Neat, although it would be interesting to see the effect of having dots persist for more than one refresh, and perhaps fade over a few secs. I think it would look much smoother. Nice job though!
I do like the idea, but agree it's not very polished. It lacks a certain degree of professionalism: it could've been done 5 years ago and we wouldn't have noticed. $30 templates go a long way.
I think the word startup has lost all meaning at this point, but I would like to propose this definition: A startup is something you quit your job to work full time on. Until then, it's a side project.
If the OP is fully committed to working on this site full time for the next 3 years, he can call it a startup.
Otherwise, calling a side project a startup seems intellectually dishonest in view of those that are putting 100% effort into a website/startup.
In all fairness, many highly successful businesses started as side projects. In my case, I started my web site about 12 years ago as a side project, and this year I expect to exceed 1 million in revenue.
I'm not sure at what point during the evolution of my side project I went from side project, to startup, to established business.
Maybe a startup should be termed as "a business that is designed to make more money than it spends."
I clicked on "Instant Personal Social Networks" expecting it to go somewhere, like maybe a page with more details - I think I was fooled by the ellipsis. IF you created such a page, a small "Or learn more..." button linking to it after the Get Started button might be helpful, so say if the video wasn't working, abd I hadn't found the other link, I still can). Finally, the last frame of your video should be a call to action, so I'm not left with a black hole on the screen. Oh, and link your logo on your blog to the main website, not to itself. You want the blog to drive traffic to the big enchilada.
For fantastic free weekly video tutorials you must check out Ryan Bates' http://Railscasts.com. Each one is typically on a new topic, (although there have been "mini-series") each exploring some new feature, technique or add-on.
If you need a quick-start on deploying one of the many gems out there, there's a good chance Ryan has you covered.
