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Rate My Startup - eclocking.com

http://eclocking.com

Please take a look at eclocking.com and give me some feeback.

It's a stopwatch that lets you save, organize and chart your times.

Some questions: 1. Is this useful? 2. How much functionality does a premium plan need before I can charge? 3. Any other feedback is appreciated.

( 24 comments | 13 points | on HN )
Re:Rate My Startup - eclocking.com by hristov on Saturday October 10, 2009 @03:03PM (#873651)
Ok I am not sure this would be very useful as it stands. I don't think many people need that kind of timer while having an internet connection. But you may be more succesful if you turn it into an iphone/blackberry/android app that does not need constant connectivity.

I will give you another idea which is tangentially related to what you are doing. There are timers that are used for people that bill for their time (e.g., consultants, lawyers, accountants, etc.) They are some pretty expensive ones that are used by top law firms and work very well. And there are a lot of cheaper ones that are aimed at startups and the like and are pretty terrible.

I am an attorney that just left one of the top firms in the nation to try to start my own practice. One of the biggest annoyances is that I cannot find a timer application that works as well as the one my law firm used. It should not be that difficult. But all the applications aimed at small businesses are pretty bad.

So I think if you aimed your timer for people that bill for their time, you might be succesful. But you have to make it good. You have to make it so it supports client- matter billing. Also make sure it can easily interact with standard accounting software. Also make sure it is easy to switch between tasks and create new tasks (this where most existing applications fail epically).

Basicly, if you can make a billing timer which is as good as Capre Diem but does not cost an arm and a leg, I think you may be very successful.

Re:Rate My Startup - eclocking.com by Zarathu on Monday October 26, 2009 @09:59PM (#904597)
What about Billings?
Re:Rate My Startup - eclocking.com by markbao on Saturday October 10, 2009 @03:14PM (#873670)
website
Re:Rate My Startup - eclocking.com by chaosmachine on Saturday October 10, 2009 @03:57PM (#873753)
Since this is getting upvoted, I'm curious how people make the distinction between a startup and a website.
Re:Rate My Startup - eclocking.com by kneath on Saturday October 10, 2009 @04:12PM (#873779)
My personal distinction:

- A website is just that. A website on the internet, usually consisting of HTML, CSS, Images and Javascript.

- A startup is a venture to start a profitable company.

For a website to be considered a startup, there has to be some case where one could make a sound argument it will be able to make more revenue that it costs to maintain (and the incurred cost of building it)

Re:Rate My Startup - eclocking.com by mcav on Saturday October 10, 2009 @06:35PM (#873966)
Startups are substantial projects which primarily seek profit or growth.

"Websites" are typically small projects, without serious focus toward profit or growth.

Re:Rate My Startup - eclocking.com by chaosmachine on Saturday October 10, 2009 @04:16PM (#873784)
At first, I thought this was just a one-page javascript demo. After watching the screencast, I can see there's more to it than that.

I'm not sure anyone will really use the online timer, it just doesn't fit with most scenarios where you need a stop watch.

I like the graphing / tag filtering system. It's your strongest feature. Could be useful for freelancers to track their hours on various projects. If you can come up with a way to get data into it that doesn't involve leaving a browser tab open, you've got something. Alternatively, come up with a really easy way to enter times manually.

Side note: If you're going to record speech for a demo video, use a windscreen on the mic to avoid those popping sounds (you can make your own by wrapping some light cloth around the mic).

Re:Rate My Startup - eclocking.com by igurari on Saturday October 10, 2009 @05:21PM (#873867)
Contrary to what most people here have said, I believe there is a use for such a service. However you would have to focus on a niche. Lawyers time their tasks - they bill by increments as short as 6 minutes. To be useful for lawyers you would have to add more features. A few that come to mind would be having multiple connected timers (starting one stops whatever other one is running), labels associated with the timers, notes associated with the timers, and a whole lot of security. Current timer solutions for lawyers are all desktop applications, so a web based solution could be interesting.
Re:Rate My Startup - eclocking.com by mishmax on Saturday October 10, 2009 @03:02PM (#873648)
I just used it to time myself writing a bunch of emails...I find I work better when I'm under some kind of time crunch or competition, so this may be useful...
Re:Rate My Startup - eclocking.com by Mark_B on Saturday October 10, 2009 @03:53PM (#873745)
There's a bug at exactly one minute, ten seconds.

