Wish I could use it, outside of the US.
shib71
For those of us who aren't in the US or don't want to sign up, can you add an example or a video of the other side of subscription jump?
cletus
The look and feel of the site is fantastic. Good job there. What's it built in?
marilyn
Beautiful design, and neat concept. I think you are on to something good. Keep it up! If only I had a yard, I'd be signing up!
faramarz
I love that upon error, you have your name and cell-phone number available for support. (FYI I tried a Canadian postal code thats why)

Refreshing!

gmurphy
This is a cool idea. I know all of this is probably in your todo list, but here are my gut reactions:

1. I only read as far as the "tells you when to plant" before I entered my zipcode, then spent pageload time wondering how you were going to make money. I was pleasantly surprised by the options on the signup page.

2. The payment page needs something visual to differentiate the choices - either photos or illustrations showing the difference (if it's illustrations, they can just be relative).

3. I felt like the green blocks on the front page needed a very faint border or something - the point where the green meets the blue of the background clashes strangely.

4. The frontpage green blocks (again) look like separate items, similar to the ads at the bottom of the apple.com frontpage, so I read them right to left and missed that they were a sequence. For the same reason, I felt they should be clickable.

5. Clicking on the logo should take you back to the front page.

6. Site speed seems all over the place - sometimes pages load near instantly, other times they take up to five seconds.

7. The sign up and sign in pages do not feel like they're part of rest of the site.

8. I'm not clear whether something like this would be useful for someone like us, who live in a garden-less (concreted outdoors) house in Palo Alto with only a few pots that we grow tomatoes and peas in. I wonder if there's an opportunity in starter kits for people who have absolutely no idea - you ship pots, soil, seeds, we supply the water.

9. I love it and I sent it to all my friends who do have gardens.

jpletka
All your "Instructions" pages go out to "Feeling lucky" google searches. That makes the site seem very incomplete. I'd consider getting all those setup in a Wiki or similar page on your own site so you can keep everyone here.
erikpukinskis
There are lots of places where I just did the simplest, easiest, stupidest thing I could to get it to work. Definitely we're going to have on-site instructions, but I wanted to get it out there as soon as possible.

Thanks for the feedback!

pinko
Love the idea! Love the simple and appealing site design. Don't over-polish it!

Wish you nothing but the best. If I can get a raised bed set up in time, I'll be a customer in a few weeks.

minalecs
I just wanted to say good luck, and as soon as start supporting international please let us know, because my wife's parents would love this , but located over seas.
joubert
My zip is 10005 and you recommended a small garden, but i would almost expect recommending a patio garden for my zip. How to you decide which of the 3 options to recommend?
erikpukinskis
The small garden is a balance between feasibility and ambition for the novice gardener.

In other words, I'm just emphasizing the plan that makes me money. :)

chime
> In other words, I'm just emphasizing the plan that makes me money. :)

If you truly want to make money, emphasize the plan that makes me happy enough to share your site with everyone I meet.

erikpukinskis
Good point, good point. I'm redesigning the plans page this week so I'll definitely give this some thought. Thanks for the feedback.
joubert
What I'm implying is that the fact that you ask for my ZIP, I assume you take into account the kind of climate / space that is typical of that zip. But maybe I'm wrong.
kapauldo
Congratulations on pushing the button. You've done something incredibly rare and you and your team should be proud. A few suggestions- get on the new Facebook connect (facebook login) right away, and add a few social features (like add a check box that says "also post this on my wall" when you guys email people) so people can easily share what they're doing. That has a huge potential effect. Also, for what it's worth, target women (that sounds awful but most gardeners are women), I think that's your target demo. Anyway, best of luck, I'll share your site with the 2 or 3 garden clubs I indirectly know of, although I'm not sure if you're targeting beginner gardeners or advanced. If you post your email on your profile or here, I can get you some direct feedback from advanced gardeners, FWIW.

kevin (kapauldo)

modoc
Agreed with the facebook integration. I generally dislike Facebook but this is a great way to get more users for this type of service.
erikpukinskis
Sure, I'll take all the feedback I can get! They can reach me at erik@sproutrobot.com.

