

My startup story: from big idea to thriving business in 8 short years - jv22222
http://blog.traysoft.com/2011/04/my_startup_story/

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dangero
Great post. I'd much rather read this type of success story than all the get
rich quick examples given in mainstream media. You overcame obstacles and
willed yourself to succeed.

One theme in your post I find really interesting. You talk about how your next
move always came to you over time. That's really interesting, because you give
the impression that the solution was not immediately apparent, and only after
years of sales and feedback you realized how to evolve the business. Even if
the data had been in front of you for quite some time, it seems that at some
point a light bulb went on about how to expand, and from that moment it was
obvious.

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totalmrak
I didn't think of it this way but yes, some of the ways to expand were in
front of me and were really obvious in retrospect. I can't believe I didn't
think about selling to ISPs sooner. It was definitely the biggest blunder I
made.

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hanifvirani
This startup story emanates the true hacker spirit. Some good lessons in here
as well.

1) You continuously provided something of value to your users.

2) You listened to what your users had to say and iterated accordingly.

3) You pivoted sensibly when your prime market was diminishing.

A good example of some basic startup rules that we often read about on HN, put
into practice.

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pdaviesa
Great story! Sure, creating the next world changing product and making
millions would be awesome, but when it comes down to it, what I really want is
to work on interesting challenges, make my own decisions, and support my
family.

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hristov
Great story. It just goes to show you that you are better off being close to
your customers and carefully listening to them than dreaming up revolutionary
products in your imagination. It is a bit unfortunate for those of us with
overactive imaginations, but it is the truth.

~~~
keiferski
Point taken, but:

    
    
      "If I had asked my customers what they wanted, they would have said a faster horse." - Henry Ford
    

_Someone_ has gotta be innovative.

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cubicle67
I've seen this quotes many times, and it's only today that it occurred to me
that it's being incorrectly applied

hristov is talking about customers Traysoft already has and who are using his
product. Henry Ford is talking about _potential_ customers who aren't using
his product, who've never seen his product and who don't know anything about
his product (or anything like it). Big difference

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keiferski
True, but this wasn't made clear, so I felt the need to "debunk". "Ask your
customers what they want" is a common startup catch phrase, and while it does
apply in many situations, it isn't as clear-cut and true as many seem to
think.

It belongs in the same bin as "execution is everything," "ideas are
meaningless" and "you need a cofounder to succeed." Useful and oftentimes
true, but by no means a universal truth.

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Confusion
The problem with Ford's quote is that the customer offers a solution. In such
a case you need to ask further questions to find out the problem he wants to
solve. Had Henry Ford realized that, he would have found out customers wanted
to get from A to B faster and he wouldn't have quipped this silly 'they want a
faster Horse'. They didn't actually want a faster horse. As soon as you
understand the problem, you're free to come up with innovative solutions.

There are still a few exceptions though: you can create a new market by
appealing to a need people didn't have until you offered a solution. Fashion,
fads (including fads for children), arguably Twitter,...

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relix
Great log about how you - dare I say it - pivoted and build a business out of
something you did as an aside!

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totalmrak
It's more of a U-turn than a pivot, at least that's how it felt for me.

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jswinghammer
Very cool stuff. Also that library looks pretty sweet. I'll keep it in mind if
I ever find myself needing something like it. Congrats!

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abbasmehdi
Great post! Lesson: build multiple MVPs, quickly ship and see which stick,
then let the market forces be your compass.

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Swannie
Brilliant. Thanks for taking hte time to share your story!

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chopsueyar
Good story.

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ammarkalim
Please get your website redesigned...current UI sucks=)

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d_r
I guess this shows that you don't need fancy HTML5/CSS/rounded borders/custom
fonts/etc. etc. to actually build a business. As much as I love eye candy and
love spending hours tweaking my projects to get them to look "just right,"
this is something I have to always remember. Shipping and getting customers is
what ultimately matters.

(One pet peeve though: many of the recent HN posts linking to company blogs
don't include a link back to the homepage. Everyone, please have a link! The
standard top-left logo works really well for this. Immediately after reading
your blog, my first intention is to see your product. Don't make me edit out
"blog." from the URL by hand.)

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follower
> many of the recent HN posts linking to company blogs don't include a link
> back to the homepage. [...] Don't make me edit out "blog." from the URL by
> hand.

I'm glad I'm not the only person who has noted this lately. :)

Listen to this advice and follow it!

