
Ask HN: Selling Software, How? - siscia
Hi folks,<p>I am developing and working on a side project I would like to monetize, RediSQL (RediSQL.com)<p>The point is that sales are extremely slow.<p>The software is an SQL database that works on top of Redis (it just use Redis for the connection layer, the data set are completely distinguished) and the SQL engine is implemented by SQLite.<p>I really believe that there is a market for this, I needed it years ago when developing my own app and people are using it in production (or at least are keeping instance up).<p>But still I cannot sell it.<p>I don&#x27;t understand what I am doing wrong.<p>I get in touch with users and they are happy and don&#x27;t ask for features.<p>I rank extremely high for keyword terms on Google (like &quot;in-memory sql&quot;, or &quot;fast SQL engine&quot;) and indeed I get an healthy stream of people on the website.<p>There are things that could be improved in the product, but I don&#x27;t know what to prioritize.<p>Moreover I want to avoid to just work in the tech without any marketing... But I don&#x27;t know what kind of marketing I should do.<p>I am definitely doing something wrong, but I don&#x27;t know what.<p>Please help!
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chupa-chups
I visited your site and, to be honest, to me it is unclear why I would should
choose your solution over for example PostgreSQL.

* "Fast": up to 130.000 TPS (inserts apparently) sounds a lot, but I'm not sure it is, see for example [http://akorotkov.github.io/blog/2016/05/09/scalability-towar...](http://akorotkov.github.io/blog/2016/05/09/scalability-towards-millions-tps/). Maybe I'm comparing apples with oranges, but since your statement is not backed up by anything I can verify myself this does not stand out as a feature to me. It also sits in a spot where it is too high for startups to be relevant and too low for potential global players since it seems to be the limit, and as you can see in the link, even PostgreSQL provides a way to scale way beyond that number. Maybe your solution can be clustered, but I see no mention of this.

* If I need an in-memory DB, I usually need it for caching or for tests. The first use case is mostly covered by Redis (but I admit being able to use SQL for cache retrieval has some appeal), the second use case (tests) is questionable, since I either use your DB all the way or I'd have a separate DB for tests, which is a not very inviting thing to have to me.

* You state that your DB is not only in-memory only but also can?(is always?) be persisted via Redis. How is that working, what are consequences for conflicts, transactionality etc.? I don't find much about this topic, just a reference that it is "[on] par with incumbent databases such as Postgres or MySQL".

* Lastly, you should mention that the SQL dialect is SQlite. I'd hate having to learn another SQL dialect and I guess many of my peers would do the same.

I'd suggest you switch the focus from "fast in-memory DB" to "Run SQL queries
on cached data to allow more leeway to your real SQL database". This sounds
appealing to me, provided there are some real-life examples how this can work
(e.g. a demo project).

If you go this way, I'd also probably also drop (or not focus) "being able to
persist cached data" to automating cache-refreshes consistently, since this
would probably be needed.

~~~
siscia
Many thanks for your feedback! It's very valuable!

How would you market RediSQL? Who you would talk to? In what kind of venues?

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erikbrodch
Hi, 1\. Not a developer so please forgive any tech mistakes; 2\. I looked on
ahrefs on some of the keywords you mentioned and some more (e.g. "how to query
redis with sql") - there are some searches but very limited (I would say up to
300-400/month in the US total). That's not a lot, but I don't know if it's the
beginning of a trend or the end of it (devs can say that). 3\. Regardless, I
understand you do have users (when I say a user I mean retained users). If so,
you need to talk to them, understand exactly what problem you are solving
them. You can incentivize them with gift-cards or just sweet-talk your way to
have a phone call with them; That's the most important thing. 4\. Once you are
on the call, do everything to understand what problem are you solving them +
what they want you to add to the product. 5\. That's the process. I did it
with a social app in which I texted any user who did a meaningful action. It
wasn't fun, but that's the way to do that. Get them to talk to you. Hope that
helps.

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JohnFen
> I want to avoid to just work in the tech without any marketing... But I
> don't know what kind of marketing I should do.

It sounds to me like you need to find a partner who is into doing that sort of
thing. That's what I did. As a bonus, someone who is into this sort of thing
likely will be able to give you solid information about how to change your
product in order to appeal to a broader audience.

Don't forget the first law of business: be totally honest with yourself about
what you can't (or don't want to) do well, and fix that gap by finding people
who are good at and enjoy those things.

~~~
siscia
Very wise words, thanks!

The point is that I am an "heavy engineer" myself, the kind that go and build
databases or filesystems.

With this project I wanted to expand my horizons and learn the business as
well.

I could work for FAANG if I just wanted to do engineering, but I want
something different. I force myself to don't refactor the code base or add
features. I don't want to build stuff (even if I really enjoy it) I want to
sell it.

