

Ask HN:What is the benefit of an invite-only priv beta page for a new Startup - karimo

ASK HN: What is the benefit of making invite-only private beta page for a new startup compared with a normal open beta all accessable for all users
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mjolk
In the past, I've done an invite-only beta to limit the exposure of issues
with my code while in a QA-phase (minimize embarrassment) and to retain
control over the load/expense of hosting. I suppose that others could be going
with the "keep a line to insinuate exclusivity" approach.

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bmelton
At the risk of making a very elaborate "this" post, I agree with all above
points.

I've mainly used invitation-only to minimize load or at least to get a better
idea of where the pinch points were in where scaling is going to be tricky.
It's nice to be able to say "We're operating just fine with 100 logged in
users. What happens if we have 1,000 logged in users?" and be able to control
that to some degree. Giving each user a couple of invites is going to grow the
population (you hope) but not open up the firehose completely. If you don't
know how you're going to scale to 1,000 users, you might not want a million
users just yet.

~~~
youngdev
How about using Open-Source tools such as Jmeter to run performance test and
identify the bottle neck areas. We have done that with our site
<http://www.jackpotbuddy.com>. Initially were were getting around 25 seconds
page load time for 1000 users.

We were able to reduce that to <5 seconds after identifying and fixing the
issues

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bmelton
That's probably a really good suggestion, I can't completely say. In my
experience, load-generating tools give completely differing results than
actual user patterns, but it's been awhile since I've used any with any real
expectation.

Obviously it's great to test more obvious things, but I would use something
like that before real user testing, not in lieu of.

How have you seen JMeter to compare in this? I haven't ever used it directly.

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relaunched
There is a flawed assumption that opening up the floodgates will flood the
village. There is a very small coterie of people that can, and will, use their
influence to maintain interest in a project over time. For most of us, no one
really cares enough about what we're doing anyway. So, by turning away one
potential user b/c they don't have an invite code, you are hurting
yourself...maybe more so than a buggy, but still usable UX might.

That being said, my current startup project <http://www.browsemob.com> has an
invite code to get into our beta, even though I put it in our signup video and
all over the net.

What can I say, my hypocrisy has no bounds!

~~~
tdorrance
That's awesome! Do what I say, not what I do! I completely agree though. I
think an invite system, in theory, lets you build a sense of exclusivity. The
velvet rope effect - people waiting to get in the hot night club. But in the
end very few sites can really demand that kind of attention. We are using an
invite code and launch page on our project - <http://neufit.com> and are
allowing in-game invites for those 'lucky' enough to get under the rope! Hope
it works! Just signed up for browsemob, btw!

