ASK IH: Would you use a 24/7 Web Dev Office hours service?
When developing any software do you always find yourself searching on Google how to fix a known bug, or how to implement a new feature? Or which package solves a problem? I bet it takes at least an hour to find answers!
What if there was a service with senior developers taking questions and solving problems 24/7 for around a 100 bucks a month. Am I the only crazy person that would subscribe right away?
I definitely think that the $100/m price point would be a struggle. Using tools like Stack Overflow, general Google searching, and online documentation has gotten everyone where they need to be thus-far. I definitely think there would be like-minded people out there who would enjoy it, don't get me wrong, but my $0.02 is that it would be a hard sell (to developers).
you're probably right there's enough free stuff out there.
But don't give up! Iterate and pull from these suggestions where you see fit. Personally I think $100/m is too high of a barrier for people to get over, but another price might be more reasonable.
I don't have a source, but I remember just a few years ago some guy started offering over-the-phone advice to people for $1/minute. And it worked! He started getting tons of calls per month and people appreciated his time. He wasn't trying to scale the business, so it made him some extra spending money. But if that worked out for him, it might also work for your niche.
I stumbled across codementor.io recently, which seems to operate in this same space. Haven't used them yet though. You may want to look into what they're doing.
I had a similar idea before but as a developer, I'd much rather put in the time to do the research, ask questions on community sites, and find the answers. I could see myself using something like this on rare occasions maybe, but likely not enough to pay a subscription for.
Codementor really excels for semi-technical founders who have revenue, need to level up and aren't ready to hire a CTO/lead engineer.
okay I get it, so stack overflow works well enough for you :)
Maybe. I feel like you'd have a hard time replacing stack overflow.
Personally (as a self-taught dev who isn't very good and never had a mentor to learn from) I'd be more interested in a daily/weekly code review.
I may be wrong, but to me it feels like the willingness (and ability) to do the research you described is at least 50% of what makes a competent developer...
You just made me realise stack overflow works already well enough.. the last couple of times I asked something I got an answer in 15 minutes!
The mentorship part to is something I think I'd need too, but it seems like there are already many solutions out there
My $0.002...
You're asking the wrong question.
Don't ask would you use X. Instead, ask do you have problem Y.
That's what you really need to know :)
i'll keep it in mind when i'll ask something else in the future!
You'll have a hard time getting a dev to pay another dev to do their job. And stackoverflow :) which works great because this vast body of already existing and solved problems is immediately accessible to anyone.
Interesting idea, depending on the target audience. For me as a more experienced developer, I wouldn't sign up because:
I want to try out possible solutions to an issue fast: 1. find bug, 2. google, 3. read answers, 4. try some answers, either solve it or repeat 2. .. and all that in 5-10 minutes. If i had to ask a person and then wait for their response and then tell them it doesnt work,... you get the idea. It takes longer
Most of the issues I really need help with are so niche and specific that I cant find any answers (and I google for a living). In that case I doubt your service would have any answers either.
You learn from the process of fixing your bugs. If you just have someone tell you the answer, you don't learn anything.
i'd need something like this because i'm mostly self taught and never got a real dev job, so it would make sense to have someone helping me add some "structure" to my workflow. also i'm confident codementor.io is good enough for me
Hi @ferruccio !
I think you might be asking the wrong questions, and 2 things that I would change about the service.
Instead, I would focus on the business to business (B2B) model. A business may have a good number of reasons to use your service. For example, they might have external consultants/contractors develop a product, and may have some concerns about making the changes once they have left. They may have some technical resources on board, though might feel more confident if they had a service that they could draw on should they need to make improvements.
That could even be a good market - approach existing consultancies and ask them if they offer support, and if not, offer your company in some kind of partnership arrangement.
the b2b approach seems like a viable option
Its not about finding the answer I want but the whole process of getting the answer is learning for me. When I encounter the same problem again it will be a much easier because of the struggle to get it in the first place.
I used https://www.codementor.io/ a lot while learning to program.
i just subscribed and will be using it in the next days
I've been toying with this idea too. Stemming from my own issues being a solo designer/marketer/developer. I often am in situations where I am unable to fix something, either because I am stuck on it too long or I simply don't know the tech too well.
Being able to simply ping someone, chat/talk, share my screen with someone is worth $$ per month.
Problems I stumbled upon is: 1) pricing/value, 2) Targeting, and 3) finding the experts.
Hey there, I have a similar background!
I think I'd like something that has unlimited mentorship because it would feel weird to pay by the minute or on a task base.
Yeah—just throwing ideas out in the open here.
Edit: the idea of a weekly codereview, as mentioned above, is quite appealing to me too btw.