it's nice to see something that could be left as a side project evolving into a functional and hopefully successful product. Good luck! Did you switch programming languages in the process?
I didn't switch server-side languages, but I started from scratch 2 years later, in the beginning of 2008. I had developed my own Flash based AJAX system I called AFLJAX before then, and was using ASP.net 2.0, then started a new project with ASP.net 3.5, Microsoft AJAX and update panels.
I have to say that at least from standpoint, this seems to be pretty heroic (to use quite a strong word) and kind of inspiring! To be able to believe in and forge ahead working on something you believe in. Regardless of the end result my own sense is that the at the end of the day the writer Mark can really be proud of his accomplishment.
This is definitely inspiring, and it looks like Mark has developed a very viable SaaS platform if the right demographic is targeted.
With that being said, I would suggest that he seriously consider a pivot in his marketing strategy due to competition which has emerged during his product development; Webs, Weebly and Squarespace come to mind. I would say at this point, small brick and mortar businesses are the most viable market target for a product like this.
Additionally, it might be worth investing a small sum to recreate the UXD, or at minimum reduce the use of gradients and move toward a more simplistic approach graphically. The center gradient overload is almost migraine inducing.
Other than that, I truly hope he's successful with the amount of work and personal funds which he's put in.
20x this. Or, switch to Bootstrap: instantly have numerous gorgeous pre-fab themes at your disposal, plus an infinite number of web designers who will have an easier time customizing and theming to your and/or your users' needs.
Too complicated for an average user, too simple for a developer/designer...sorry, doesn't sound good for me. This said, in your shoes, I'd probably try to find a very specific niche, or maybe to turn into a service for instantly hot page creation, like 1 short-lived pages, or something like that...my 2 cents
I think it's a bit short-sighted of a comment you're making. It doesn't need much work to make it simpler, nor to make it more advanced for a developer/designer.
if you look at the blog post again, I added more screenshots of the back end dashboard. The platform is more advanced than you think. Designers can use a server-side markup language to handle custom skinning of web page content & UI, along with half a dozen other advanced core features. complex applications that can be installed, tableless responsive design, editable web design template for every web site with built-in source-code editor, javascript-like server-side/client-side scripting language, 3rd party widgets, google analytics, near-live-editing of web pages, DNS management.
This is truly a case of should have launched quicker, if this is really about a business.
It sounds more like a guy has been wandering around the world, living what is surely a very interesting nomadic existence, hacking up a storm, rather than building a business though.
JavaScript like scripting language? Custom markup? Beta for 5 years? This doesn't sound like the path to profits to me.
"This whole time, I worked on the platform source code. I feature-creeped for at least 5 years. I didn't have much of a portfolio to show for it either. "
Congrats on persevering for that long but I almost think this is a case example of the downside to being a single founder...no one to rein in your feature creep time.
I've noticed there seems to be two definitions of a solo founder.
1) Single hacker trying to build a business and the product at the same time by themselves. They do everything, by themselves.
2) A business where there is a single founder with all the equity. They have employees and those employees are paid with currency.
In the case of 1, I think it's a very hard road. Most software is built by more than one person, and most businesses must involve more than one person. You can of course make pretty good money off of freelancing, but building a business around a product is tough. Of course, not impossible.
In the case of 2, you need to be willing to "put your money where your mouth is" because you'll need to pay people. And even then, if you see any success and want to grow faster, you probably won't be the only shareholder for long. Jeff Bezos started Amazon alone, but they're a public company now so there are lots of shareholders. However, it is interesting to look at eg Sergei Brin's net worth as a ratio of Google's market cap versus the same for Bezos and Amazon. Not splitting equity in the beginning makes a big difference later on if everything goes according to plan (which it rarely does, but hey).
Wow...both companies are roughly the same age (Google is 14, Amazon 17), and the one that had two founders is worth about twice as much as the one with one founder, which makes the net worths of the founders nearly identical. That's a freaky coincidence.
I had to read this article in Opera using view-source... tldr but I'm assuming this guy failed and I'm not surprised based on his blog code being such an awful mess... better luck next time
18 comments
[ 2.9 ms ] story [ 53.5 ms ] threadWith that being said, I would suggest that he seriously consider a pivot in his marketing strategy due to competition which has emerged during his product development; Webs, Weebly and Squarespace come to mind. I would say at this point, small brick and mortar businesses are the most viable market target for a product like this.
Additionally, it might be worth investing a small sum to recreate the UXD, or at minimum reduce the use of gradients and move toward a more simplistic approach graphically. The center gradient overload is almost migraine inducing.
Other than that, I truly hope he's successful with the amount of work and personal funds which he's put in.
your most important next steps are now get customers , get customers and get customers ....
so
- remove the "closed beta" tag
- have a graphic designer give it a 2013 layout
- put up an price page
- buy some adwords to start doing live user testing
- start optimizing the sales funnel
20x this. Or, switch to Bootstrap: instantly have numerous gorgeous pre-fab themes at your disposal, plus an infinite number of web designers who will have an easier time customizing and theming to your and/or your users' needs.
> 20x this.
That page looks great to me. Can you give me an example of a '2013 layout'?
It sounds more like a guy has been wandering around the world, living what is surely a very interesting nomadic existence, hacking up a storm, rather than building a business though.
JavaScript like scripting language? Custom markup? Beta for 5 years? This doesn't sound like the path to profits to me.
Congrats on persevering for that long but I almost think this is a case example of the downside to being a single founder...no one to rein in your feature creep time.
1) Single hacker trying to build a business and the product at the same time by themselves. They do everything, by themselves.
2) A business where there is a single founder with all the equity. They have employees and those employees are paid with currency.
In the case of 1, I think it's a very hard road. Most software is built by more than one person, and most businesses must involve more than one person. You can of course make pretty good money off of freelancing, but building a business around a product is tough. Of course, not impossible.
In the case of 2, you need to be willing to "put your money where your mouth is" because you'll need to pay people. And even then, if you see any success and want to grow faster, you probably won't be the only shareholder for long. Jeff Bezos started Amazon alone, but they're a public company now so there are lots of shareholders. However, it is interesting to look at eg Sergei Brin's net worth as a ratio of Google's market cap versus the same for Bezos and Amazon. Not splitting equity in the beginning makes a big difference later on if everything goes according to plan (which it rarely does, but hey).
The OP probably falls into definition #1
Saving everyone some Googling :)
-----
- Google market cap: $260.45B
- Sergey Brin's net worth: $22.8B
- Ratio: 0.087
-----
- Amazon's market cap: $124.03B
- Jeff Bezos' net worth: $23.3B
- Ratio: 0.187
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