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Ask HN: Review my Startup

13 points by JanKoenig ↗ HN
Hello guys. A friend and I built a small web app last week and we would love to get some feedback. Are we providing enough value for the users? Is there enough information on the homepage for people to sign up with Facebook? Here's the page, thank you for your feedback! www.doitbefore.com

Regards from Germany, Jan

21 comments

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padseeker
"Are we providing enough value for the users?"

Enough value for what?

GFischer
First of all, congratulations for shipping, that's half the battle :) . I like the logo, background very much.

Like masnick, I don't really use Facebook logins unless I absolutely must (AND it's blocked at work).

I'd remove the "test test test" goal :) . Maybe you can pre-populate from the best-known bucket lists?

vacipr
So you built an app that's only viable 17 days ?
slajax
no they built a "startup" that is only viable for 17 days.
Goranek
is it really import if it's "startup" or just a website? ...
JanKoenig
hey. for us it's just an experiment: are people willing to submit a single goal and show it to others? of course after 21st there are other possibilities to catch people's attention (think about New Year's resolutions).
vacipr
The problem is the world will most likely not end and you will be forced to change the approach. The other thing is discoverability If people really want something they'll do it eventually especially if they believe the world ends,with or without an app such as yours. As with all opinions mine may be biased especially since I'm not a big social networking enthusiast. I hope you guys get the best out of this experiment.
mansigandhi
Congratulations on going live! I think maybe a short explanation on how you add value/your USP might help. There are several goal achievement related websites out there.

Also, you probably want to think about how you are going to change the punch line post Dec 2012 :)

ChrisBland
Nice looking landing page but I don't have facebook so the site is completely useless to me.
roasbeef
Just because you created a web app, doesn't mean you have a startup.
JanKoenig
hey. I just wanted to follow format conventions. "Ask HN: Review my Startup" is a thread I often see here, so I tried it out. Of course I know that a simple web app is no startup at all, that's the reason why I called it "web app" and not "startup" in the topic description.
kungfuton
It uses Facebook? I don't. Bummer.

Good luck on the app though.

lumberjack
Your product isn't clearly defined and the very last two sentences have a hint at what the product might be. What are you actually offering?

Also, a lot of people are fed up with this end-of-the-world thing and might be somewhat turned off that you are using it as a theme for your product description.

bbissoon
17 days is a bit shortlived lol.

But, I feel it can be expanded to encompass anything you wish to do with friends where you can publicly list goals, add photos from each accomplishment etc etc with friends and family.

I don't like when apps use Facebook as a prerequisite, but I would find a way to utilize Facebook's reach without requiring it to participate. Use it as a tool - not as the foundation.

It's a concept, needs some refining - but there's promise.

JanKoenig
thank you for your feedback! "Use it as a tool - not as the foundation" is something we will strongly think about when building our next app.
joshmangel
I don't really see the value in your site - personally wouldn't use it.

But if you guys are stuck on the idea, I'd take out the big block of text that reads: "What if on December 21st 2012 the world really came to an end?"

and replace it with something a bit more to the point about what you guys are doing.

ankk
change the Font Style... :/
xauronx
Wow, really unnecessarily harsh people in here. Maybe someone should start a community for people who are interested in start-ups and tech projects so these people aren't burdened by posts like this.. oh wait.