I agree with landing page optimization but a few more questions to consider: What are you doing to up-sell post-signup? Are you holding webinars, doing newsletter campaigns? The sign up process should also be so simple. The problem I see so often is trying to get too much info about the customer upfront. Are you sending emails to free users incentivizing them to upgrade? Are you giving away too much in the free version that there is no incentive to upgrade? Understand how your customers are using the free version and let them know how much more they can do in the paid. I agree that less than 1% converting to paid compared to the 18% is too large.
I went back to school at 27 and finally finished with a BA and MA at 32. I would totally do it again. However, I would do some things differently but at least I did it because that was one regret I had - not having that formal education. You could fulfill some of your longing formal edu by taking some courses online (and free) through the top unis. I'm taking an intro cs course through Stanford with 25 other women and we're connecting through a google group. You get the lectures, the books,the assignments just like a regular class. Doing this with others keeps you focused and you get study groups. The biggest benefit is that you don't incur a bunch of debt. Also, yes, there can be work experience credit but it is difficult to get. Talk to an admissions counselor and they can help you with that.
You were turned down by one program? You sound really bitter and I can see why they turned you down - you're not ready to be an entrepreneur. As a person running a start up, you're going to get turned down A LOT. So what if YC or TS or any incubator/fund is accepting 1%? You try. You try again. You keep trying. As a woman founder, I face much tougher numbers. I don't stop because the numbers are stacked against me! I keep trying. I figure out ways to monetize without funding. I get feedback on how to be better. When someone tells me an aspect of my product is crap I consider it and improve. I don't write out rants about how someone else was to blame. And yes - YOU NEED MARKET VALIDATION. If you can't prove that people will use your product, why would someone invest in you. This isn't 1998.
Sorry If I may have came off as an ass with the post. The point I was trying to make is that I truly didnt get any feedback on my product, besides the point of lack of market validation. IN my executive statement I sent a link to my beta, which he didnt visit until I was on the phone with him. Market validation is important, but I feel that id you have a functional beta as well as a concept or plan the least you can so is go through it b4 saying lack of market validation is the end all be all.
I rarely see a VC or incubator read the entire statement or much less click through to a beta. They care about numbers. You could have the next Google or FB but if you can't show that people will (or are) using it then what's the point? For me, I had to do an alpha test w/75 users and I have hundreds in my private beta and have tons of articles and market research to show traction and I still get questions about "enough traction". Just think about it from the VC perspective: "How much am I going to get back on my return" That's ALL they care about. That's all they should care about. Plus, its not up to them to give you feedback. You need to get people on your product and ask them for feedback, iterate based on their feedback and then start shopping it around to people in your space and get their feedback. After that, you go to investors.
Thanks for a WACK-IN-THE-HEAD response. Reading the original post got me into this "World Sucks" funk. But you are right, what is wrong should always be remedied first from within. A bit of self evaluation before blaming others is a good motto to live by.
Dude, I totally get your rant. Hey, we've all been there. Please don't take anything personally or you're in for a huge depression. Just take it as constructive criticism and keep plugging away. I've had some harshness come to me and at first it sucked and I dwelled on it. Then I realized that hey, maybe I'm applying to the wrong programs or maybe I'm not focused on core competencies. Just keep the feedback as such - its feedback. The world doesn't suck if you don't let it.
I like the concept but as someone who has had the unfortunate task of going through tons of resumes, there's just too much info on here. We scan. If something catches our eye, we read a bit more. Nothing really catches my eye. The comments don't mean anything to me (as the one who would scan your rez) and it adds to the jumble of text. Please, please, please, if you haven't been the one in a position to read resumes, send it to people who have and they'll give you the honesty you need.
I really appreciate you taking the time to comment! Your point is exactly my concern too. How can I better show that the resume is an example of my technical and marketing skills? At the end of the day tecruiter should be ctrl+f or downloading the PDF 1-page standardized resume.
I wanted to create something that would leverage technology to interact with the visitor in a unique way, to set my resume apart from the boring, traditional, static, resume.
I totally get what you're trying to do but boring is sometimes best. I just want to know (in order): Your skillset, level of skills, how long you've been doing what you're doing, and examples. The next would be where you've worked, how long, what you accomplished at each place. Showing a an upward progression is key. I just didn't get that from the timeline. I've been in tech startups since the 90s and have hired in marketing, biz dev, prod dev. Make the juicy components stand out. For instance, I'm hiring developers right now and I need skillsets in ruby, python, ui, and I want people who have tangible apps to show me. I want to see what they've done in practice. Hope this helps.
I cut way back on FB recently and about to challenge myself to a social media fast. However, Twitter is essential for connecting with other in business. I gain a TON of value from it. From FB? Not so much. Thanks for sharing this. Being off FB for a few days resulted in higher productivity.
I'm guessing its because he actually uses his twitter account. Shares interesting information and people will follow you. As a CTO I would think you guys might actually look at using it for your business...
I use it to connect - exactly. I've been able to join valuable groups, find competitors, develop partnerships, and follow conferences that I couldn't attend. I get updates about new technologies to use, industry updates. Seems like pastonrod knows what I mean. FB gives me poop diaper updates from friends. Not biz friendly really.
We do have a problem with this. We aren't whining. I asked some male friends about this just now and they think its shameful. It basically reads: "We are looking for male programmers, females need not reply." Yeah, just stick us back into the secretarial pool.
Well, see, here's the difference, it counts how you see the glass, full or empty. From my point of view, and I assume theirs, that's simply a joke that most of you got serious.
I was just asking for a female programmer to tell that she's having a problem with this, not a dude.
Probably I haven't exposed my ideas in a correct and coherent way, but I am tired and english is not my main. But trust me, I know a lot of women that are programmers, at some I look up to, and those who aren't I try to help them integrate, we need really need female programmers, because we, as males, can never achieve their way of thinking.
Oh ok, shameless self-promotion. We are in private beta for TrackIgnite (http://www.trackignite.com). Its a dashboard that allows users to synch their self-tracking health and fitness apps. The user can automatically see all their data in charts and graphs, retrieve their tracking history, and share it with anyone they invite or they can keep it public. We will launch a doctor/patient dashboard next month that allows patients to share their fitness, nutrition, mood, sleep and other data points to give the doctor quantified data and save on costly tests/treatments.
Our beta users are in love with it and we're getting excellent word-of-mouth signups. We've integrated 30 self-tracking web and mobile based tools. I'm a self-tracking geek :)
I do this monthly and it really helps. I think the idea of clearing out the clutter makes me feel productive and makes me want to continue that productive streak.
