(Part 2) Top products from r/startups

Jump to the top 20

We found 45 product mentions on r/startups. We ranked the 256 resulting products by number of redditors who mentioned them. Here are the products ranked 21-40. You can also go back to the previous section.

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Top comments that mention products on r/startups:

u/testmypatience · 1 pointr/startups

Cost? - FREE

Here is the info but if you need more than that, you can always pm me your questions and if you want me to actually help you as in actually putting together pages and configuring settings, then we can talk about a fee but for now the following info should help a lot.

First you should know I am advocating using wordpress. Some people are not good with it and are worried about that factor. So here are some guides and stuff to learn it.

WordPress Guides

Some guides are created for helping people out. Some are free and some are not. Some are actual manuals and some are video tutorials that get embedded into the dashboard of the website, which I find to be pretty handy.

Free

  • Easy WP Guide (PDF and Word - free)(brandable)
  • WordPress User Guide (PDF low quality - FREE)


    Paid

  • WordPress User Guide (PDF high quality - $6, Editable Word Doc - $40)
  • Video User Manuals (video in dashboard - $24/mo )
  • WP101 (video in dashboard - $19/mo)
  • Integrated Video Tutorials by WMPU DEV (videos in dashboard - Need a Membership to Use - white label - hosted on their server - always kept up to date)

    Now that you have that here is some info on how to build a website.

    This is in answer to people consistently asking how to get a website built.

    Validate Your Skill Level

    Are you currently a web programmer? If no, please do not attempt to become one to code your own dynamic website as security is a huge issue and it will take you years to catch up. It is not a reasonable effort to put forth if you want to keep your sanity, not burn your spare time, etc. Not saying you can't learn it, just saying it takes a lot of work and time that most entrepreneurs don't have to use and in some cases waste.

    You can learn how to do html and css within a few months but using a CMS system is much cleaner and easier and if you need something dynamic, you will probably need a developer.

    You generally need to know at least php and mysql for dynamic websites unless you want to get into the confusing worlds of joomla and drupal (non exhaustive list of alternatives: Python & Django, Node and ExpressJS, Python and Flask, Python & Pylons, Ruby & Sinatra). I hear decent things about Ruby on Rails though on par with php and mysql learning curve I think.

    Want to Learn Web Programming Anyway?

    Try CodeCademy for interactive programming learning.

    No Coding Skills Start Here

    Get / Use the following:

  • Hosting: Bluehost.com
  • Domain name: Buy through Bluehost and get a privacy option on it
  • Web Platform to one click install: WordPress a CMS platform
  • Find an appropriate responsive wordpress theme here: Themeforest.net
  • Install and configure these free plugins in order: Better WP Security, BackWPup, Akismet, Yoast, Broken Link Checker, FirmaSite Theme Enhancer, Growmap Anti Spambot Plugin, Date/Time Now Button, and Advanced Responsive Video Embedder
  • Buy other plugins you need here: CodeCanyon.net
  • Need an affiliate manager?: Use Linksert.net and it's free WordPress plugin.

    Need Something More Dynamic?

    You have a few options. This list goes from least expensive to most expensive. Just know that most things you want to do already have a plugin or theme designed for them for WordPress. There are however a lot of exceptions to that guideline and that is why you look at the following options.

  • Least Expensive end
  • Hire someone to develop a WordPress plugin to do that dynamic stuff (cheaper than second option)
  • Hire someone to build you a custom WordPress theme that has the functionality you need.
  • Hire someone to develop the site from the ground up.
  • Most expensive end

    The reason why WordPress is mentioned a lot is because it is a CMS aka Content Management System which allows you to manage a ton of the pages and posts and various other aspects of the website. If a developer really needs to, they can modify the core parts of WordPress. Rarely will you need someone to build you a brand new website and honestly you really do want a CMS or you are going to have a hard time.

