Thanks for that. It was a real eye-opener. I knew that China's debt stake was less than everybody complains about, but I didn't know the exact numbers. Sometimes we need a little dose of perspective.
They're not exactly hiding that. We're all aware that those two companies, along with others, collect our information and generally use it to promote relevant products or what their algorithm's believe we want to see.
Amazon, Netflix, and others all do it blatantly. It's not a conspiracy, just something that originally had a good intent (and still does), but is not yet developed enough to provide a well-rounded stream of information.
I would assess the strength and execution of your competitor's product, then decide whether you think you can build a better product. Google didn't quit building a search engine because Yahoo beat them to it. They just figured out a better way to do it. Depending on the potential size of your market, there may be room for multiple companies, even if you do come to market second.
On the other hand, one month's work is not very much and if you have another great idea in a more promising market, I would say get working on that and try to make sure you get there first. But, like I said, it's not when you launch, it's how your product compares with competitors. Just my $0.02.
True. And, if possible, eventually expanding into the original segment is always a possibility. It's all about finding an untapped niche or one that needs some new tapping.
Hi Frank, That gives me more piece of mind. I've only given three programmers FTP access, though I've since restricted them. I've also explained to them that I'll be willing to rehire them once I can afford it, so that should give them more of an incentive to wait, rather than try to build their own versions. Also, I interviewed the programmers first and felt that they were trustworthy (though you never know for sure). I'm glad to hear that you've never encountered programmers stealing ideas.
Being of high moral integrity myself (in my opinion), I wouldn't expect someone even closely like-minded to steal my idea, but I feel like my site has such high potential that it may be one of those things that even someone with moral integrity can't resist stealing.
By the way, is there anywhere that I can find developers to build my site who would accept a stake in the company rather than cash?
That's exactly what it is. They offered a free 30 day trial and I figured it couldn't hurt to try it out, but now I think that they're more for small businesses who don't need much more than a static HTML page.
Drupal and/or Wordpress wouldn't be able to do what I need. My site is relatively complicated and I already have a pretty substantial amount written in PHP.
Hi Tadfisher. That puts it in more perspective. NS really has no incentive to make my site shine and, even worse, if the site blows up they might, as you say, take it hostage. I think I'm going to cancel the service before they begin the website. Honestly what really sucked me in was this sales guy on the phone telling me that the best idea for me at my stage while seeking funds is to get the site up so that venture capitalists and angels can find it easier. He made it sound like if I used their service, they would help me find investors. After talking with the consultant, I think that sales guy was just full of shit (as most sales guys are) and was just telling me what he knew I wanted to hear in order to sell his service.
I myself am not a developer, though I'm not entirely ignorant of the technical side. I have developed my idea single-handedly through much trial and error and just want to steer my idea to fruition. I already have the entire blueprint for my site, but I just can't build it myself. What I really need is a service that will build the site, even if they take a stake in the company, like Y Combinator.
And no, I'm not the type of person Ashton Kutcher hates (Mark Zuckerberg wannabes). I seriously have a fully-baked idea that began with the question, what does the world really need. Is Y Combinator my only viable option in your opinion?
If your idea is good, you can find developers who will work for a stake. They may not be full-time, because everyone needs to pay the bills, but they are out there. By having this "keep my idea secret so no one can steal it" rule at the forefront, you'll never find those developers.
That doesn't mean you should make a HN post with your entire idea diagrammed and annotated. All you need is a gist; "a social bookmarking service" or "text-message notification system" is enough to start correspondence.
Any service that will develop your product for you is not going to be worth it, period. This needs to be a collaborative effort under your wing. The developers actually working on the idea need to have their own stake in the product, moreso than a paycheck from a service that might build 1,000 dynamic websites in a year.
I've come to that conclusion that I can't keep my idea a total secret, otherwise it will never see the light of day. At first I was entirely vaulted. As for the site, it's a social network with a focus on businesses rather than people. I've spent countless hours drawing up the blueprint, so there are literally over fifty other services that I believe the site could incorporate which all have a huge potential upside. It's very frustrating to have all these ideas but not know how to implement them. I've already spent thousands of dollars on developers, but I don't want to go completely broke.
Try college students. Seriously, I knew so many CS/SE majors who needed projects to work on that would mean something on their resumes.
Many colleges have an undergrad "capstone" program where entrepreneurs can pitch their ideas to teams of students, who may spend 1 or 2 quarters building a product in lieu of a thesis. This might be a good place to start.
I couldn't reply to your last post, so I'm replying directly above it.
That's a good idea. I've thought of that, but 1. I'm not a very outgoing person and don't know if I would be great at pitching an idea and 2. It seems that students wouldn't bring the quality that professional programmers do. That's definitely an option though. Thanks.
I'm starting to think that's not what I want. When I asked what language the programmers use, he said HTML and I was like, huh? I then explained to him how complicated my site is and he said they offer advanced services including PHP and interactive sites. As of now, all they're doing is taking the information I've given them and building a static HTML page.
Luckily I have a 30 day cancellation option, but I'm worried that if these programmers realize where I'm going with the site, they might try to build it themselves.
