Okay, weird, possibly unrelated story I guess. I've been thinking about this problem a lot. Especially in the context of travelling and exploring new places. I was originally thinking along the lines of businesses offering experiences but after a little research online, I ran into Skyara. Like you said, it seemed to be the fun / hip thing to do and the original idea sounded boring after that. It somehow fell off my mind after a while and haven't thought about it till today.
Amazon for activities is such a good analogy. Great going and good luck!
I love the fact you didn't give up on your original idea, you wallowed in it! We run a pretty unsexy business too, and despite having tried "sexy" quite a few times, we eventually embraced the notion that there are a ton of hard problems to solve for the core market and we should just wallow in them instead of trying to be one of the cool kids. The difference in the business is night and day, and now we're setting the standard in the industry.
I definitely think there are too many people these days chasing the sexy trends. What they fail to realize is that by the time something is sexy, it's often too late to catch up. Take Groupon and all the clones out there.
Solving a real problem is definitely the way to go. cheers!
How can you get sick of Costco food, it's so good!
In reality, good for you for realizing that it was a difficult sell in the first place. Innovative and sexy, yes, but I figured you would run into those problems before you mentioned it.
I love outdoor activities and nature getaways, and you were right: their websites are HORRIBLE.
However, creating a really easy way for them to have a website AND book through that website? Money.
Definitely, I think it's the main thing I heard from speaking with investors; you have to be really authentic and the problem you're solving has to be personal.
It was what really helped Airbnb and Etsy make it through the struggles of building a true sustainable marketplace that impacts peoples lives. If not, it's just like another corporate job.
Feel free to check out RAVN, would love to hear your feedback. You can use my invite code JWU.
according to their site, they're still in rate-limited beta (which is fine). however, when i entered my email address to get an invite, it told me i could move up the invite queue by entering the email addresses of three friends, which definitely had a bit of a scummy feel to it.
WARN - if you sign up w/ FB and say "you've been there" on an experience, it will automatically comment on your wall without permission saying "I just did this, check it out"
Hey Bobby, so made the share on facebook checkbox more visible. Also, clicking out of the modal now automatically unchecks that box. The only time it will share now is if you click "Done", with the checkbox checked, in which case, it should be very clear that you've seen the checkbox and know what you're doing.
Deployed and tested. That should eliminate any unwanted surprises, so feel free to mark all the things you've done!
There's actually a checkbox that says "Share this on my Facebook wall". You can also just not give RAVN permission to post on your wall when you first sign up (in the Facebook authorization dialog).
Sexy captures the imagination, but good execution is decidedly unsexy. The hyperbole of the valley and it's entourage is a siren's song; don't let it suck you in.
Cloud9Living.com shows this concept definitely has potential. Instead of going with the daily deals model, I would suggest going with the DailyCandy model (before they ventured into daily deals). Suggest experiences to pursue near the city you live with a weekly or daily newsletter
RAVN still seems to have an identity problem. I know it aims to be more than this, but the first thing I thought of when I signed on was, "Ooh, all the Groupon/LivingSocial/Google deals aggregated in a box layout"
I think you've highlighted one of the difficulties in this space. Nowadays, a lot of people expect any new ecommerce site to be some sort of deals site. It has become the default and you actually have to do work to show that you're not a deals site.
I once worked for a company that made a staggering amount of money off producing milk (or other paper) cartons. They were vertically integrated from initial design all the way to dropping it off on your factory floor.
[+] [-] tejaswiy|14 years ago|reply
Amazon for activities is such a good analogy. Great going and good luck!
[+] [-] yosho|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] freejack|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] yosho|14 years ago|reply
I definitely think there are too many people these days chasing the sexy trends. What they fail to realize is that by the time something is sexy, it's often too late to catch up. Take Groupon and all the clones out there.
Solving a real problem is definitely the way to go. cheers!
[+] [-] JonLim|14 years ago|reply
In reality, good for you for realizing that it was a difficult sell in the first place. Innovative and sexy, yes, but I figured you would run into those problems before you mentioned it.
I love outdoor activities and nature getaways, and you were right: their websites are HORRIBLE.
However, creating a really easy way for them to have a website AND book through that website? Money.
[+] [-] wmwong|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] rokhayakebe|14 years ago|reply
This is the right attitude. You can do one millions little things, but one project must be your life's work. Something you commit to.
[+] [-] jwu711|14 years ago|reply
It was what really helped Airbnb and Etsy make it through the struggles of building a true sustainable marketplace that impacts peoples lives. If not, it's just like another corporate job.
Feel free to check out RAVN, would love to hear your feedback. You can use my invite code JWU.
[+] [-] scott_s|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] zem|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] bomatson|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] humj|14 years ago|reply
Deployed and tested. That should eliminate any unwanted surprises, so feel free to mark all the things you've done!
[+] [-] stevenou|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] bomatson|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] jjguy|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] AznHisoka|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] danso|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] humj|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] unknown|14 years ago|reply
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[+] [-] fleitz|14 years ago|reply
It's not sexy at all but look at how much money there is to be made running a box factory, or containerized shipping.
[+] [-] awj|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] msteinert|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] humj|14 years ago|reply