    Some developers can be found here: Elance (freelancers), Matchist (freelancers), and Glowtouch (dev company vetted by Bluehost)

    Things to remember with website development

  • Try to use a responsive website themes and plugins so that it can fit any screen size including tablets and phones.
  • Get familiar with what they call "sticky footer" so that your footers don't end up halfway up the screen on low content pages. Example and info.
  • Get familiar with the concept of having a fixed header as it will promote a lot of use of your website. Example and info.
  • Design is important. You have ~2.6 seconds to capture their attention before they bounce. Read this book to learn about it: "Don't Make Me Think"
  • Best colors to use for design and other design tricks (the best you are going to find): Article and Video

    I am actually putting together a series on how to build a website that will be fairly extensive. If you would like to be notified of that you can sign up here and I will send you a message when it's ready.
u/silkymike · 3 pointsr/startups

i'm not quite a CFO but i do work in tech / at a startup / in finance. i can give a quick list of stuff I'd recommend to someone making the jump:

  • Kind of a no brainer (and judging from your analysis on #1, this probably won't be an issue) but you should be familiar with the VC/ funding/legal side of things. You can be the most valuable person in the room if you like slicing through a term sheet. i'd recommend Brad Feld's Venture Deals to get your feet wet. From a more macro/ company building level, Bussgangs Mastering the VC Game is a nice, light read.

  • Again, probably why they're hiring you, but strong financial modeling skills are important. Being able to do the historical accounting/ cash analysis and then quickly turn that into a forecast grounded in some business logic is essential. You're going to be making shit up sometimes, but I think everyone is to some degree in early stage tech.

  • I'm not sure the size of this company, but it's probably small and you'll probably end up dealing with/managing a lot of unsexy stuff. Running payroll, administering benefits, getting a 401k set up is all very painful but part of building yourself into a real company that can hire top notch talent. of course you can hire some/most of this stuff out, but it will probably be your problem at the end of day.

  • again, not sure what kind of team you're leading, but dealing with the accounting side. judging on the 2 year timeline, you'll probably be due for your first Audit and have to lead a few 409a valuations. deal with taxes/whatever else comes up.

    i think great CFOs for early stage can run the finance side but also kick in with the Ops stuff and have a good handle on product. You're more of the grease, and your job is to keep things humming and get out of the way to let people build.
u/TheGoodAdviceCoach · 15 pointsr/startups

So the things you're pointing out are completely normal for any business owner, particularly a startup. That doesn't make them feel less painful -- I empathize with you and I'm sure this feels discouraging.

Let's hit on a few key points:

  • Right now you're in the process of validating your offer. Your figuring out if you're really offering something that people want.
  • You've also recognized the disconnect between people who fawn over your product and actual users/buyers.
  • Plenty of people will tell you your product is a good idea and that they will use it... very few actually will.
  • What this means for your sake is being able to filter feedback and really understand who your users are and what they think of your product so that you can revise/adapt your offer to convert them.

    Some next steps for you:

  • Go back to your niche. Who are you trying to acquire as users?
  • What reason do they have to use your app?
  • For those who moved on, why didn't they stay?

    To the latter point, you really need to get into the mind of your user and remove any excitement you're feeling around your app. What I mean by this is that the answer to the question isn't, "Because the app's amazing and it does so much for them!" That's what you think. It's clearly not what your users think. So how do you figure out what your users are thinking? A lot of times this means simply asking them for their honest feedback. This can be direct communication or as you scale, it can be something as simple as a survey that gets sent out to users who haven't used the app in X days. I always prefer the former, but that's also my communication style.

    A book was recommended here a while back -- I've since read it and appreciate it's perspective. It's called The Mom Test, take a look at it here: https://www.amazon.com/Mom-Test-customers-business-everyone/dp/1492180742

    I also have a podcast episode on this topic. I don't self promote but if you want it let me know and I'll DM you where you can find it.

    Best of luck. Hang in there!
u/beley · 2 pointsr/startups
  • Always treat people with respect
  • Always treat people fairly
  • Always be crystal clear about expectations, and make sure to get your employees to repeat back to you (in their words) what those expectations are so you know they understand them. I create KRA (key result area) documents for our employees that outlines their responsibilities and metrics that will be tracked to determine their effectiveness at their job. If they are shipping, for instance, # of mis-shipped packages, number of packages shipped per day, etc. If they fall outside of these metrics, then they know they are not meeting expectations.
  • Never yell at your employees. I treat my employees like I treat my clients/customers.
  • Don't micro-manage, but follow up and offer help/assistance often. Set deadlines and let empoyees work toward them, but don't just wait for the deadline to see how they did. Check in, follow up and just ask if they need any help. Your job as a manager isn't to hound them, it's to help them be productive and meet the objectives of the company.

