
Review our startup: AlphaList - get expert feedback on your startup idea - sachinag
http://alphalist.co
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Swizec
Oh the irony!

However I think the idea has great potential, I certainly love getting
feedback from experts.

There's a problem though. What if I'm both a founder and an expert user? I
think a lot of founders are like that and it certainly seems to be the case
that one of the reasons HN works is that the same people who are
entrepreneurial know the best what type of feedback people need and also make
great alpha users.

~~~
sachinag
Lots of people have signed up as founders with ideas and added their e-mail as
alpha users - do both sides, we encourage it!

On a meta product design level, we wanted to keep the submission barrier a tad
higher than that for alpha users. Alpha users are pretty busy and we don't
really need to have them do submission revisions, so no need for passwords or
logins there. We've already seen founders submit their ideas, then come in and
revise (over and over again).

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sachinag
Here's the blog post explaining the impetus for it:
<http://alphalist.posterous.com/introducing-alphalist>

This was hacked together as part of University of Michigan's Startup Weekend
this past weekend (1/21 - 1/23). I'm really proud of the high quality of alpha
users we already have on the platform. If you don't have a startup idea you
want to get feedback on, HNers would be ideal alpha users as well!

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micahb37
Pretty excited for this idea. Feels like the type of thing that could really
explode.

~~~
d3x
Really? Why do you say that? What do you mean explode? IMO it's a really bad
first shot at an idea that people have done over and over again. Not trying to
be negative but it really just does not look very good to me and based on the
quality of this product I would not trust any of the feedback that I received.

Fact is that if you want to build something then build it for fun or talk to
your customers (aka: customer development) not to other startup founders and
random "alpha users" that my and may not be a part of your target audience.

See: [http://steveblank.com/category/customer-development-
manifest...](http://steveblank.com/category/customer-development-manifesto/)

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jasontan
It was really confusing to understand what I was looking at until I read the
blog post. I'd recommend screenshots and/or a "how-it-works" diagram
explaining what you do. I'm hesitant to "sign up" without knowing what I'm
getting into. I like the concept though.

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pilom
This sounds like feedback roulette only with a manual vetting process instead
of feedback points. I enjoy doing good reviews for feedback roulette but I get
lots of feedback points for it. What do Alpha users get? Paid?

~~~
sachinag
For now, the thanks of grateful founders. (/West Wing'd!)

Over time, yeah, we've considered ways to help them get paid for feedback.
Note how one-on-one conversations are opt-in for alpha users, for instance. If
they don't want to be bothered, but they want to give feedback, AlphaList is
great for that.

Again, we're trying to optimize for the lowest barriers possible for those who
are willing and able to help others out.

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javery
"Don't build something nobody wants."

vs.

"Build something people want"

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smarterchild
So this will get me testers who are into testing alpha websites?

Pretty cool. But it doesn't really strike me as being useful for domain
specific websites.

\- Appointment Reminder is probably far more interested in Joe the
Plumber/Hair Stylist/Auto Mechanic then me.

\- AirBnB could care less if I don't like it - I don't travel enough.

(Comment: If you could get me domain specific users I _would_ pay you.)

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bengl3rt
I've signed up with MileageBrain.com - hoping for some valuable feedback :)

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jasonlotito
* What problem is too long (maximum is 500 characters) * Solution is too long (maximum is 500 characters)

Thank you for telling me after crafting the text, rather than before. Why 500
characters? Why a limit at all?

~~~
samd
Sorry about that. The reason there's a limit is to keep the emails relatively
short so people will actually read them.

~~~
CurrentB
Yeah this probably should be indicated

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jhrobert
"Timing is everything"

I was just looking for such a service. I registered. Thanks.

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sammville
I really don't understand your website. REally.. I joined and added a
description but i see nothing on the home. How do i get feedback. REally you
need to improve you site..

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WiseWeasel
The login/signup requirement to actually see the site is a problem. You should
show the alpha user version of the site to users who are not logged in.

~~~
sachinag
It's all actually done through e-mail, a la Angelist's early days, so there
isn't really an "alpha user version of the site". Based on the comments here,
it looks like we need to do a better job of explaining what exactly is going
on since the site and the blog post don't. Thanks!

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tsycho
Why do you need a Twitter account to be an alpha user? I almost signed up as
an alpha user, but this pushed me away.

~~~
sachinag
It gives us a quick and dirty way to vet someone as an alpha user based on
their profile, followers, following, and whatnot. LinkedIn, Facebook, Quora
and other sites aren't as readily parsable (I know that's not a word, but just
go with it) at a glance.

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kanny96
Seems like anyone can sign up as alpha user. How is the vetting process going
to be?

~~~
samd
It's quick and dirty and manual right now. But if you've heard of us at this
stage you'd probably make a pretty good alpha user.

