djsamson's comments

Question Based Selling is a great intro book on how good salespeople approach sales. It has good detail in it as well. Tested Advertising Methods is a must read for learning how people respond to copy (can be applied to ppc ads, direct emails, etc).

I plan on moving to SV and working for a startup, then launching my own venture one day. I feel like this is an easier transition and I'll be able to accumulate some more experience and assets before I develop something on my own.

Thank you for all the comments. I love checking in with the HN community before doing customer dev interviews. This has saved me alot of time.

This is a good preliminary test, but more customer development needs to be done. You need to have problem and then solution interviews. Don't just show them your solution and ask "Will this help?" Of course it will to some extent.

You want to get a really good understanding why these people have this problem and how they've tried going on without your product. Ask them how much they would be willing to pay to get their problem solved. Then ask if your solution is helpful and show them a demo.

Steve Blank is the Godfather of customer development. I highly suggest the Startup Owner's Manual. But if you don't have time to read that all right now, just realize you need some in-depth interviews (preferably in person interviews) and then use the Google Adwords landing page test as a mass scale test.

Good luck.

Motivation to workout. I'm not obese or anything, and I realize the importance of exercise but I still can't seem to find the time to do it more than once a week.

Carwoo sounds interesting and it is similar to what I was thinking. But I think I might be imagining something more aggressive, where the startup sends an e-mail/fax/phone call to dealerships on the customers behalf. Acting as their "agent" almost. Also, it seems CarWoo only includes partnered dealerships. With the method I described a buyer would be able to contact every dealership of their interest. The only issue with this is that since the startup would be more "customer oriented" rather than dealer, it would probably have to charge customers (unlike Carwoo) instead of charging dealers like CarWoo.

A co-founder. I can really only offer equity not cash.

None of these are targeting what I'm trying to do however

Did you get my e-mail? If not, contact me:

dj [at] darrensamson [dot] com

Keep in mind I am not a programmer so stick with me:

For this idea I would obviously need a decent landing page and a few pages with information and then a call to action for payment. But how complicated would a backend be if all I needed was a few forms for each customer to fill out to contribute to my database of customer names, addresses and preferences?

What programming language would be necessary for the backend to be built? I go to a technology school so I can most likely find a CS student to build it for the right price and if I am perceived like I know what I'm talking about (thank you HN).

I was thinking about possibly offering two packages. A basic package, let's just ballpark somewhere around $25-$50 where I would ship out strictly wholesale products each month, not really based on preferences. And then a more advanced option ranging $50+ a month which would be personalized gifts initially bought on the retail level. This package would require an indepth questionnaire and possibly further communication as ideas run dry like you said.

BTW: thanks for the return tip. I think that option won't be offered in the early going I can see how that could turn ugly.

I'm not sure which programming language would be used to create this but this is basically what I need for my MVP:

A decent looking landing/about page. After a customer (an employer) purchases a monthly account they receive a log in. Once logged in they can input their employee names which will be saved. Then from there on they can log in at any point and add hours to every employee for each date.

This will translate into an online spread sheet which employees (who will also have a log in) can view once logged in. They will be able to mark shifts they have that they want to trade with other employees. And they will also be able to mark on the spread sheet when they want time off.

Is it realistic to think this isn't an expensive project? I'm a student and I don't have a tech co-founder.

Zev,

I attend SUNY Institute of Technology in Utica. It's not that I don't think there's entrepreneurship going on upstate, I just don't think there's anything going on with internet startups.

If I go back I'm going to split my time between classes, working and launching another startup. I don't have any friends who could be a tech co-founder so I think I'm just going to focus on making money to pay rent and everything left over is for hiring a freelancer.

If I decided to just stick to business, could I realistically get a job at a startup without a finished business degree?

Are you referring to this?: http://ycombinator.com/ideas.html

Or is there something more recent you're talking about.

DreamIt Ventures already closed its NYC applications. I saw that Dreamit takes applications from hackers and business entrepreneurs and team them up. I'm not confident enough in my programming yet but I feel like I'm qualified for the business end, are there other programs like this where they create teams?

I'm a business student from Poughkeepsie, NY. I'm working on my own start-up but I am interested in interning this summer for a startup in NYC as well.

BCS I'll send you an email, but if anyone else is looking for a business intern in NYC I'd be interested in applying: [email protected]

I agree with all of your points, but I think it's important however to note that there have been successful entrepreneurs who have offered similar products/services as the 800 lb. gorilla and have succeeded by being better than their competition which of sometimes means improved customer service.

Taking an example from the article, when Richard Branson joined the airline industry and took on British Airlines his main leverage was better customer service. They installed seat-back televisions in their planes and focused on hiring attractive and friendly stewardesses. Their product wasn't all that different from British Airlines, but they packaged it in a better way.

I think it would have been interesting to see if WePay was in the merchant-oriented business and see if they could have beaten paypal at their own game. It might sound crazy, but I think with the right marketing and company mantra it could be done.