And thanks for the tips! I agree Facebook integration would be great for spreading the word. It's a good reminder for my todo list.

megamark16
I hate getting all of those stupid Facebook updates about my friend's farms on Farmville, I don't care if Bob had a good harvest this year, it's all fake!

Now you start talking about real plants, a real garden (even if it's just a few pots) and you've got me much more interested. I might actually pay attention when some of my friend's SproutRobot Gardens are doing well, something is ready to harvest, etc. "Hey Bob, can I get a few of those peppers you just harvested?"

Anyway, definitely go this route, I can see this being huge.

dusing
Agree those Facebook wall posts are worth a ton of traffic. We did a microsite for a client and they promoted it with a "splash" page on their main site 15k views a day. Well the 100 or so Facebook wall posts a day sent more traffic, almost double. Don't wait to long to get that in there!
ozres1
The page comes up funny on IE 8
wherespaul
Do you have a facebook page? Would be nice if there was a like button on the homepage. Really like your concept! I stumbleupon.com it too.
modoc
Really love it! My wife and I have started a couple of raised beds, and this is just a fantastic idea!
alttab
Great job! Fantastic design! I'd love to peek at the back-end code. I know my fiance would go crazy for this too. The only thing I hope for is that you don't go out of business and I lose my seeds :(
thinkbohemian
Thats actually pretty cool. I was wondering if something like this existed...i just planted a garden, and cannot stop thinking about how its like building a website (or vice versa).

Feedback: I would like to pick my own seeds though, rather than you telling me what i should plant. I signed up.

timae
Great Idea!

- Future Customer of the "small garden" package

bluishgreen
I always wanted to plant something, but I never get around to it. Even now I am book marking your site. I guess my lazy ass is going to be the greatest threat to your business. How are you going to effectively combat my/user laziness. How are you going to get the user excited enough - feel this need enough? These are the questions you have to ask yourself going forward.
NIL8
That's great! I can't believe what a good idea that is.
cubicle67
If you could extend this to Australia, I'd sign up in a heartbeat
tjmc
Not feasible without Australian distribution centres unfortunately - all the seeds would be seized by customs. Even inter-state transfers are quarantined in some cases (you can't take fruit into WA for example).

Add to that multiple, totally different climates and plant species and it's essentially a separate business in another country. Good opportunity for a partner site though!

nekopa
Seems like a simple business problem: find someone or some company that has the seeds you need in country, set up an account with them to ship to local addresses. Or worse comes to worse, set up an affiliate program, find a citizen of that country here on HN and have them go to a shop, buy the stuff and mail it on time for cut of the action. These people could also become great forum moderators as they want the site to be a success.
mwsherman
Very nice, Erik!

I put in an NYC zip code, so a "Small garden" won't work for me. Patio/rooftop would. Maybe something that accounts for urban/suburban/rural?

In fact, urban gardening is a nice niche and people here like having things packaged and served up for them. Might be an opportunity. :)

erikpukinskis
Yes, I heart urban gardening. :) Definitely something we want to support, going forward.
jmtulloss
Yeah, this is something I definitely want. I don't have a yard, but seeds for a few things that I could grow in pots on the patio would be awesome!
cwg
Awesome idea, and a great MVP at that, congrats!

I don't live in the US and I don't have any place for gardening right now, but other than that, I'd sign up in a heartbeat.

shill
What does the MVP acronym mean in this context?
daeken
Minimum viable product
truebosko
Lovely design. Extend this to Canada and you have my usage.
drenei
Me too. Any chance this would happen? Or are import/export laws too restrictive to make it feasible?
grigory
Would definitely try this out from Canada!
jasonlotito
Was the first thing I did, and was disappointed with the result.

1. You have no pricing information available. I have to give you information before I get any pricing information.

2. Screenshots. Basically, I just see you sending seeds and an email saying "Plant this now!"

3. Do you provide information on how best to plant the seeds. I know certain plants are best planted in a certain manner, or things to consider.

4. Options. I tell you want I want to grow? Cool. I want to grow herbs. What herbs are you going to send me? Do I have to be specific? Do you have specific packages? "Basic Herbs - Great for beginners!"

5. People who know how to plant and garden probably don't need your service. People who do won't have a clue, and might be in a situation where a big garden isn't feasible. Any thoughts to 'apartment gardens' or growing herb gardens out on the balcony?