

Ask HN: Review my startup, suggestashow.com - davezatch

Hey HN,
Suggestashow was created by myself and a co-founder.  You put in the name of a tv show you like and it spits out recommendations, based on a whole slew of attributes we came up with.  Sort of a 'TV show genome project', if you will.<p>Been working on it for a couple months now, mostly in our spare time, and feel like it's ready to go, at least the core product.<p>Frankly, though, we have virtually no traffic.  The few 'users' we do have are mostly friends and family, which is nice, but not particularly great feedback.<p>So we would greatly appreciate thoughts on what works, what doesn't, and if anyone has any ideas they'd be willing to share re:getting the word out, that would be phenomenal.<p>Thanks, hope you like it!
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jscoop
Aforementioned co-founder here. I think there is a lot room for improvement,
but the site successfully does the core of what we set out to do. If we can't
direct traffic to it now, the question is will continued improvements
eventually lead people to use the site, or are we just putting lipstick on a
pig.

Any suggestions are appreciated.

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tgrass
I don't see much value in it to the user. Your competition is the netflix
algorithm...how do you differentiate?

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davezatch
The thing with Netflix is it only works after you've given them your money.
They do have a great recommendation algorithm, but ours lets anyone get
results, without requiring you to 1) be a paying customer and 2) already have
chosen dozens of things you already like.

There's no barrier of entry.

~~~
tgrass
That Netflix has one's money makes it profitable. Is this a for profit site
you're designing?

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davezatch
True. Yes it is a for-profit site, although as of now only through amazon
affiliate links. We have no plans for any kind of subscription model similar
to theirs.

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qbproger
I choose what TV show to watch based on what's on while I'm sitting on the
couch. In addition to that, it has to be agreeable with anyone else here. If
I'm looking for a show to watch, I'd check tv guide before this site. If you
integrated show times, that might make it more valuable to me personally.

~~~
davezatch
I guess we're aiming more at the DVD-buying/heavy tv-watcher crowd. Granted, a
lot of show discovery comes from those sitting on the couch, but I often find
channel surfing to be rather tedious. If I already know what I like, flipping
through Comcast's 1,000 channels often yields nothing.

And the TV guide doesn't do recommendations, just tells you what's on.

That said, we're looking into getting local times integrated with the results,
as that would obviously be hugely useful.

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tgrass
1) Let me click on one of the attributes to search all within that attribute.

2) Include a description of the attributes and the process.

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davezatch
1) Making the attributes clickable is in the pipeline. 2) There's a brief
blurb in the 'about' but you're right it's not clearly explained. Any thoughts
on how to display that? Bottom of page? We've got some ideas for stuff to add
but trying to keep it uncluttered.

