There are way too many clones being launched from nextag to kaboodle..too yahoo! local to Microsoft's Live. What people need to do is to stop..breathe. Stand back and create something new. What venture capitalists need to do is to stop investing in the same clones. But enough of me rambling on about clones. Let me write about daily project progress:
I got a call from my loans. It was delayed because they had my information messed up. Hence, I am waiting on the final say so that they can electronically agree and have the money disbursed. I need to get back to my outsourcers this week to give them the OKAY to start designing the system architecture. In a way, the held back of the loans was a blessing in disguise because I had time to jus sit back and think about my conceptual product. The only bad thing is that instead of the 10k I thought I was getting, it may just be about 3-4k. So I will have to think about getting some jobs to do via e-lance to help fund my product which is going to cause 10k for the website. I basically pluck the best out of all the current sites right now and manipulated so it works for my project.
My only concern is if I will have enough server space. I have a huge user database interested in trying out the website(it pays to be in your 20's you know how to get to your crowd). I don't want a server crash, that would be really bad.
Iwant this to be launched now. I want it to be launched out of no where and for people to talk about it and wonder "what the? where did that come from?" You can launch things without having to take out VC money :) It just takes alot of work and a great deal of good budget management.
This is too much fun, spending over 17 hours a day working on something you think other ppl will love. That is all for now. I have been looking at elance for about 3 hours now, bidding on jobs to fund this.
Myhead hurts ...a lot...
I made some tweaks to my design to make it more fun. The thinking came from talking to my target demographics on what is fun to them. I found out that you can't ask people what makes something fun. Rather you have to observe people and what they are saying. The more I tweak this the more I realize how potentially huge it could get.
Fun = Attraction
Some thoughts on creatinga popular site:
1) It must spread virally
Must be so fun that word-of-mouth spreads like wildfire;visitors shouldn't have to question why it is fun
More to come as I add on to this list
2) There are several players:
a) users
b) paying clients
c) parents
d) programmers who freely develop things around your site to help people out
If one is out of balance, you are going to have a lot of problems
I read Techcrunch religiously. Heck, I check it every 30 minutes for an update...a little obsessive...I know. The last review was on new "shopping sites" that are launching: Kaboodle, wist, stylehive, nextag to name a few. Browsing through each one, I didn't see real innovation in them. They all seemed the same to me. Some of the site's design gave me a headache. There is just something lacking in these sites...oh I know ... a woman's touch.
This blog was started for me to write down all of my thoughts as I launch my website.
Surround yourself with smart people
Yesterday, I invited Chauncey on board to the team. Chauncey is a graduate from Carnegie Mellon University and is a top-notch programmer living in California. I have known Chauncey for over 7 years. His strength in computer programming and knowledge fills in my weakness of not understanding server specifications. I think that one of the most important things when executing a project is self-criticism....to understand what you lack and to find someone who can fill in that lack.
After talking to him about my project, he was very excited about it which is a good sign since Chauncey is one of the most critical people that I know. I am thankful in sharing with him my project as he has helped me clear up one of the problems that I was facing: Whether or not to include a a certain component in my product. After talking with him, I was able to scratch out the portion to make the product more simple and probably will be able to launch the project quicker.
The other person on my team is Khoi. Khoi is a briliant executioner. He keeps me focus and assists me in laying down a plan in terms of execution for the project. He is a visionary who has strengths in organization.
Don't take things personal
To fund this project, I maxed out my school loans and living off of ramen noodles. I tried sharing my vision with my parents but unfortunately they don't understand so everything is kept under hush. I graduate in May 2007 with offers of a starting salary well over 6 figures (I am a healthcare student), hence they would like me to focus on my studies. IStarting this startup isn't about the money, it is about creating something unique and fun!!! Carrying out a vision. However, because I expect that I won't be able to afford to pay for server costs while still in student, I of course implemented a business model into the product.
When I spoke to a professor about my project since he is a mentor for me at school, he wanted me to focus my energy towards something that would utilize my knowledge of medicine. Of course after speaking with him about my idea, he shared with me the problem that my project would fix for him. I have learned not to take things personally. Different people will have different opinions on my approach to things. What is important is I learn from the good criticism and walk away from the bad.
If you can't get over a bump, go around it
There is a problem with my loans. I will be recieving a call this week. Right now, there is about 2k in the bank for this project. I am waiting on my school's approval of the 10k I supposedly took out for "school." The project is going to cost me around 9k and this is via outsourcing to Russia. Working on a limited budget has forced to be think in a different way --> make the product SIMPLE. Simple for users to use and simple enough for programmers to program. I have sliced out some unecessary functions after talking to Chauncey so this will likely bring my cost down.
Working on my own budget as opposed to a huge funding has also forced me to really look at my project over and over again, making changes before the contract is signed and programming is started. I now have a clear idea of what the prototype should look like and what it should do, with plans of expansion reserved for Phase II. Hopefully I will get a call this week so that I can go ahead sign the contract, and start the programming this week. Execution time is set for 2-3 months before the site is up and running.
Talk to your users
I designed a product that I would like to use but because I would also want other people to use it, I have been talking to my target audience and have recieved excellent feedback from them. I think that this is one of the aspects that some entrepreneurs miss...they don't talk to other people. As a woman, there is nothing more important than the value of talking to other people. While talking to my users, simplicity and fun seems to be the two things that are important. You can create something great but if people can't use it, then it is useless. You can create something simple, but if it isn't fun, then people won't use it.
