

Show HN: My Weekend Project - Am I Crazy? - goldvine

I created https://foundermeals.com as a weekend project, and as part of an internal competition we do at http://www.freshform.com<p>I love the concept, and I'll be ecstatic if the project is funded and can move forward. But I'm curious if I'm focusing too much on my own insane hunt to find the simplest way to cook, or if that appeals to others. Most people I've told about this respond with, "You're kinda analytical, huh?" or "You think people would pay for that?" or even "...."<p>The thing is, I'm not trying to sell recipes, I'm trying to sell convenience, and I'm not sure I've communicated that fully on the sales page. What do you think?<p>1. Can you tell what FounderMeals is?
2. Would you buy the product? (I consider all of HN to be part of the market)<p>(I just pushed this live this morning, you can view my launch metrics here: https://www.foundermeals.com/metrics - something new I'm trying)
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masukomi
The idea sounds really good, and probably something we could use, but I won't
sign up for the simple fact that I don't have a clue what _kind_ of meals you
would be providing. Is it even food I'm interested in eating?

Also, as my SO is currently on a diet it would be good to have calorie
information included for each meal (when the recipes come). Maybe a future
iteration could be allowing people to choose between regular and low cal meal
plans.

Regarding "...an Agile Approach..." yeah, that works for us geeks, but you're
selling a food product, and there are WAY more people out there who need to
eat than geeks. I'd replace that wording with something that has meaning to
the population at large.

Don't make me scroll down below the fold to find the highest value sentence on
the page "Less than 3 hours in the kitchen (per week)" and don't make that a
lighter text color than the main body text. Highlight that %$#@% and put it up
near the top. THAT + not having to think about what I need to buy at the
supermarket is a HUGE selling point for me. I'd work on some quick blurb that
highlights those two points, make it big, bold, and up by the top of the page.
As for leftovers... we're in America. In general we seem more inclined to
throw out spare crap than worry about the fact that it exists. Yeah, it's nice
that there won't be any (in theory) but I suspect most people aren't that
bugged by it. They'll just trash excess leftovers like they trash everything
else.

But, again. I won't buy it because I don't have any idea what kinds of foods
and flavors you are proposing I put in my mouth.

------
gregcohn
I used to manage a very popular online diet subscription service.

My quick reaction is that you are addressing a pain point that many people
have -- it's annoying to plan meals and map grocery purchases to them, while
the "shop first and figure it out later" approach is inefficient.

BUT, in reality, people have a lot of foibles about what they do and don't
like to eat, allergies, aversions, what's considered acceptable/very good/too
fancy, what they will and won't buy, whether and how often they're cooking for
1/2/more, what's in season or easily available where they are, how expensive
ingredients are, how long cooking takes, etc.

Before subscribing, I personally would need a lot more color on the above and
probably some sample recipes.

As an MVP, it's a perfectly reasonable experiment to keep it simple, but I
would think to be even moderately successful you'll need to generate some
custom content based on preference variables -- or at least some profile
alternatives (like, say, a vegetarian, simple/balanced meals, and foodie
option per week), and some basic substitutions for things people don't like
and/or aren't readily available.

------
dragons
> 1\. Can you tell what FounderMeals is?

It looks like a set of recipes to make meals for a week, plus a grocery list
of stuff to buy to make the recipes.

> 2\. Would you buy the product?

Afraid not. I don't want to spend even more time and money in food prep, which
is what would happen if I bought it.

I'm probably not your target audience though. I know how to cook, but I
dislike cooking. I generally make things that can be done by throwing food in
a pot and simmering. E.g. Split pea soup, lentil soup, beef stew, chili,
spaghetti, stir fry. In addition I sometimes bake a chicken. For very quick
prep times, I make sandwiches (PBJ, tuna salad, etc) and salads (big box of
pre-washed salad lasts for a few days).

I know how to make all these things without referring to a recipe (or with a
quick glance).

