The story of building a product and bootstrapping Dribbble, a site for designers to share screenshots of what they're working on. Also, thoughts on niche opportunities in social space.
“We get into creative work because we have good taste.” – Ira Glass http://www.brainpickings.org/index.php/2012/02/22/ira-glass-on-the-secret-of-success/ Friday, June 8, 2012
CODING HORROR Jeff Atwood leaves Stack Exchange, to spend more time with his family. http://www.codinghorror.com/blog/2012/02/farewell-stack-exchange.html Friday, June 8, 2012
“It's a bummer there's no TechCrunch of lifestyle businesses.” – Matt Haughey http://a.wholelottanothing.org/2012/03/my-webstock-talk.html LESSONS FROM A 40-YEAR-OLD Friday, June 8, 2012
“Designing a product is keeping 5,000 things in your brain... and fitting them all together... every day you discover something new... a new problem or a new opportunity, to fit these things together a little differently.” – Steve Jobs http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/11/11/15/steve_jobs_lost_interview_design_is_keeping_5000_things_in_your_brain.html Friday, June 8, 2012
established culture and content EARLY ADOPTERS like Shaun Inman http://dribbble.com/shauninman/projects/2608-Mimeo-and-the-Kleptopus-King Friday, June 8, 2012
INVITATIONS • Graceful growth • Drafting: Ownership and accountability • Community changes slowly, feels stable • Delay spending time on filtering noise • Time we spend on user support • Scaling concerns growth hormones that regulate... Friday, June 8, 2012
“Community sites need time to grow. We shut down new users signups and there were very few features added between 2002-2004.” – Matt Haughey, MetaFilter http://a.wholelottanothing.org/2012/03/my-webstock-talk.html IS MY BETA TOO BIG? Friday, June 8, 2012
COMMUNITY • Communities are grown, not manufactured • Happy users become guardians and advocates • The perception of quality matters a lot Community is your competitive advantage Friday, June 8, 2012
GAMIFICATION “There's a fine line between stupid and clever.” – David St. Hubbins, Spinal Tap Here lies David St. Hubbins. And why not? Friday, June 8, 2012
FEEDBACK Give users what they need. It may not be want they want. Avoid knee-jerk reactions. Complexity has to earn your attention. Friday, June 8, 2012
“Make it programmable.” – Fred Wilson, wealthy VC http://thinkvitamin.com/web-apps/fred-wilsons-10-golden-principles-of-successful-web-apps/ API Friday, June 8, 2012
API “Don't publish an API without a strategy. If you rely on revenue, establish your business model. When you understand how access to your data complements that model, then... make it programmable.” – Me, paycheck hugger Friday, June 8, 2012
“By far, our biggest competitor for all our products is email.” –David Heinemeier Hansson http://www.sebastianmarshall.com/37signals-we-compete-with-email Friday, June 8, 2012
FACEBOOK PIE And this is just the world of images... Others Not all-inclusive and not drawn to scale! (Dribbble is much bigger in my head :) Friday, June 8, 2012
COMMUNITY • Communities are grown, not manufactured • Money & tech are good for manufacturing, but growing requires nurturing and patience. Once More, with Feeling Community is your competitive advantage Friday, June 8, 2012
dailymile is a "social experience for active people." It's a bootstrapped, profitable 2 person company. ~500,000 registered users Revenue comes from integrated advertising and Pro accounts. Friday, June 8, 2012
Ravelry is a site for knitters and crocheters. It's a bootstrapped, profitable 4 person company. 2,170,320+ registered users Revenue comes from Yarn-related advertising and pattern sales. http://blog.ravelry.com/2012/01/25/how-does-ravelry-make-money/ Friday, June 8, 2012
“If I like the things you create, nothing makes me happier than giving you money to keep doing it.” – Jason Santa Maria https://twitter.com/#!/jasonsantamaria/status/167342553778237440 Friday, June 8, 2012
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