Ask HN: Please review my startup

7 points by _gtvz 15y ago ↗ HN

My startup is [name redacted] and is a platform for running contests on. (web or facebook).

I have been working on it for the last 3 months part time.

I have been getting quite a few users just at the 400 user mark now with quite a lot of positive feedback.

The main feedback I want is regarding growth and marketing.

The only differentiating point my software has at the moment is it has a free option. Oddly enough other contest platforms do not offer a free option, or if they do I haven't found them yet.

I have the roadmap written down for building on this platform a type of contest much more engaging and unique than other offerings out there.

This will be my first unique spin in the niche.

But that is going to take more time and development. My question is: Do I start marketing now, or will it be unheard until I can actually market something unique?

Also if you could please have a look over the site and tell me if the message / UI is clear.

5 comments

[ 5.2 ms ] story [ 25.5 ms ] thread

latch 15y ago ↗

Clickable: [link redacted]

Something about the design made me think I landed on a domain squatting site. Normally, I'd like to give more specific feedback, but the UI just isn't sitting well with me. The "Signup for Free" button and "Building responsive and engaged followings!" text aren't vertical aligned (too much bottom padding)..the icons are big and cheap...dunno.

Perhaps more constructive criticism:

I found the basic upgrade concept confusing. I'd dump that column, and simply add another "Feature" row, called "Upgrade to premium" and a value of $5/contest in basic, and n/a in the other two.

Why are the premium and media agency sign-up button gray and the basic and basic upgrade green?

_gtvz 15y ago ↗

Thank you for reviewing my app.

The front page is just a design I hacked together where as the dashboard once you get in is a paid theme I got from themeforest.net. I will go and do the same for the public facing site.

Thanks for mentioning the confusing upgrade, I will go and redesign the page to make it clearer, I am obviously not communicating very well.

With regards to the 2 grayed out buttons, that is because they are not available yet. But split tests have shown that with them there the signups increase, because having the more expensive options there (even though still under dev) makes the cheaper ones look more valuable. (it's an interesting psychology lesson learnt a while back.

Thanks again for taking the time to review the site.

a3camero 15y ago ↗

I'd like to see how it works. Screencast? At least screenshots? I tried to click on the screenshot-ish image on the main page but alas, no images of the product.

_gtvz 15y ago ↗

Thanks a3camero for reviewing my app.

I do get quite a few requests for examples of contests, creating a video / screencast is high on the agenda. Hopefully I will be able to get one up this week.

pkamb 15y ago ↗

"Sign Up for Free" is not something I want to do. Not a button I want to click.

"Create a Poll" or something like that might be though...