adii

7 ms·

1.
by adii 10y ago
Cool episode! I really liked how they admitted that not all of the music they release are hits and that they make a lot of mistakes. I was also surprised to hear that music streaming was their #1 revenue channel.
2.
by adii 12y ago
Thanks for posting this @spark3k. I'm the founder of Receiptful and happy to answer any questions here. :)
3.
How We Grew Conversions 100% by Rethinking Our Design Strategy(groovehq.com)
2 points by adii 13y ago|0 comments
4.
How We Grew our SaaS Startup from Zero to $30,000/mo in Under a Year(groovehq.com)
8 points by adii 13y ago|0 comments
5.
by adii 13y ago
If that's the case, I'm happy to issue a full refund, no questions asked. There's a major difference between trying to scam someone and pushing the boundaries to validate (and de-risk) an idea. If our ideas are shit, I will n
6.
by adii 13y ago
You did read that we never took anybody's money, right?
7.
by adii 13y ago
You realize that the title is obviously exaggerated and that I didn't gain $4000 on day one. I did however gain the kind of validation that eventually allowed me to gain $4000 in cash when we launched a month later. For every person th
8.
by adii 13y ago
Sure, I could have just done customer interviews without requiring CC details. I truly believe that this feedback is however still hit-or-miss and we might've optimized for the wrong thing thereafter. Paying customers' feedback is
9.
by adii 13y ago
Well, that's like reactive transparency. For some people this means that I / we have broken their trust and any future relationship is thus dependent on earning back that trust. Being open, honest and apologetic after that fact, h
10.
by adii 13y ago
Just to be 100% clear: we never took any money for anything we didn't have. When we eventually opened the doors to our V1, there was actually something there and only at that point did we charge anyone's credit card.
11.
by adii 13y ago
Sure, maybe that is a worthwhile trade-off to consider for anyone considering something similar in future.
12.
by adii 13y ago
I'd like to clarify two things: 1) The intention was always to produce the videos / content. And it still is too (we have just deprioritized this and tweaked the roadmap from our initial plan). 2) The customer interviews we had (a
13.
by adii 13y ago
This isn't excusing bad behaviour at all. In fact, I've been very up-front about the fact that this technique relies on deception and that I didn't like that bit. I stick to what I've said though, which is that putting u
14.
by adii 13y ago
Do I think that this technique can be refined? For sure. :) One of the reasons for publishing this and being open about how this worked is to be a catalyst for a conversation around this, which would hopefully see a refinement of the techni
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by adii 13y ago
Responded to your comment on there now. :)
16.
by adii 13y ago
You'll see in the article that Kickstarter or crowdfunding would not have validated this idea, as the difference between backing / pre-ordering / investing in a product versus purchasing a product is significant. To validate
17.
by adii 13y ago
I love this from Abraham Lincoln: http://www.goodreads.com/quotes/281050-you-can-please-some-o... The reality is: Yes, angry customers are never good for business or brand building. Neither are bad reviews. Trust me wh
18.
How I Made $4000 Selling A Product I Didn't Have(adii.me)
54 points by adii 13y ago|71 comments
19.
by adii 13y ago
I (the so called "author") also bootstrapped WooThemes successfully to grow to more than 100k+ paying customers, 500k+ users, a team of 33 and 10-figures in revenues. :)
20.
by adii 13y ago
I don't agree. Whether you're a solo founder or have 10 co-founders, you won't succeed if you're building something that no one wants. You can get customer validation regardless of whether you have co-founders or not.
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by adii 13y ago
Talented people are also attracted to working on something they're passionate about and having the freedom to execute on that passion. :) And not all businesses needs to be set up purely as a vehicle to an exit. Many businesses can in
22.
by adii 13y ago
I've done both and I can definitely attest that outsourcing the technical bits of your new startup is beyond tricky. It is however not impossible. The point here is that taking a technical co-founder onboard isn't your only option
23.
by adii 13y ago
I agree. I think the biggest consideration with this should be the potential opportunity cost (equity, control and the risk of future fall-outs) of taking on co-founders. And in a similar vein to how I feel about bootstrapping vs external f
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You Don't Need A Co-Founder(publicbeta.co)
63 points by adii 13y ago|40 comments
25.
by adii 14y ago
I am saying "don't chase failure". I'm also saying that learning from success is just as important as learning from our mistakes. Similarly, I'm not convinced that the startup community isn't valuing failure. If I look around at how we cele
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Failure Has Limited Value(adii.me)
12 points by adii 14y ago|3 comments
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Startups Shouldn't Follow Trends(adii.me)
27 points by adii 14y ago|13 comments
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by adii 14y ago
As an investor, you can judge the current market size, the potential, as well where that fits into current trends when the entrepreneur's idea is present. Those are just some of the factors that are generally taken into account when making
29.
by adii 14y ago
Yes, I probably would try make a small investment in his next venture; not because I think he can recreate the same wealth he's done with FB, but his FB journey suggests he can make money again. I would still regard this as a bit of a gambl
30.
by adii 14y ago
If you read closely, you'll see that I know that this makes sense to YC (and others in similar position). But it's not viable as a generic investment strategy. YC have a proven track record and I'm sure if they allow no-idea founders in, it

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