    A couple great books to read:

  • The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership by John C Maxwell

  • The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey
u/SexyCommando · 4 pointsr/startups

Steve Blank's Four Steps to the Epiphany and Guy Kawasaki's Art of the Start are both pretty good books on the subject.

The Mixergy podcasts are helpful as well, they're interviews with entrepreneurs in all sorts of different businesses. They usually have pretty good information on their whole business process from start to finish.

Other than that, depending on the business you're starting check out blogs of companies/people in similar areas of business. Startup Digest curates news from various startup blogs every week and sometimes they have pretty good information.

u/brikis98 · 1 pointr/startups

As always, the best advice is to consult a lawyer and CPA. I am neither, but I can share my personal experience.

As a solo-founder, setting up an LLC will involve less paperwork up front, less paperwork annually (C Corps have extra requirements, such as quarterly meetings/filings), and less cost. It also makes taxes much simpler, as in an LLC you can do owner withdrawals with passthrough taxation (i.e., you just do your personal taxes with a Schedule C) instead of dealing with salaries, W2s, dividends, double taxation, etc in a C Corp (which has to file its own taxes). If you find a co-founder, you can easily amend your LLC documents to give them part ownership. The C Corp only becomes advantageous when you want to hand out ownership of the company to non-founders. That is, if you want to raise money from investors, take on a board of directors, or give employees equity, then you can convert your LLC to a C Corp. For a good intro to these topics, check out The Entrepreneur's Guide to Business Law.

u/hamthepiggybank · 3 pointsr/startups

Venture Deals is a great reference.
There is no shortage of discussion on various blogs, Fred Wilson and Mark Suster are two of the best.

For actually drafting up terms...get a lawyer. Preferably one that deals with companies at your stage and investments on a regular basis.

Valuations are market driven, it's the price that you and the investor can agree upon. Convertible notes and SAFEs do not avoid this, read this outstanding post as to why. Active investors are setting your price based on their other options.

u/LangdonAlger88 · 1 pointr/startups

Honestly, check out The $100 Start Up. It's pretty straight forward and has some cool stories of people starting up businesses with little to no capital and experience, just doing what they love. I'm about half way through and I find it really interesting and refreshing from other business books I've read.

u/dave250 · 1 pointr/startups

A few books that I absolutely love are; Good to Great, 7 Habits of Highly Effective People (this isn't exactly a business book, but a lot of the principles in it help you be a better leader/person which is extremely important when running a business) and Rework

u/ikidoit · 12 pointsr/startups

Check out "The partnership charter" by David Gage. There are some interesting insights, and he suggests something that always helps we avoid wrong partnerships. Try to create an agreement between three of you about shares, responsibilities, how to buy out someone's shares and what happens when one of the partners wants to leave by himself.

If partners don't trust each other or someone tries to get advantage of others it becomes obvious because in agreement it has to be clearly written who does what, how much, what he gets in return and what happens if he doesn't do his part.

u/eskimoroll · 1 pointr/startups

Venture Deals is great and I'd also strongly recommend Mastering the VC Game by Jeff Bussgang. It's a really easy read and brings a lot of clarity to the subject of equity financing.

Amazon link

u/Franks2000inchTV · 7 pointsr/startups

Welcome to the big leagues. It's very, very, very hard to make a successful business. There's no shortcuts.

From reading your posts it sounds like you're making the classic mistake of over-investing in technical development before you've validated your value proposition.

You should NOT be relying on internet traffic to get your first customers. You should be doing in-person interviews and good ol' fashioned telephone sales.

Search and paid search work once you've established what the people you are selling to want, and that your product delivers that. You'll never get good data just relying on the internet.

Check out the book Nail it, then scale it" -- it has a lot of great advice, and talks about how to do this kind of validation early and at low cost.

u/NervousMcStabby · 11 pointsr/startups

>This article (in it's entirety) was taken from my blog.

