

Ask HN: Here is my idea...help & feedback needed. - marcamillion

Ok..I am going to come straight with you guys. I am feeling vulnerable right now, and had to reach out to the community for a little support.<p>I have been consulting for the last few months. That one client was my largest client and they are going away very shortly. I could either continue trying to do the freelance/consulting thing, or get a 'regular job' except I am in Jamaica and the startup scene, that I would want to work in, is not available locally. Going through the visa process is such a turn off, for another job in the US.<p>On that note, I would rather work on my app and am going to put my idea out there and see what happens.<p>I have been working with designers and developers for the better part of the last 3 - 4 years, in a project management type capacity and have discovered a huge pain point that I am determined to fix.<p>When a designer does a comp for me, they email it to me (or post it to basecamp, or upload to an ftp). I then look at it, reply to the email with comments, or post a comment to basecamp or send notes in a word/txt file. They then revise it, and on and on and on. This process gets very messy, especially when I have to then pass the comp along to other stakeholders (e.g. people on the executive team, other designers, developers, etc.). So I am building a web app to do that. It's called either 'Comp Version' or 'Comp Versions'. I own both domains.<p>I have started working on the interface, mainly jQuery, HTML, CSS. I am no designer, but I know how it should look and function and have decided to just build it myself. The truth is, that had things continued on (i.e. still had my major client) I was planning on taking the long slog of a journey and building it on my own, while learning everything. I am learning jQuery as I go along, and it is an uphill climb.<p>So, right now, in my moment of vulnerability. What I am looking for are a number of things. 1) Do you guys think this idea is good, and would any of you want to pay for this monthly? 2) Would you be willing to sign up for an alpha? 3) Are you a strong rails developer, that are interested in working with me on the back-end for equity or delayed compensation (that might be much higher than getting paid upfront)? 4) Any encouragement that can help me get over this little slump of vulnerability I am feeling right now.<p>I know that if I am able to power through, and get this app off the ground (without running out of cash), I will be much better off...both financially and psychologically (I can't explain how long I have been wanting to do this). I am just going through a slightly rough time at the moment.<p>Thanks guys.<p>P.S. I would apply to Y-Combinator...but it's too late and am running out of cash :|
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bdickason
I think the idea is great. I have seen people struggling with Basecamp for
this in the past and I've been on both ends.

The only downside that I see is that the number of designers out there doing
freelance projects is relatively small, so your eventual 'market' is kinda
tiny.

Anyway I wouldn't let that stop you. If you feel the pain I'm sure at least 50
others do, and that, to me, is enough to do it :)

One thing I'd add though - partner with another designer. Designers care
greatly about the visual aesthetic of the tools they work with. As this is
mostly targetted at designers, make sure that you get one that believes in it
(offer lifetime free service) to help you out :)

~~~
marcamillion
This is an awesome suggestion. I think I will edit my post to include a reach
out to designers. I meant to do so, but it slipped my mind.

Also...re: the market size...that's what you think at first glance. However,
if you look at the number of interactive agencies around the world, I would
say there are at least a few tens of thousands - if not hundreds of thousands
or a million.

Remember this is not just for web designers. Anyone that does any graphics
work, that needs to collect revision notes from their customers. Illustrators,
animators, sketchboard artists, print designers, web designers, marketers that
do print design, etc. I am fairly confident that the market is big enough for
me to make enough to work on this full-time, and have enough to support at
least one or two others doing the same. As for bigger than that, we will just
have to see.

~~~
bdickason
Perhaps you could build something that plugged into Scribd then? They are
gearing up to be the defacto HTML5 'embed anything' vendor for the web.

Building a comment and revision tracking system on top of it that is very easy
to use could be a great way to 'start' your startup before moving to a
standalone system? :)

~~~
marcamillion
Interesting.

Never thought about that.

Not sure if that will be a good place to start, but I will definitely look
into it.

My main issue now though is to get some sort of cash flow going as soon as I
can.

So we will see.

Thnx though.

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marcamillion
Since I can't edit the post, I am also looking for a nice designer to work
with this on polishing the UI for me. Either lifetime free service, delayed
compensation, or some other creative compensation that doesn't include cash.

------
DCoder
We built a similar app for internal use, with the addition of real-time
collaboration (flash-based audio/video chat + NetMeeting-style abilities to
draw, type, etc. on the reviewed document). While this requires a central
server to stream a/v and good connection, it's quite popular around here now.

------
proexploit
It sounds like you're trying to build <http://www.notableapp.com/>

With no partner, still learning, no designer and running out of cash, you'd be
better suited doing something else.

~~~
marcamillion
Not exactly like Notable.

I know the odds sound ridiculous, but we'll see how it turns out.

------
SingAlong
I built a similar app for a different audience long ago. I would like to work
with you on this. Tried to email you. But didn't find an email on your
profile.

You can mine on my profile.

~~~
marcamillion
Funnily enough. Yours isn't there either.

Can you email me at: marcamillion {at} gmail.com please.

Thanks.

~~~
SingAlong
ah! I added the email address in the email field on my profile. But isn't that
field visible? Or maybe that field is not shown to others. Thanks tho, I've
added it to the About field.

P.S: Sent you a mail too

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rlpb
Why would this be better than Dropbox and emails for commenting? Dropbox does
automatic versioning of files, doesn't it?

~~~
marcamillion
Why would you use getsignoff.com as opposed to using Dropbox?

Dropbox is good for managing files and versioning of files. But it isn't good
for easily working with different versions of a graphics file.

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thehodge
Isn't this similar to getsignoff.com?

~~~
marcamillion
You are right. It does sound very similar. I think they are the closest
product I have seen that comes close to what I want.

However, they didn't do it the way I would have done it. So, I guess there is
space for at least two apps :)

~~~
mahipal
Even better way to frame it: Finding a competitor is one of the best ways to
validate your idea!

~~~
marcamillion
I thought that, but never said it :)

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rlpb
What's a comp?

~~~
marcamillion
I believe it stands for 'Graphic Composition'. One version of a design of
anything.

I wonder if this is a red flag...the name that is.

~~~
rlpb
> I wonder if this is a red flag...the name that is.

It is for me. I speak with graphic designers and have had designs done and
didn't know the term. I am in the UK if that makes any difference.

