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Ask HN: Help. My startup is failing

8 points by boeing767 ↗ HN
So long story short, I copied a SaaS that's doing well in a niche. I thought why not just copy their customer validation (the founder sounded really insightful and convincing in videos detailing how he interviewed customers for 9 months before starting the company), release a "me too" MVP for a start, and try to recruit beta users and iterate from there.

Well it didn't go very well. For the past couple of weeks, I blasted off thousands of cold emails and made dozens of cold calls (but never got to a decision maker), and now I'm a little stuck as to how to move forward. Those tactics didn't work; I recruited a few of inactive users, one even told me he regretted wasting his time signing up (due to various reasons, like dead links on terms and privacy policy and no "about" page). I've since fixed those.

I've LOVE to talk to customers, and I'm even open to shelving the current MVP, but no one wants to talk. On my cold calls, everyone were brash and standoffish and trying to get rid of yet another salesman, so how do I talk to them?

My next strategy is to start a blog, write an eBook, and start giving webinars, hopefully somehow to attract customers to my site first, and then try to have a conversation later. As of right now, traffic is essentially dead, so there's nobody to talk to and learn from.

Help moving forward?

18 comments

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duiker101
Apart from the morality of copying the idea, sounds like the original founder knows his market and how to find the people, you don't. Maybe he is more passionate about the product he is creating, that can be a huge factor. But ultimately, from the sound of it, seems like your MVP is just very subpar.
zapperdapper
Is copying an idea a moral issue? For example, is copying the idea of "a restaurant" or "a hotel" morally questionable?
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appstorelottery
Read "Fanatical Prospecting" by Jeb Blout. You'll need to make more than a few dozen calls - more like 100 per day. Every day. Keep doing it and you'll learn. Severe amounts of rejection are just part of the job. Shrug it off and keep making your calls.

Hunter.IO will help you find decision-maker email addresses. MixMax.Com and similar services will alert you when your cold emails are opened. Keep your emails short and to the point.

Blogs and ebooks are fine - everyone does them - "inbound marketing" is the easy way because you're not going through the pain of rejection. However, this is not the easy way. You'll spend a lot of time of SEO and online promotion. It's way easier to just pick up the phone / email and call.

boeing767
Thanks. I'll refuel my morale for now and get back into it soon. I'll make more calls. I use Mailgun to track my email opens/clicks, so I'll also keep doing that.
appstorelottery
Hey, just to give you a prod:

"I'll refuel my morale for now and get back into it soon."

This is the procrastinators dream ticket. :-) It's well known that simply getting started on the task makes it easier. What's stopping you from making five calls right now? I know you don't like it. But if you want this to succeed - this is the price you must pay.

Do it now :-)

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zapperdapper
I would go back to fundamentals. Do you have ONE customer that LOVES and NEEDS your solution? If not, start there.
boeing767
I'm trying to get there. I have direct competitors who love and need their solutions, so these people definitely exist, I just need to reach them. And perhaps differentiate even more to get them to switch.
PixelPaul
How is yours better then the others? Push that
boeing767
I'm not sure it is, I think we have an easier UI (less-steep learning curve) and better pricing structure (competitors have high setup fees + high monthly, we have a results-based revenue model).
danieka
Do you have anyone in your network that can test out your MVP, and actually use it in their company? What I found in the beginning, if the MVP you released is kind of crappy, which it should be, is that it's difficult to get people to make the time investment needed to test it out and give valuable feedback. When it's someone you already know they are more likely to actually commit the time.

Also, at this stage I don't think you should measure success by how many users you get but rather by how happy your users are. I think zapperdapper is spot on with saying you need to find one customer who loves your product. Once you have that customer try using her to find out how to reach similar customers. Which online communities do they belong to? Where do they get their industry news? Can she recommend your SaaS to other potential customers? Can you maybe attend industry events? What sales language does she respond to? In her own words how does she describe her problem and your solution?

Also, if you post a link here, maybe HN can help out?

boeing767
I don't know anyone in my network who could test it out, hell at this point I'm willing to pay someone just to earnestly test it out and provide feedback that I'm so hungry for.

I'm definitely looking into industry events/trade shows, I don't have the resources for a booth, but I can probably walk around with a tablet demoing my product to prospects. I'm also part of an industrial online community, but I can't just spam my app there, as it's invite-only and I don't want to get banned.

My link is https://rebrand.ly/dr6a8h.

Sorry for the shortened URL, I'm trying my best for my site not to be indexed by Google in case prospects search for my site.

Salesdude
My humble opinion here:

1- the "cut out the insurance middleman" is just huge and don't tell me what your site is about

2- "EZ dental membership software for managing your new/existing in-house dental plan" - Got a bit confused as to what EZ dental is, as I thought this should be actually OK Dental. Also still don't know what is it that you are selling

3- "Sign Up for free" - for what? what is it that you are selling? who are you?

4- Now I see the screenshots with the stats and below it some useful information and understand more what you are offering.

I suggest you hire a professional designer to re-design your landing page as it is so confusing, size of fonts is just too big in places, I had to spend way too much time to even understand the niche you are targeting.

If you are targeting dentists, then go where they are online/offline. I would find a forum/webpage where there are a lot of dentists and buy an ad there. Alternatively just visit them and see if they are interested.

codegeek
Inbound marketing first. Create great content. Setup a landing page. Start writing blog posts. Start creating videos, presentations and other stuff. The goal is to build a brand even if small.

When you are just starting out, no one knows who you are or what your product is all about. So instead of trying to tell people, let them find you/it. Nothing wrong with making phone calls btw but don't only do that.

boeing767
Absolutely. I'm already starting a blog and pumping it up with content, hopefully I can capture some leads with a MailChimp form too.
mustafaekim
It is hard man, very hard. I struggled for 9 years. I failed 3 startups. I can only hope the best for you.

I went through all the things you say. I stopped doing cold calls. It is the worst thing that happened to me. Very demoralizing and devastating. Sucks my energy and will of live.

Later I fully focused on SEO for the locale market. 6 months later, one day a lady from Sanofi Pharmaceutical called me. They were in hurry to find a local partner for conducting an online proctored exam and somehow I got my first customer within a few business days.

Once you have 1 good customer, you should try to expand over. Here is my advice for this case: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19866334

PS: If you wonder what our product is: https://www.testinvite.com

boeing767
Wow. I'm very glad you persisted and kept going. How do you keep your morale so high? The thing about cold-calling is, I've done it before in the past -- I mean, who hasn't worked at a call center before?

But it doesn't feel the same when you're selling YOUR own product. Where every rejection feels like you're a failure, you're failing, and everything you've invested into your company doesn't matter.

I'm still struggling to get my first customer, but just like you and the other comment suggested, I'm definitely working on my SEO, content marketing, inbound marketing.

Do you have any tips besides just optimizing SEO? That feels a bit like a crapshoot based on luck.