
Ask HN: How do I get feedback about my startup? - soheil
I posted a link to my startup many times here on HN, but almost every time it gets barely any votes [1]. The first time I posted it it got considerable attention and it even made it to the HN frontpage. But after months of improving on the original idea and incorporating feedback received specially from HN users no one seems to care anymore.<p>Has anyone encountered this before? What am I doing wrong if anything?<p>[1] https:&#x2F;&#x2F;netin.co&#x2F;teams
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eschutte2
Nobody caring is the default state for a startup. If you got any feedback the
first time around you're ahead of the pack.

If you have "thousands of partner startups in Silicon Valley," (really?) why
aren't they giving you feedback?

Here's some feedback from me. There are some obvious problems with the
screenshot. Percentile is misspelled. Zero interviews and zero offers are
depressing, change those numbers. "Schools went to" is wrong, should be
"schools attended."

As a not-really-interested browser of your site, I'm asked to put in my
contact info before I can do or see anything interesting. Maybe if I were
desperate for a job I'd be willing to do that, but then I'd probably be at a
regular job search website instead. I don't understand what the motivation
would be to "choose who you want to work with" \- don't people solve this
problem through their real-life network (or social networks) already? I guess
my question is, if there are hirable people already in touch with each other
(they know each other), what are you bringing to the table? Why are these
people having trouble finding work?

Just some thoughts since you asked. I hope you're successful, I'm interested
to understand how this would work. Good luck.

~~~
soheil
Thanks a lot. Fixed most of those issues. I just don't understand how to show
more of the product without asking for basic use info first. Even to sign up
for Twitter you will need to give more info.

Are you saying I should communicate the message more on the homepage/sign up
page. Or make the product available by removing the sign up wall?

~~~
eschutte2
OK, I should have looked at your main homepage earlier. The animated gif there
seems good to me - show me what the product does, without having to fully
support a "demo" or sandbox login for visitors. Probably a single screenshot
doesn't communicate enough. But really, the technical features are not that
big a deal here, this is primarily a non-technical area (getting hired).

I think the main issue here is, what's the motivation for somebody to do this
(assemble a team to get hired)? Presumably it's that they want a job. Are
there enough people out there with this problem and desire to make it valuable
to solve? The hiring company has more immediate motivation (and budget,
probably).

There are probably things you could do to make the page more engaging. For
example, if you could figure out even one person I'm remotely connected to via
public profiles and show me that person's face with a big choice "Would you
want to work with ___ again? Yes/no" that seems like a decent hook and you
could go from there. But is it worth sinking time into building that?

I think it would be best to sit down in person with a bunch of people on both
sides of the problem and figure out what would get them excited.

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Mz
Most landing pages do have more info than yours, even when they are selling
something familiar, like "do your job search with us." It sounds like you are
offering something unusual. It is on you to communicate what that is and what
value it would have for someone.

You currently have what seem like a bunch of empty catch phrases. That will
not remotely be sufficient.

My impression is that you really have nothing to offer. This strikes me as a
service no one would want or need.

If you actually have something of value to offer, you really need to find a
way to effectively communicate it in a convincing, compelling manner. This
teams idea seems very different from how hiring is normally done. Either it
isn't done that way because it flat out does not work, or you are failing to
communicate why this is a better way, at least for some people.

Getting feedback on anything is a huge challenge. I think you will need to get
better at assessing feedback of the "vote with your feet" or "crickets
chirped" variety. Actions speak louder than words. The lack of feedback may be
a form of feedback.

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gentleteblor
I feel your pain. One thing i'll note about your landing page is that it seems
to suffer from the same problem mine does which is a lack of content.

Folks that have reviewed my landing page brought up this issue as the biggest
red flag. I had a nice looking site but very little content, very little
actual information or persuasion. I've been working on adding more content.

As a user, i feel just like that looking at your landing page. What's the real
problem you're trying to solve? Why is your way better? Why should i trust
you?

Those are the questions your content should answer. I would shoot for 500 -
1000 words on your landing page (based on advice i've read only)

ps. I think it should be 90th percentile in your screenshot.

pps. I added more content to my landing page (to answer those questions) this
weekend. In case it gives you any inspiration, it is:
[https://jobrudder.com](https://jobrudder.com)

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endswapper
Are you having trouble getting attention from startups or teams?

It sounds like Shark Tank for developers...Where the team is at a deliberate
disadvantage.

If that is accurate then it makes sense why the startups are interested.

To make it attractive to developers they would need to understand and believe
you are not discounting them, but advocating on their behalf. In order to do
that you would have to vet the teams as well as control a certain market share
of that supply to be able to leverage on their behalf.

