

The Idea That Wasn't Meant To Be - vital101
http://www.re-cycledair.com/the-idea-that-wasnt-meant-to-be

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michael_dorfman
I think chalking it up to "wasn't meant to be" isn't doing justice to some of
the other more important take-aways.

 _I submitted my site for review to Hacker News, and they basically told me
the idea was great, but the site wasn’t usable. In my infinite wisdom, I
trudged ahead._

Now, there's a valuable lesson: don't ask for advice, if you're not willing to
take it. Or, put another way: be humble enough to admit that other people's
opinions count, especially where customers are concerned.

 _After unsuccessfully marketing my product for a few months and trying to get
people to seed reviews, I gave up on the original and started on my redesign.
The redesign was going to be grand! A huge ajaxy call to action form field in
the middle of the screen just begging to be used, a karma system for people
who seed reviews, special status for moderators, and incentives to invite your
friends_

And here's another lesson: start with a minimum viable product. Your first
interation was minimal, but not viable. Instead of going for a "grand"
redesign with all kinds of new features, you could have tackled your most
pressing obstacle (the usability issue) and added on the new features
afterwards.

 _When I secured a real job, I found it became much harder to balance work,
the fiance, side projects, and free time. I made the choice to sit on Should I
Get the Book until the winter when I would have a bit more free time to work
on it. Bad choice._

Lesson #3: there's no time like the present. Sure, you'll have more time,
someday. Do it now, and then you can use the additional time someday to do
more.

 _Maybe I didn’t try hard enough._

It sounds like you put effort in, at least at first, but didn't take the good
advice given to you. You know the old saw: work smarter, not harder.

 _Maybe I didn’t put enough money into it._

I don't think that would have helped.

 _Or maybe I didn’t sacrifice enough._

Only in terms of sacrificing a little pride towards humility, I think.

In any event: best of luck in your next venture.

~~~
vital101
Thanks. All were hard lessons to learn, but I feel like my next venture will
come out of the gate much stronger than this one did. I see life as a learning
experience, so no matter how this could have turned out I still came away as a
better/more complete person.