Your promo says "no more leftover food" but this is not an issue for me. I
just make it a priority to eat stuff before it goes bad (bananas, salad).
Other stuff like soups etc can be frozen, then reheated later. Quick, easy, no
waste.

~~~
goldvine
Good to know. Thank you for taking the time to give me feedback!

It's awesome to get a fresh perspective on this.

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dholowiski
My thoughts... I think it's a pretty good idea.

1\. I could tell what it was, it was pretty clear, although at first I thought
it was foundmeals.com which is very different.

2\. For something like this, if you gave the first week free, or even a short
3 day set of recipies free I think that would help - I'd have real trouble
paying for this before I could see an example of what I am getting. Also, will
you account for different dietary requirements (keeping in mind that different
people have different ideas of 'healthy)?

It also seems natural that in some big cities (like San Francisco) you could
pair up with restraunts or delis and just have the food delivered, instead of
the recipies.

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swanson
This reminds me of a Google Doc found on the /r/keto reddit:
[https://docs.google.com/document/d/1nFFXn_Uve5uh0qtqdAa0HvpE...](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1nFFXn_Uve5uh0qtqdAa0HvpEqqwKn6K00Z773pgLmEw/edit?pli=1)

I really like the concept of being able to spend an afternoon cooking meals
for the week. Especially if the recipes are simple and office-friendly. So I
can definately tell what FounderMeals is.

As far as buying the product, I would rather pay $20 for this as cook book
with the recipes than a monthly fee. Or maybe $10 for a "Starter" book and $5
each for different "addon" books (different cuisine, new recipes, etc).

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kaolinite
I really want to pre-order this - it looks great - but I'm not willing to give
you my bank info. There's a reason I use services like PayPal. I do understand
why you need it however and I'm unsure how you could get around the issue. At
the very least though, could you do an option just to enter an email address
so I can find out when/if the product launches? Fantastic idea though. I love
to cook but find I just don't have the time.

~~~
goldvine
Ok, you're all set. There is a subscribe form at the bottom of the page now:
<https://www.foundermeals.com/customers/new>

Thank you for the kind words!

~~~
kaolinite
Subscribed :-)

------
RodgerTheGreat
The site describes your mealplans as "Nutritionist-approved"- It's worth
noting that "Nutritionist" is not a protected term in the US and does not
indicate any kind of formal qualifications. I'd recommend either strengthening
that claim or removing it.

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nutritionist>

~~~
goldvine
Ah, good to know. I need to lookup the qualifications and revise that. I went
with "nutritionist" since it is simple and understood by many. Thank you very
much for the heads up!

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jmcqk6
Will definitely keep an eye on this. If it delivers on it's promise, then I'll
probably try it out for a few weeks at least. I cook a lot on my own already,
so the main thing I'm looking for is expanding my horizons a bit.

~~~
goldvine
Totally agree. That's what I've been looking for the past few months and it's
been really nice.

Also, to clear up any confusion. This won't be a subscription service (at
least initially). The $9 price you see is a one-time fee for a week of recipes
you can re-use as often as you like. So if you like the idea, consider
throwing in a pre-order! ;-) You won't be signing up for anything long-term.

------
mrgreenfur
1 I get it. You can probably skip the bullets about yourself, they are
strange. 2 Too expensive! $15/week for a handful of recipes? A book with
hundreds of recipes is like $35, why is yours so expensive?

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atjoslin
preordered, sounds cool

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yashchandra
I really like the idea. But I agree that instead of asking for bank/cc info.
right away, why not have a email signup page as a potential user. Also how do
you plan to list recipes/items ? For the $15 or $9 pre-ordered meal, what will
be included ? Is it based on what users choose ?

~~~
goldvine
I see your point and have added an email signup if you're interested on this
page: <https://www.foundermeals.com/customers/new>

The reason I ask for CC info up front is to further validate the idea. Tons of
people are willing to sign up for updates, but many of those wouldn't actually
buy. If I'm going to devote many more hours to this product, I need to know:
1\. There is some acceptable level of fit with the market. 2\. People are
actually willing to pay for recipes.

#2 has been a big question for me. Recipes are something you can get online
for free, like many other things. But I think there is still room for a
premium, convenience product. I've had access to free recipes forever, but I
realize that doesn't help me. I need structure. I'm wondering if others are
willing to pay for that same structure, but won't know for sure unless I
collect CC info.

As for what is included, I am planning on launching with a few options for
each component. For example, you could choose 2 breakfast, dinner, and lunch
recipes from a pool of 4 breakfast, dinner, and lunch recipes. This should
give you enough of a choice, and if you still aren't satisfied - there is a
money back guarantee :-)

