

Ask YC: Feedback on which market to focus - terpua

We've built a 2-way sync platform (for any file types), an iPhone webapp and a web console.<p>Because the technology is market flexible, we can focus on a number of products/markets.  However, the team can't seem to make up its mind and focus is necessary.<p>These are the markets that we are considering and we need YC reader feedback as to which market and why?<p><pre><code>  * last.fm meets documents
  * document management for SMBs
  * digital asset manager for designers
  * work/home/laptop synchronizer (think Dropbox)
  * mobile document management (think Blackberry for docs; what we have now - http://itenna.net)
  * file management and sharing with clients
  * document versioning for SMBs
</code></pre>
Preferably, you test iTenna before commenting so you get a feel for the current product.<p>Early access:<p>http://itenna.net/signup (need a Mac, coding Windows)<p>We are using our savings, loans and credit cards to fund our startup so honest feedback will be appreciated :)
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evhead
I don't know which is the right market, but I have a suggestion on approach:
Choose an application/market that you, as founders, personally find appealing.
E.g., if you're not designers, don't do an asset manager for designers. It
will be way harder to get it right, because you have to make product decisions
based on guesses and feedback, rather than intuition. It will also be less
fun.

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terpua
good point. Thanks Evan!

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run4yourlives
You've built a what? (Seriously, I had to take a look at the site to see what
it was... how many others didn't bother?)

If I were you, I'd focus right now on the iPhone fanboys. A big issue you will
have is that the iPhone hasn't really found a home in the business world yet.
(And may never, although you may help that :-)

I'd focus on the Apple using web designer crowd. These folks love their
iPhones and gadgets in general, and have the small freelance businesses that
would find need in the product.

I'd ignore all the rest and just focus on them. Keep in mind as well that you
aren't doing anything new outside of the iPhone market. (I can already run all
my MS docs on a palm, smartphone etc.) There is definitely a need for the
early adopters though.

Good Luck

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terpua
Thanks for your comment.

RE: "you aren't doing anything new outside of the iPhone market" -- actually,
there doesn't exist anywhere on the smartphone market the ability to
wirelessly 2-way doc sync with the web and your computer. That's what we've
built so can apply it to iPhone, Blackberry, etc.

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run4yourlives
Sorry, I missed the web part. Yes that would be unique, although I'm not sold
on it's value. Why would I want my documents on your site when I've already
got them on my phone and on my computer? What's the value add there? Backup?
Sharing? I get the feeling that the only reason for this is that both my PC
and my Phone are clients to the "master copy" on your server.

I do like the personal PC sync though, that's pretty nifty.

(EDIT: You know, back in the day there was no way in the world my comment
would be downmodded. A shame.)

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fauigerzigerk
I agree with your point (and with the EDIT). All the big guys (google, MS,
yahoo, ...) want to host our files these days, and they provide us with
sharing, storage and simple editing facilities for docs and pics. They also do
communications, calendaring, news and blogs, etc. I think SMBs will want to
use that infrastructure and the big issue will be (as usual) integration.

So, terpua, don't add your servers to the picture in terms of where the files
live. That just adds complexity and another point of failure. I'd much rather
you help me sync my devices with those services or the services among each
other. Sure, this is being done already, but there are a gazillion special
cases that people will need support for, and a lot of them involve syncing. I
would try to find a few of those cases and make your solution simple for end
users to understand.

You may be doing some of this already but I can't tell from the info on your
website. There should be an exhaustive feature list on your website.

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jeffreypriebe
As an SMB: I'd confirm that there is need for document management &
versioning. As a technical person, I'm trying to craft time to build a
document versioning & collaboration utility from existing open-source
management & versioning (think of writing a desktop app to talk to a
subversion back-end but as a document management & collaboration app) aimed at
the various project teams in our org.

There might be that not all that visibility of SMBs of the problem. If you can
clearly articulate a pain point that they will respond to, you'd have a
potential winner.

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terpua
You don't have to build it, we have it already :) We just need to add the
webadmin layer for user management to make it SMB usable.

How about giving away a free version with support for 1GB? Have a free,
professional and business versions.

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jeffreypriebe
Please put me on the beta trial list when it's available.

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mikesabat
Dude this is a good problem to have, I guess.

What market has the biggest need and is most addressable?

Personally I don't like last FM idea and I can't see mobile bringing in money
in the Short Term.

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terpua
URLs aren't turned into links in the text area :)

So here it is: <http://itenna.net/signup>

