

How I got funded by future customers - Lucadg

When I started looking for money for my project, I had no idea how to find funders.
I don't live in the US, I'm from Italy and spend too much living in different countries to be able to build the right relationships with funders.
So I decided to ask future potential customers.<p>The system I am building allows people to create their own online business.
In Italy I am known as "the guy who lives traveling" and everybody asks me all the time how I do it (I have a small online business...not a very big deal) and I kind of "sold the dream":
in short I said "I have been working online and traveling for 10 years.
Now I am going to build a platform so that also you can do this. I need money, would you pay in advance 1000 euro to be part of it?".
It worked and I collected 25.000..not much but enough to start. 
If they decide to leave I have to give the money back (not immediately), while if they stay I made the sale before even writing a single line of code.
There's really a lot to say (it's going quite well), it deserves a few blog posts.
The best thing is not only that I got the money to go ahead but the community we built together.
Amazing people, with a common dream: work online and quit the day job to travel or simply have more control on one's life.
Nobody wants to be a millionaire.<p>I just wanted to share this with you as some may be interested about it.
Feel free to ask any questions of course and thank you for HN, it's my first read in the morning!
Greetings from Bali.
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RiderOfGiraffes
I'd be interested in seeing what you're thinking about, because I might know
some people who would also be "future customers."

You ought to write up your plans, blog about your progress, and give as a
link.

Please?

~~~
Lucadg
Here it is :) [http://www.adormo.com/blog/marketing/how-adormo-was-
funded-b...](http://www.adormo.com/blog/marketing/how-adormo-was-funded-by-
its-future-customers/)

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michaelbode
WOWOW!!! How have we missed each other? hehe.

I founded Project Getaway last year (an event in Bali for people with online
businesses/location independence), and we had an absolute blast. I now live
here in Bali (just north of Sanur), because I love it so much, and really
enjoy life. Where in Bali are you situated?

I'm working on building up an office for online entrepreneurs here in Bali
too. Have you considered doing that too?

Finally, I just announced our 2011 event, which has some cool videos from last
year which you can see here:
[http://www.projectgetaway.com/blog/bali-2011-adventurous-
ent...](http://www.projectgetaway.com/blog/bali-2011-adventurous-
entrepreneurs)

~~~
toumhi
eh, me too. I'm in Jakarta for 2 months (ok, not very glamorous), planning to
go to Maluku for some time after that, building an online business. Maybe
there should be a directory of expat entrepreneurs in indonesia :-)

~~~
michaelbode
Let me know if you come to Bali and need a place to stay. I am very interested
in such an expat entrepreneurs in Indonesia list.

I'm attending IMULAI in Jakarta on April 8th as an investor (Indonesia's
version of Y-combinator) and will be in Jakarta for a few days. Would be fun
to meet up there if you're in town.

~~~
toumhi
I should be in jakarta at that time. My email toumhi at yahoo dot fr

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razzaj
Love the idea. Kind of an airbnb builder. I just have a comment though on this
page "<http://www.adormo.com/project/ownersite/en/features.htm>. I would
replace "cheapest" by "least expensive", or "cost effective". Cheapest well
sounds cheap most of the times. Just a personal preference. That being said, i
would love to hear more about your plans.

~~~
Lucadg
done! Thanks for the tip!

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Lucadg
Thanks for the feedback, I will write a blog post then. Just a few quick
comments for now:

link: <http://www.adormo.com/> we have a blog too, but I haven't linked it yet
from the home page as it has only 4 posts: <http://www.adormo.com/blog>

> Kind of an airbnb builder yes, eventually you may build something like
> airbnb. Of course by the time we get there airbnb will be on the moon :) The
> idea did not come from there though, I have been working with online
> apartments since 2001 and needed a way to build my own websites. Then it
> struck me...I can do something for others too!

> Did you solicit your future customers online? yes

> Did you know them from before? no, but many knew my travel blog or were part
> of my travel forum.

> Are you an affiliate marketer? I'm not

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ra
Your attitude is an inspiration to us all.

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vain
1\. Did you solicit your future customers online? 2\. Did you know them from
before? 3\. Link to your website

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vain
from the user's profile, he built this site: <http://www.adormo.com/> which
brings airbnb to mind.

~~~
meric
Sounds like he helps owners of entire apartments to build a reservation
website. Different to airbnb. I think this is a grammatical error: "You rent
apartments." -> "You lease apartments."

~~~
ra
It depends on where you are from. I think in America "lease" is more correct,
but in many other English speaking countries, "lease" is the name of the legal
contract, and "you rent apartments" is perfectly OK.

~~~
anamax
> I think in America "lease" is more correct, but in many other English
> speaking countries, "lease" is the name of the legal contract, and "you rent
> apartments" is perfectly OK.

In America, there are both rental agreements and lease agreements. Rental
agreements are open-ended while lease agreements are for a fixed period of
time.

One of the most common forms is actually a hybrid - it's a one year lease that
then becomes a month-to-month rental agreement.

FWIW, many "apartment/house for rent" advertisements are actually
solicitations for the hybrid agreement.

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stenmorten
I have drafted a product that might fit your customers perfectly, and
compliment what you are doing. Maybe we should talk. It would be great if you
gave some detail, like in a blog post.

~~~
Lucadg
please contact me info at adormo com

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iemanley
Impressive approach. Keep up the good work!

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curiousgeorge
Not much to add, but congratulations!

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aith
Are you an affiliate marketer?