So you'll attribute your article back to your website, but will make no mention of the fact you are using the Hooked model from the book Hooked by Nir Eyal and Ryan Hoover? No, putting their book under "recommended reading" after liberally borrowing their ideas and even their iconography doesn't count. Later, in the comments here you say this article was "inspired" by Hooked. No, it wasn't inspired by it, you jacked their ideas and are trying to pitch them as your own.

Now, obviously Hooked isn't the first book about building products from a behavioral approach, but you've taken their phrases, their images, and even their examples and attempted to pass them off as your own.

At least produce something original. It's fine to write an article about Hooked, about habits, and about building habit-forming products, but it isn't alright to borrow other people's work without attribution.

I'd highly recommend people read [Hooked (non-affiliate link)] (http://www.amazon.com/Hooked-How-Build-Habit-Forming-Products/dp/1591847788/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1419945470&sr=8-1&keywords=hooked) and read more of Nir's work. [This] (http://www.slideshare.net/nireyal/hooked-model) slideshow is a pretty good starting place, as his blog

u/JamesBellefeuille · 2 pointsr/startups

I recommend a book by Brad Feld,

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/1119259754/ref=dp_ob_neva_mobile

It would also be wise to read the SAFE primer. As a founder of a semi-successful seed stage startup, I wouldn't use a convertible debt note to raise money.

https://www.ycombinator.com/docs/SAFE_Primer.rtf

Plug: https://www.fastcompany.com/3068575/will-ride-hail-be-free-by-2021-the-startup-ad-platform-vugo-says-yes

u/hobojen · 2 pointsr/startups

I'm in the same boat. Product Hunt surge, now need to work on marketing. I just read a book called "Traction" that is interesting. It lists out 19 different channels and provides recent examples and case studies. I'm not going to follow the book verbatim, but there are definitely some good takeaways.

http://www.amazon.com/Traction-Get-Grip-Your-Business/dp/1936661837

u/Iamnotpretending · 5 pointsr/startups

Obvious answers for engineers are tech infrastructure --

Web App: AWS/Heroku

iOS: Developer Account

Have you guys run a company/startup before? The best thing you can do is invest in mentorship and advice. Generally accelerators seem to be heavy on pitch building and raising money but light on actual 'how to run a business' advice.

How about 10 hours of legal consultation from a firm in town and basic incorporation fees? Supplement with your local Small Business Administration office for more general business advice.

Some great startup textbooks:

Startup CEO - Matt Blumberg

The Hard Thing About Hard Things - Ben Horowitz

Venture Deals - Brad Feld

Do More Faster - David Cohen

u/FireOpal · 1 pointr/startups

Just bought this book-- may be of some help:

http://www.amazon.com/The-100-Startup-Reinvent-Living/dp/0307951529

With free webframes, you can start a web business for almost nothing. Check it out!

u/cuko · 2 pointsr/startups

Focus on point 1) only first. Read the Mom Test and preferably some more literature (/blogposts/listen to podcasts/etc.) on idea validation. Do the interviews.

For 2) after: do a competitor analysis on a wide range of competitor & substitute products, preferably look at a similar product line where similar need & trends showed up. Draft up your first idea of a business model (e.g. with Business Model Canvas).

Return here after with a better idea and understanding in your mind and better questions.

u/expectgrowth · 1 pointr/startups

I am looking to hire a long term writer, offer to pay and incentives based on CTR. [LeadArk] (http://leadark.com) partners with the top 1% of Real Estate Agents to do marketing for their clients, people like you and me who are buying homes. Very captive audience, who will be making a decision in the next 60 days. 13,000 people a day buy homes.

I opened [LeadArk] (http://leadark.com) 6 months ago, signed up 250 users in the last 3 months and already have a 6 figure contract. Working with Oren Klaff the author of [Pitch Anything] (http://www.amazon.com/Pitch-Anything-Innovative-Presenting-Persuading/dp/0071752854) to make it sizzle. Are you looking for a long term partnership, or just portfolio work? What's in it for you and how do we get our goals in line?

u/LowkeyFLyesmith · 8 pointsr/startups

Before you even get a partner, get this book, lock you and your potential partners in a room and go through every section. This is a must-read for any partnership.