Maybe I should look for a mentor on this space, but I have no idea how to find
one...

Any volunteers?

~~~
JohnFen
> Maybe I should look for a mentor on this space, but I have no idea how to
> find one...

I don't know where you are, but in the US it's worth looking into the SCORE
program (Service Corps of Retired Entrepreneurs). This program is specifically
intended to provide experienced business mentorship to entrepreneurs. Here's
their website: [https://www.score.org](https://www.score.org)

In my earlier days, I found SCORE to be incredibly valuable.

~~~
siscia
Europe, unfortunately...

But thanks for the link, maybe I can find something similar :)

~~~
JohnFen
I hope you can!

A lot of the resources SCORE provides on the website may be helpful regardless
of your location. You might not be able to get a real-life mentor through
them, but they do provide a lot of online instructions and advice.

It might also be worth contacting them to ask if they know of similar services
in Europe. They might!

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pryelluw
Go read the book "Way of the Wolf" by Jordan Belfort. Thats all you need to
get started. Read it twice.

Also, disregard any opinion that gives feedback on your site or product. Talk
to real customers (after reading the book).

~~~
bachmeier
> Talk to real customers (after reading the book).

That's good advice if you already have customers. OP seems to have the problem
of _not having customers_.

~~~
pryelluw
That is the only advice if you have customers or not. Talk to the market. Find
out if they will buy. That is why OP needs some basic sales skills (clearly
lacks them).

Sales is the solution to the problem of not having customers.

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brudgers
[random advice from the internet]

"Get in your car" and go see your users instead of sitting at your desk.
Seeing is the best way to really understand context and understanding the
context in which your customers operate is important for B2B sales. If you
can't afford to visit potential customers then it is likely that either the
project is under-capitalized or that the project is not economically viable.
Under-capitalization and economic viability don't matter for a hobby project.
But they matter greatly for a business venture.

~~~
siscia
I got the means to visit people in real life, but it seems like an huge waste
of effort and resources.

I definitely understand the idea of knowing how my clients work and operate in
real life, so I keep asking them via email. Unfortunately, every time, they
are all quite reticent to share more about their business.

I might be asking wrong...

~~~
JohnFen
> I might be asking wrong...

Asking people how they work in real life is not usually that productive.
People often don't really know how they work -- they just work -- and will
tell you what they think that they do rather than what they really do.

If you have identified a target market (and if you haven't, then that's what
you should do first), then the best thing to do is find a way to watch your
target market work in their native environment. This is ideal, but can be hard
to swing.

For instance, if your target is narrow enough, you could land a short-term
contract gig with a company that fits it, then you'll learn first-hand how
things really work and what the pain points are. A bonus to doing that is that
it adheres to another principle I believe in -- to the greatest degree
possible, each of your activities should generate income in at least two
different ways. In this case, you'd get a paycheck as well as free market
research.

There are other methods, too. For instance, take members of your target market
out to lunch and talk shop. Don't try to sell them on anything at all -- in
fact, don't talk about your product. Instead, get them talking about their
daily work routine. They may not open up at first, but they'll probably start
telling you valuable things on the second or third lunch, or after a cocktail.

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verdverm
I'd join YC Startup School, or at least watch the previous sessions videos.
Lots of good stuff in there.

How big is the problem? Is it in your potential customers' top 3 pains? Or is
this just a nice to have feature for Redis?

> I really believe that there is a market for this, I needed it years ago when
> developing my own app and people are using it in production (or at least are
> keeping instance up).

What evidence do you have that a market exists? Do you know how much your
users are using the product?

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bachmeier
I visited your site. You're not selling software. You're selling support.

Why would someone buy support from you rather than someone with a track record
with a popular database? Do you know what people that make those purchase
decisions look for? I'm not going to speculate, since I don't make those
decisions, but your post makes it sound like you haven't figured out what
you're selling or why someone should buy it from you.

~~~
siscia
That's true.

I still need to figure out the best way to monetize the project, PRO version
plus support seemed the most straightforward way, but maybe it is not the only
one.

I was hoping to lure the engineers with a good technology and finally sell to
whoever has budget with the hope that the engineers would sell the product
inside the organization.

But somehow this is not working.

Maybe they don't need it?

Maybe I have to find a specific niche...

Any idea is welcome...

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zerr
Relevant question: how to start a custom software development company? i.e.
scale the work to several [hired] devs - ensure the constant flow of new
projects/clients, etc... Does setting up a nice website help a lot? Will it
bring new costumers?

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Tomte
Please stop spamming.

~~~
gus_massa
Just to clarify: This was posted 4 times in a row. The other versions are now
flagged and dead. Let's keep this version alive.

Edit: There are more exact repost than usual. Can it be a software glitch?

~~~
siscia
Indeed, HN kept saying that the submission didn't work.

I deleted the others!

