
I built a startup on £500, now what? - thebarbican
After the crippling failure of the last startup (Lynker) I needed a new project to get into as a sort of rebound. At the time was at the time playing around with this idea of a content discover platform based a mockup for a new social network I found on dribbble. I started messing around with some code before I knew it I had come up with the prototype for what is now known as Grado. I fed it to a few friends and found that I got a decent response. People liked the idea that content on the platform was based on merit in a similar format to reddit rather than which of my friends &#x27;liked it&#x27; and as one friend put it ‘I had succeeded it getting rid of all the social noise’<p>So I continued to develop it while working as a freelance dev. I gave my self a deadline of 5 months and I was more or less broke I had a budget of only £500.<p>Long story short I did it in 4 months on less that £400 and launched it on the iOS AppStore. (it can be downloaded from here if your interested https:&#x2F;&#x2F;itunes.apple.com&#x2F;us&#x2F;app&#x2F;grado-the-worlds-noticeboard&#x2F;id1090719110?ls=1&amp;mt=8)<p>I started this project as a bit of fun but I seem to be on to something, the app now has around 100 users without any promotion what so ever (I know thats tiny but it’s a start). The problem is I am a product guy and have no idea on how to move forward. I have been looking into raising a seed round and hiring a co-founder but I known nothing about either.  My question is for you good people is what now? What advice would you offer to somebody in my shoes? Should I move forward, if so how and what should I focus my time on?
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brudgers
Congratulations on reaching 100 users. The important factor at this point is
those user's level of engagement and usage patterns. Knowing how and why
people use software is the key to understanding its potential for improvement.

The concern I always have with iOS apps is that the developer doesn't have any
customers to talk to. For practical purposes of talking with people using the
app, Apple stands in the way. At best there are metrics but metrics are not a
substitute for direct engagement with users.

Even more concerning is that it limits the potential for reaching potential
customers. Owning an iOS device is orthogonal to a person's level of interest
in the content/service of the app. The standardized app store template makes
all apps, good or bad, look the same.

Suppose that there was outside investment. How would you spend the money? What
would make it a good investment?

So my random advice:

1\. Communicate with users.

2\. Look for a delivery channel that allows communicating with users.

3\. Don't hire a cofounder. Founders should come together organically.

4\. Don't be wed to the original idea or sunk costs.

5\. Maybe look at Sam Altman's _Startup Playbook_.

Good luck.

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GFischer
You should try to find and validate your idea and business model (unless you
plan to just build users and sell the platform).

I don't know where in the word you are (looks like London?), but some places
offer seed funding for validating business ideas.

You'll probably do better contacting the London startup scene, a quick
Googling shows a lot of resources:

[http://startupguide.fastmail.fm/](http://startupguide.fastmail.fm/)

[http://www.up.co/communities/uk/london/](http://www.up.co/communities/uk/london/)

[http://www.tech.london/resources](http://www.tech.london/resources)

Worst case scenario you can sell the tech itself, or it's a good showcase of
your skills (pretty decent return on 500 pounds either case).

Going head to head with other social network heavyweights is a tough
proposition - you have to think hard and discover what exactly is that Grado
does better and delivers value to users.

Why would I want to use Grado instead of Reddit, Twitter or whatever? More
importantly: there are already lots of comments and submissions in Reddit and
Twitter, how are you going to compete with that?

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siquick
I would focus more on user retention right now, if you can get those 100 users
to come back again and again then you are most likely onto something.

The more you can learn about your users now, the better.

Plus the more your users are engaged, the more likely they are to invite their
friends to your service = free distribution.

Congrats on your initial traction!