The Partnership Charter

I learned the hard way that an operating agreement will not cover and protect you from all the potential pitfalls that comes with partnerships. If I read this book before I went into business with my friend, I would have never gotten into business with him.

u/TurtleFromEntourage · 1 pointr/startups

Do More Faster

The startup bible. Written by the founders of TechStars, one of the biggest startup incubators. Has a great section all about finance, and everything else under the startup sun.

u/placeholderholder · 1 pointr/startups

I am new to this, but here is one book that has been very helpful so far - The Entrepreneur's Guide to Business Law.

u/redditcodephp · 1 pointr/startups

Hi Jawilson2, here's a few books I've read in the past that helped prime me. I guess at the minimum these books helped me understand who was a bullshitter and who wasn't when they claimed they "knew the business side."

Raising Venture Capital for the Serious Entrepreneur - Fund raising basics. Key if you ever plan to raise money. You'd be stupid to try without reading this first.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0071496025/

Business Model Generation - This book helps you think through the business model issues most "hacker" type entrepreneurs skip. Makes you think more holistically.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0470876417/

The Entrepreneur's Guide to Business Law - Basics about legal issues you should be aware exist. I haven't read through it all at once, but it's a good guide when I run up against areas I'm murky on.
http://www.amazon.com/The-Entrepreneurs-Guide-Business-Law/dp/0324204930/

u/too_much_to_do · 3 pointsr/startups

Great points. I remember reading "Don't Make Me Think" when I was in school and it was invaluable to me when doing user testing. It's focused on web UI etc but I think the lessons carry over.

https://www.amazon.com/Dont-Make-Think-Revisited-Usability/dp/0321965515/ref=sr_1_2?keywords=don%27t+make+me+think&qid=1558558875&s=gateway&sr=8-2

u/Mgirdley · 1 pointr/startups

It's a pretty simple yet tricky thing to do. I found Predictable Revenue (a book) to be a solid summary of how to go about this problem:

http://www.amazon.com/Predictable-Revenue-Business-Practices-Salesforce-com/dp/0984380213

u/helixed · 1 pointr/startups

I was in this exact spot a couple months ago. Then I picked up a copy of Blue Ocean Strategy, and it's given me a new lens to look at markets and problems. I'd definitely recommend giving it a read if you're stuck.

u/mwarcholinski · 1 pointr/startups
  1. Try local facebook groups or paid facebook ads.
  2. Read Predictable Revenue by Aaron Ross or just read it summary (page 8 is about compensation)
  3. I would check your competitors or similar companies how they attract sales people and where do they have the job offers.
u/ohai123456789 · 6 pointsr/startups

I recommend:

u/ceomentor · 1 pointr/startups

> http://www.amazon.com/Costs-Higher-Education-Colleges-Universities/dp/0875894852

Was that book written in 1980? I'd imagine the landscape has changed a bit since then.

u/_its_a_SWEATER_ · 2 pointsr/startups

Don't Make Me Think for anything needing a UI, and general Customer Experience.

u/eskim0child · 2 pointsr/startups

Step 1) Determine who you think your customer is.
Step 2) Find those customers
Step 3) Contact them
Step 4) ask them, "how do you go about doing _insert_the_problem_you're_looking_to_solve"

How to conduct customer development interviews: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00KECAM98/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1

Also, do some rigorous competitor analysis: https://www.amazon.com/Blue-Ocean-Strategy-Uncontested-Competition/dp/1591396190

u/loudin · 1 pointr/startups

The simplicity is nice. I think you could use some more work on the "profile" page. It's very useful to have everything there, but the visual hierarchy of the page is off. And it's difficult to figure out where to click / how things are structured. Read the book "Don't Make Me Think" if you haven't - it has been so helpful over the years (http://www.amazon.com/Dont-Make-Me-Think-Usability/dp/0321344758).

Your site is wicked fast. What's your stack and who's hosting your code?

What's the aim of creating this app and how do you plan on developing it in the future?