150 0.6 1:10.5

149 0.5 1:010.0 <- This one.

148 0.6 1:09.4

Re:Rate My Startup - eclocking.com by bnoland on Saturday October 10, 2009 @06:57PM (#873991)
thanks, fixed.
Re:Rate My Startup - eclocking.com by az on Friday October 16, 2009 @02:46AM (#884937)
Maybe DJs can use this create a smooth flow from song to song. They can preset the time beforehand when the songs should change and when one the stopwatch the 'effects' should be added. If this is possible, they can effictively sit back and relax.
Re:Rate My Startup - eclocking.com by bnoland on Saturday October 10, 2009 @02:09PM (#873569)
It's a stopwatch that lets you save, organize and chart your times.

Some questions:

  1. Is this useful?
  2. How much functionality does a premium plan need before I can charge?
  3. Any other feedback is appreciated.
Re:Rate My Startup - eclocking.com by kyro on Saturday October 10, 2009 @02:20PM (#873583)
To be quite honest, I don't find it useful at all. For the past several minutes I've been trying to come up with a use case for it, but can't because I don't find myself needing a stopwatch whilst using my computer, unless you're in a research facility. Maybe if you can automate the stop watch and start/stop it according to certain actions, along the lines of RescueTime, then it could be a bit more useful. As far as premium plan, you have quite a ways to go to convince me to pay for your service. My iPhone stopwatch is sufficient for my needs and I don't see a reason to use your service.

Maybe you were going for a specific use case that I'm not aware of, and if that's the case, let me know.

Re:Rate My Startup - eclocking.com by bnoland on Saturday October 10, 2009 @02:42PM (#873612)
Thanks for the honesty. Most people don't use stopwatch at their computer.

I created a mobile version of the website for use on your phone. It's better than your other stopwatch if you want to keep track of your times.

Re:Rate My Startup - eclocking.com by martey on Saturday October 10, 2009 @03:09PM (#873659)
Don't many mobile phones include stopwatch applications? I know my Sony Ericsson from 2004 had one.

Having neither an iPhone nor an Android phone, I do not know whether they include stopwatches, but I would be more likely to use a native application version than a mobile website.

Re:Rate My Startup - eclocking.com by dazzawazza on Saturday October 10, 2009 @06:20PM (#873947)
The iPhone does have a stopwatch.
Re:Rate My Startup - eclocking.com by Mark_B on Saturday October 10, 2009 @04:14PM (#873781)
I clicked on the tour and noticed the graphing feature - this should be on the front page. To me, seeing progress / time is more useful than a stopwatch app by itself.
Re:Rate My Startup - eclocking.com by dryicerx on Saturday October 10, 2009 @02:27PM (#873594)
You might want give some example uses, I hardly use a timer (if I am it's a countdown for quick reminders). I can see runners using this to track their progress over time.

I doubt this is something people would pay to use.

Re:Rate My Startup - eclocking.com by proee on Saturday October 10, 2009 @05:14PM (#873859)
I think it's brilliant. Nice work!

In terms of a business model, it may not be a million dollar idea, but with enough connections (like an iphone app) you could certainly make some good income.

Keep up the good work.

Re:Rate My Startup - eclocking.com by eam on Saturday October 10, 2009 @02:44PM (#873615)
This might be useful for joggers, walkers, or anyone in athletics who has a mobile phone.
Re:Rate My Startup - eclocking.com by InclinedPlane on Saturday October 10, 2009 @04:10PM (#873774)
Considering that your competition is a mobile device that costs anywhere from $1 (basic model) to $30 (deluxe models with many more features than your website), can be used anywhere in the world (or off it) without concern for internet access, has a battery life on the order of 5 years, and a total service life of over a decade...

I think you're screwed.

Re:Rate My Startup - eclocking.com by romanm on Saturday October 10, 2009 @04:47PM (#873831)
Original feature, personally I don't like to count minutes of work because 5 minutes of good concentration is much more better than a hour of sleepy mouse clicking , but I am sure there is people that will find it useful.
Re:Rate My Startup - eclocking.com by omouse on Saturday October 10, 2009 @03:28PM (#873701)
This is a joke right? I hope so.