

Ask HN: Is this a good idea - Startup Deals? - anujkk

Many technology startups often find it hard to get early adopters/beta users. It becomes even more difficult if their target audience is non-tech and not in their social circle.<p>How about creating a platform, StartupDeals, that connect startups with early adopters by offering various deals in a way similar to daily deals sites? For e.g., discount coupons, free 3 month membership, etc.<p>StartupDeals can then market these deals to its registered users based on their interest. It can also try to promote these deals on social media such as Facebook, twitter, G+ etc.<p>Do you think this idea has legs? Is there any similar service available?
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anthonycerra
You'll only find half of your answer here - those trying to market their apps.
The real trick is finding out if the people that represent the other half of
your business model think it's a good idea.

Some questions you need to ask yourself: 1\. Who are those early adopters?
(the end users, not the HN crowd [a]) 2\. Where do they hang out?

[a] The HN crowd could be early adopters for a service like analytics or
something techy, but probably not the best crowd for, as a wild example, a
premium knitting service.

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onlyup
I think it could work. I think it might have to be more "social" than current
deal sites like GroupOn.

Quick idea: users could have profile pages that list the deals they have
gotten and have a one line and 5 star rating for the deal/startup.

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iSloth
I understand the concept, however don't see why them startups can't just
advertise on the existing deal sites that have a larger user base.

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anujkk
I believe existing deal sites have different kinds of audience. However, this
service will focus on early adopters interested trying out new technologies.
Also, it will create a community of such users and will track their interests
and activity to recommend relevant startups deals to them.

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cmer
Appsumo does something similar but yeah, I think it might have some legs...

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anthonycerra
And they've almost completely pivoted to paid educational content.

On the one hand it means less competition for the OP, but they pivoted for a
reason. There's likely more money in their education products because of the
price point and the LTV of the customers.

How many times can you sell the same person on an analytics package? The LTV
of a customer in a business like that can't be great. You help them find the
right tool for the job and you're done. You teach them CSS101 and they come
back for CSS201, etc.

