
Show HN: We want to make websites places to meet people - DerKobe
I have done it. I quit my job and started a company. And I have to say it was the best decision I’ve ever made.<p>http:&#x2F;&#x2F;talk-about-jack.com<p>Since I’m a tech guy and starting a company is about more than just having an app, I asked two friends of mine - which happen to be pros on their respective fields: business and marketing - if they would join me. They liked my idea and both said yes and quit their jobs. So, it can’t be that bad of an idea, right?<p>The first thing we hear every time we tell someone about Talk About Jack is: “But webchats do already exist? Why another one?”. We aim at getting a chat app out that is used for personal stuff as well as for when people need support from companies or even when they want to buy something. We want to establish a one-fits-all webchat solution like when you use your telephone to call a friend, call the support hotline of your telecom provider, or even call a shop to order something.<p>Our company and product are both still in an early stage so feedback is very welcome!
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smt88
My heart sank as I read this post and looked at the product. This has
everything going against it.

First: Online comments are a notorious anti-feature on many sites. You're
basically making it so that they're instantaneous and impossible to filter.
Major sites have to do an enormous amount of human reading/filtering just to
have comment sections that aren't filled with horrific, violent, sexual
imagery[1].

Second: This is a B2C product. If your customers are users, then your
customer-acquisition costs are high. If your customers aren't users, then your
customer-acquisition costs are still high, but your sky-high user-acquisition
costs become fixed costs (you can no longer monetize your 1st user, but more
like your 100,000th).

Third: Have you ever seen a live web chat on any site? These were popular in
the late 90s as a drop-in feature that non-coders could use. They were
absolutely full of filthy comments. I've seen chats that had 100+ messages per
minute, and they were totally incomprehensible. That's even without any
professional-level trolls involved.

Fourth: If you think this was a good idea because a business guy and marketing
guy liked it, then you need to take a look at every failed business. There's
almost always some sort of "expert" behind it. Even professional investors
don't know if ideas are good or not; only customers do. What customer
discovery have you done?

My strong advice is to work at least part-time. Don't go into debt for this.
Get people to use it first, and then decide to put money into it. And if you
can't get anyone to use it or invest in it, it's not because they "don't
understand". It's because this wasn't a smart move.

I'm telling you all this as someone who's been there before. I've failed at
exactly this kind of business. It took a long time before my delusions finally
evaporated and I saw that all the people warning me were right. It's great to
dream and be optimistic, but when you truly have a great business, people will
give you money for it. If you don't get money soon (investors or clients),
move on.

1\.
[http://www.slate.com/blogs/xx_factor/2014/08/11/jezebel_to_g...](http://www.slate.com/blogs/xx_factor/2014/08/11/jezebel_to_gawker_media_do_something_about_the_violent_rape_gifs_in_our.html)

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DerKobe
Thank you for your honest feedback. Maybe I chose my words a little poorly:

We have actually talked not only to potential users (a lot) but potential
customers (a lot as well) to validate the basic need of enhanced website
communication possibilities before we went on the build Talk About Jack. The
need for chat communication especially in eCommerce (as well as general
customer support) is growing and continually demanded by online customers (of
our potential customers).

And yes you're right: people are mean on the internet. We have some (not yet
implemented) ideas to handle this issue as well, but we wanted to give people
a chance first.

Thank you for sharing your advice and experience with us. We will keep it at
heart and greatly appreciate you taking the time to look into our product and
the idea behind it.

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greenwalls
Chatting instead of posting comments seems like a cool idea. You just need to
get enough installs so you have a critical mass of people chatting, then it
should build up. Good luck with the idea!

