
Ask HN: Review my startup, ActiveInbox (GTD Gmail plugin w/ $20k donations) - andymitchell
Check it out at http://www.activeinboxhq.com<p>In short, it creates a better Gmail to help you: 1) get your inbox empty, 2) ensure everything gets completed, 3) do things faster in Gmail.<p>At its heart, it transforms emails into a flow of actions. It uses GTD principles in Gmail for great control, and adds neat efficiency shortcuts like Previous Emails to write better replies.<p>This is the public beta. We have a long history... but really briefly, a hobby turned into a full-time uISV about a year ago when we received $20,000 in donations - and realized the support it had! And the potential to do something really interesting to bring emailer's peace of mind. If I can share any extra info that would be of interest, please just ask. (I don't know if that's a good or bad number for donations, but I'm really mindful that we're still in a very humble place).<p>Would love your fresh eyes to give that great and honest HN feedback on the website, ActiveInbox and anything else that grabs your attention :)
======
andymitchell
I should mention that while it's GTD at the core, it includes productivity
features never before seen in Gmail...

1) instantly see emails when you reply to catch up on recent discussions 2)
label-emails-as-you-send-them, so you can add tracking labels to the emails
you send 3) right click any contact/label to see recent conversations

... and a few more besides, all customizable :)

For anyone worried about security - as I would be - it does not require any
Gmail username/password as it works within the browser; and all XHR requests
are there to see (and the source is openable, although it's minified).

------
rufo
This looks like it might be _very_ similar to something that's been bouncing
around in my head for quite a while - I greatly look forward to trying it out!

Any chance you'd consider working with the Mailplane[1] author to get it
integrated? That's my Gmail client of choice, and Ruben has integrated other
tools like Rapportive, so I'd hope that something could be worked out.

[1]: <http://mailplaneapp.com/>

~~~
andymitchell
I've long since admired Mailplane and it would be great to do something with
Ruben - I didn't realize that he was open to collaboration. Will get in touch.

And if you have any thoughts about what you like, don't like, or would love to
see and want to discuss it more deeply, I'd love to go into it :) Just say hi
at andym@activeinboxhq.com (or the community forum:
www.getsatisfaction.com/activeinbox)... or here at HN of course!

------
thehodge
Proper Link : <http://www.activeinboxhq.com>

I think the site is quite clear and your call to actions are pretty good
however

"Transform emails into actions with GTD® for a better Gmail & Google App" -
this is a little hard to read, same with the ActiveInbox text, maybe try a
different colour?

~~~
andymitchell
Thanks you! Is it just the colour or the font as well?

And what browser are you using? We use a slightly different font on Chrome/Mac
than we do on other setups...

~~~
thehodge
Chrome latest version :)

------
guynamedloren
So this is supposed to be a more convenient way to label and file emails...?
Interesting idea, but I'm not sure I'd gain any productivity from an app like
this.

I installed it and tested out, and it just feels messy to me. Gmail already
feels cluttered enough with all of the buttons and crap everywhere, and your
app just adds to that.

Also, the To Do labels are goofy (Next, Action, Some Day, Waiting On). I think
you can come up with something more intuitive and user friendly.

One last thought - is GTD a commonly used term? I had never heard of it prior
to visiting your site, and to do some searching to figure out what it meant.

~~~
andymitchell
GTD is Getting Things Done, a really popular productivity method ("the art of
stress free productivity"). It's our niche to start out with, while we are
still small (I'm the only full time person involved, although revenue is
getting to a point where we can consider expanding).

As we refine features, and expand what it can do, I think we will become very
useful to a much wider audience. (And thank you for the comment on cluttering
- I will work through that with Pete, the designer - I absolutely agree nobody
wants more clutter in Gmail!). Which is the time we will move away from
highlighting GTD for new users.

Our goal with ActiveInbox is to deliver peace of mind (the guarantee that
everything is prioritized and will be taken care of, and contacts will be
impressed with your performance), and increase your flow to get through your
email quickly & effortlessly.

------
latentflip
It's a really minor thing but on this page:
<http://www.activeinboxhq.com/install.html>

In Chrome the dialog box on the page says: "This extension can access: Your
data on gmail.com, google.com and 3 other websites". But when it popped up in
my chrome it said "4 other websites".

It's not a big deal, but it briefly weirded me out when I don't know what
those sites are, and when it's different to what I was expecting.

Will let you know what I think of the actual app once I have had a play.

~~~
latentflip
To add to my feedback:

I really like it so far. It's nice to be able to archive emails and get them
out of my inbox but know I won't forget about following up on them.

The archive/skip and go to next buttons are good, but I wish there was a
delete and go to next. I have a lot of junk to get through :)

~~~
andymitchell
The extra inbox processing buttons are part of Plus (it's a forerunner to the
'create your own shortcut buttons' that we're working on).

If you're wondering, the background to that is that free gives you good email
control and a full implementation of the essential useful features; and Plus
increases your efficiency :)

------
timmaah
HN Meta bitching question on my part. How come this Review my startup request
gets multiple points in minutes and hits the front page, yet mine gets nothing
in hours?

<http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1743398>

(feel free to down vote as needed)

~~~
secret
Not to continue the off-topic, but I've noticed this problem and started a
mailing list just focusing on review requests (<http://minvp.com>). Of course,
that too dropped off the new page with no comments :)

~~~
lancer
I like the idea too, but would rather subscribe to an RSS feed. I get enough
email already...

~~~
secret
Haven't advertised yet, but if you go to <http://minvp.com/apps> you'll find
everything I send out in the email.

------
duck
It looks cool, but I almost expect a short video these days showing me exactly
what it does.

~~~
andymitchell
A very very good idea. I've been holding off slightly because - well, partly
stage nerves ;) - but because it's hard to get it professional. You are right
though, I will put _something_ together... it will be the easiest way to
showcase what it can actually do.

------
dzlobin
Seriously, I'm in love with this after just a few minutes of use. This is
something I have always wanted in my gmail, but never saw a proper solution
floating around. Great job.

------
labria
And what about the "Reference"? IMO, not all emails are tasks, some of them
are just data to be stored. What should I do with those?

~~~
andymitchell
Exactly, so today's email client broadly serves two functions: 1) to manage
emails (which is to say, manage the flow of tasks that emails represent), 2)
be a knowledge base.

Reference labels are essentially meta data - so you might create a general
reference labels for invoices, receipts, meeting notes, etc. You can then use
ActiveInbox's sidebar menu to drill into the knowledge base -> look for
meeting notes for a given project, or invoices for a given contact.

------
bombs
_I'd like to use ActiveInbox for Gmail with Internet
Explorer/Google/Outlook/Lotus Notes_

What about Safari and Mail?

~~~
andymitchell
I will add them as options!

------
msh
but what is it?

Its not clear what it is on the webpage, is it a browserplugin, service or
what? It should be more prominent, you have to try downloading to find out.

