Ask HN: Is my project a potential startup?
I have a habit of finishing projects and not ever launching them because I just did to learn etc... I don't know if I should ditch this and go start another for fun or if i should stick with it. Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.
When non-geeks ask what it is i say its a quick and easy way to locate people in your area that either have what you want or want what you have.
To geeks I say: spotted.at is a realtime hyperlocal social utility that connects people based on proximity and intent.
What's there now
1. click "I Have" and put a pic or email of what you have then send it
2. It will show up on the map and be searchable by any user in the area
3. Whatever you have in the search box when you click I have will be used as the description
4. If you use app from phone you can see other people in area looking for what you have (updates in real-time; thats kind of cool IMO)
What's next
1. More user interaction (e.g.: chatting)
2. Fixing video (currently only works for HTML5 video tags)
3. Adding data from twitter & fb to search results
4. Add game mechanics
5. Building out the finders fee affiliate style program
--thx
Doing a startup can really suck and the difference between success and failure is often just a stubborn, pig-headed refusal to quit. This is why people say it's so important to be really, really passionate about your startup's idea.
I think you'll know when something's your startup when it's something you care about so much that there's no possible way you can stop working on it. Your project sounds like it could be a successful startup, but it doesn't sound like it could be your successful startup.
You'll just have to keep policing it. But I don't think most people will mind a bit of NSFW content.