

Ask HN: Can a poorly presented startup website do well? - quizbiz

Does a startup website need to be highly professional in order to be successful?<p>Have we passed the day when websites like these[1] can be looked at legitimately?&#60;p&#62;[1]http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/6125914/How-20-popular-websites-looked-when-they-launched.html
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tsally
Tarsnap has reached profitability with a website that has no style.
<http://www.tarsnap.com/> Of course, the crowd he is catering to doesn't
really care about frills. Heck, frills can actually be dangerous in the
security world. And Colin's got the reputation to back his company up.

For your average case though, a lack of presentation is going to hurt you.

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cperciva
_Tarsnap has reached profitability with a website that has no style._

Yes, but I've had enough comments from potential tarsnap users about the
lacking website that I'm currently working on building a real website -- and
as you point out, tarsnap is an unusual case.

While I think many sites are overly flashy, I wouldn't recommend tarsnap's
minimalist approach except in very rare situations.

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RiderOfGiraffes
It depends entirely on your audience. My parents hate almost every web site
they go to, and the only ones they like are clean, clear, spare, minimal
graphics, minimal color, and have a real "empty" feel. Anything that current
people call "professional looking" sends them away almost instantly.

Compare that with a largely text-only site that I'm involved with, and almost
every other comment is "it needs graphics to interest the
students/youngsters/surfers/whatever."

Do you call HN "professional looking?"

Half the problem is that it takes virtually no effort to make something shiny,
and most sites have that, and no content.

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aditya
It does not have to be highly professional, but it isn't that hard to make
something that's not half-assed these days. Even if you don't know HTML.

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nsrivast
Craigslist?

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pclark
plenty of fish?

