Ask HN: Should I continue with my bootstrapped startup?
I've put a lot of time into BugMuncher, going from MVP to full app, but I'm only making $200 / month. I fear people are impressed when they first see BugMuncher, but no one needs this tool. I dogfood BugMuncher with my own users, even they don't use it much.
I think it could have more use for reporting cross browser issues, but all screenshots are created with webkit, so it's pretty useless for that. I've looked into using VM's to create screenshots for different browsers, the only service that would work is crossbrowsertesting.com, but they're prohibitively expensive. I'd either have to put my prices up a lot, or cut the monthly report limit by 70%
Which brings me to my only competitor, Usersnap - https://usersnap.com. They launched after me, but got VC funding, and use VM's to take screenshots in the same browser/OS as the user. Based on their pricing and report limit, I think they use crossbrowsertesting.com for screenshots, and the last time they posted a show HN, people complained 50 reports is not enough for $19 / month.
I'm now wondering if BugMuncher will ever be my full time job, I've got other things I'd like to work on, and I'm doing well freelancing. I don't feel like I have time for BugMuncher unless it can bring the majority of my income.
- Would you use BugMuncher as it is now (webkit screenshots)? - If not, would you use it if I used VMs to take screenshots with the correct browser, if so, would you want higher prices or lower limits? - Should I consider funding? - Should I stop, and sell BugMuncher or open source it?
I would not throw in the towel yet. Functionality wise, your demo video is pretty cool. Other than work on your landing page, you definitely need to go out and do sales/marketing. Stop working on the product and turn your sales/marketing hat on. Get help from someone who knows this better than you do if possible.
I've just cleared my trello to do list of everything but 'MARKETING'
It's not a bad idea, I just don't think you've gotten the other part of the startup right yet (sales and marketing).
I don't mind helping you with your idea (to guide you in a sense). I've given advice to a couple others before.
I think if you clearly identified your target market and then attacked them directly, you would find some success. Also, your landing page needs to become more "pretty".
Even though it doesn't look that bad, it kind of has the early 2000s Java web-tool look.
In terms of target market, I think I'm a step behind that, I'm not even sure what BugMuncher should be used for: bug reporting on live sites, team communication during development, are cross browser issues important?
Should it be a fully featured issue tracker (crowded market) or should it just integrate with existing tools?
I kind of feel like I'm throwing features at the wall to see what sticks :)
In terms of my current user base, it's mostly people using it for bug reports on live sites, but I feel in that use case, cross browser issues are important :s
I agree the website definitely needs redoing, I bought that on themeforest, gonna work with a designer to make something a lot better.
If you'd like to discuss things privately, use http://boun.cr to hide your email and we can discuss things via email thereafter.
Otherwise, as you've mentioned about your current market, it seems like the market is pushing your tool towards the live-site part of it.
Maybe I should try evaluating your product also. I need to "play" with it to understand how I would interpret its use in the role of a customer.
Of course, like others have said, you could change your landing page and your pricing and a few relatively important things, but in my opinion these are just surface things and you need to first ask yourself a few questions:
- do you really understand your customers? What keeps them up at night? What do they look for? Do they look for solutions on Internet? Do they buy things? etc.
- go into full focus on your ideal customer. Describe it precisely. Look into personas.
- now, how can your product fix one problem for your ideal customer? Make it real, not vague statements everyone can say yes to (fix bugs like a boss, imho, is not the root of the problem)
As far as I understand, you need to shift your mindset from focusing on your product to focusing on your customers. Go interview them, get on the phone with them, look at them using your software, get a feel of why they don't use it or stop using it...
Lately, I've written several blog posts on this topic if you like, you will find it here: saasfoundry.io/blog
I'll definitely check out your blog.
Here's what I think: 1. I only saw the "Feedback" widget AFTER seing the movie. Either make it bigger or point a big arrow on it. 2. I'd love if I could adnotate highlights with some text. 3. Your prices are too close together, so the cheapest one still seems expensive. Try testing with 2x price for Start up and 10x for enterprise.
BTW, I am using http://www.criticue.com to get feedback on my websites, you can use that too.
Good luck with the project!
On your pricing page, the 'Personal' plan has one check mark and three red "X"s. Why have the Xs at all? It's not that your personal plan is bad, it's just that the other plans are better. It makes me feel like I shouldn't be clicking "Start Free Trial", because it's right below three symbols of negativity.
Out of interest, how do you think it should be priced, and what do you consider my competitors?
Also, make the video shorter and more entertaining (check crazyegg video)