ooooh sh.t, i got subscribers :-)

After +/- silent launch here on IH (PH must wait :-)) and some social media work, I got some job newsletter subscribers.
Yes, by far not much and it's anyway free service, but at least it shows some interest from developer side.

So this weekend goal is to finish the job newsletter engine for https://fullstackjob.com

Btw... I have a new design on my Golang Blog: https://golang.ch

Stefan W

submitted this linkon March 8, 2019

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2
Looks good Stefan! Few questions.
1. Did you validate this idea before you started programming it?
2. What steps did you take to get your first subscribers?
3. What is your business model for this service, or potential sources of revenue?
4. What stack did you use to build the MVP?
alexdevero

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8 years ago
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  Hi Alex
  Thanks for feedback and questions:
  
  Did you validate this idea before you started programming it?
  Yes, for the free version you can see now. An it's anyway at this state a idea which is tested. Actually I am working on validation for premium ideas.
  
  What steps did you take to get your first subscribers?
  Social Media (Twitter, FB Page with fullstack dev related content), blog post on Medium, cross-posted here, dev.to and LinkedIn
  
  What is your business model for this service, or potential sources of revenue?
  As answered on top, premium services are in validation phase. For sure there will be possibility to purchase higher ranked job posts (that works for other niche boards) and there is idea for a job board engine.
  
  What stack did you use to build the MVP?
  As goal is to be a engine, which can be used for different boards and niches (as SaaS), i started with a bit more complex stack:
  Go, Vuejs, Nsq, Redis, ArangoDB, Docker
  You can read more here:
  https://medium.com/@golangch/omg-i-love-to-hack-how-i-built-fullstackjob-com-with-go-vue-f561680c6ceb
  Stefan W
  
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  8 years ago
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    Thank you for your reply and all the details Stefan 🙂.
    
    Follow up questions:
    
    I don't understand the free validation phase. You started building the MVP as a free service as a part of your validation process?
    
    Isn't it risky to split validation into two phases, free and premium. Many users who use something for free are not willing to pay. Conversion rates are ... Veeery low. Wouldn't it be better to start with free and premium and aim for paying users from the beginning, maybe replacing free with trial?
    
    Followup question on Q2: What will be a prove for premium validation? What metrics do you watch and what goals do you have for this?
    
    Since you are building a platform (good move btw 👍) how do you solve the chicken and egg problem? Meaning, your platform needs both, supply and demand. You need new job offers and you need people who will apply for them. One without the other will not work. This is also something part of your premium service depends on. Purchasing higher ranked job posts is interesting only when a) there is a lot of jobs (supply) and b) there is a lot of people interested in applying (demand).
    
    alexdevero
    
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    8 years ago
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      Thank you for challenging :-)
      
      Trying to answer:
      
      I don't understand the free validation phase. You started building the MVP as a free service as a part of your validation process?
      
      No, what I mean is, that features you can see now (where all is free) is validated yes, with div talks with developers (and also being one and leading dev teams) Starting with free features only is kind of common I think. See next answer.
      
      Isn't it risky to split validation into two phases, free and premium. Many users who use something for free are not willing to pay. Conversion rates are ... Veeery low. Wouldn't it be better to start with free and premium and aim for paying users from the beginning, maybe replacing free with trial?
      
      Yup, sure you are right. But adding new premium paid features, like eg top listed postings or running own job niche board is quiet ok, right ?
      
      Followup question on Q2: What will be a prove for premium validation? What metrics do you watch and what goals do you have for this?
      
      I am in contact, starting interviews with several Job Agencies for Dev Positions to validate. For sure taking money for posts will only work, when there are enough visitors, so this is mid term.
      Other one is job engine. This is tested idea, there is very expensive offer out there, where I'm sure I can do better and/or with better ROI for board engine offer. Also testing with interviews.
      
      Since you are building a platform (good move btw 👍) how do you solve the chicken and egg problem? Meaning, your platform needs both, supply and demand. You need new job offers and you need people who will apply for them. One without the other will not work. This is also something part of your premium service depends on. Purchasing higher ranked job posts is interesting only when a) there is a lot of jobs (supply) and b) there is a lot of people interested in applying (demand).
      
      Absolutely the f.... egg story :-) For Platform (engine) it's not my problem. There the Job Board owner, which use our engine to run they own niche board are in charge of getting chicken and eggs (with help of some tools I will build).
      For the fullstackjob board you are absolutely right. I do it now with a mix of content, which talks to developers, via blog posts and social media, SEO, some facebook ads.
      For the HR side, job posters, it's a bit harder, in first step, as soon paid feature is there, doing cold mails/calls. Until there I do the manually job every day, to search for full-stack jobs and add them to the db... plus started writing a scrapper
      
      Stefan W
      
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      8 years ago
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        Thanks for your patience Stefan. I am newbie when it comes to the practical part of launching a business. As they say, the best is to learn from doers and practitioners. So, followup questions and feedback :-).
        
        Adding new premium paid features ... Correct me if I am wrong please. You are assuming that these features will be viable, your users will be willing to pay for them. What if not? Launching premium ASAP would help you actually test if these features will work, and which one. You can email your current users with this offer and also start pushing as an alternative to free account when you acquire new users.
        
        You mentioned that you are in contact with agencies. Do you have some measurable targets and goals you are aiming for (specific numbers)?
        
        alexdevero
        
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        8 years ago
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        Thank you Alex :-)
        and here we go...
        
        Adding new premium paid features ... Correct me if I am wrong please. You are assuming that these features will be viable, your users will be willing to pay for them. What if not? Launching premium ASAP would help you actually test if these features will work, and which one. You can email your current users with this offer and also start pushing as an alternative to free account when you acquire new users.
        
        I think you are right, if we talk about "best practice", but imho this "rules" are not always so simple to follow. Take case of job board I do. There is by far nothing new and there are 100s of boards out there. My one is for a niche, which for sure exists. So I launched first without premium features. Why ? Because they need some more time to hack and I want to get first some egg(s) (or chickens? :-) ) Premium Features will be for HR Agencies and Recruiters, which I will attack anyway only after I have enough public.
        
        You mentioned that you are in contact with agencies. Do you have some measurable targets and goals you are aiming for (specific numbers)?
        
        Beside this Side-Project I have a 80h/week job, where I have to much of goals and targets with numbers. So for my project I have more goals with feelings. I invest all resting time in this and I am sure I will bring it there ;-) This is now not something you should copy past for you. :-)
        
        Stefan W
        
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        8 years ago
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Thumbs up Stefan! Keep it up! Can you share some successful tactics regarding subscriber acquisition?

dimkots

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8 years ago
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  Thanks Dimkots
  Copying from answer on top:
  
  What steps did you take to get your first subscribers?
  
  Social Media (Twitter, FB Page with fullstack dev related content), blog post on Medium, cross-posted here, dev.to and LinkedIn
  
  And as written, this are free subscriptions, nothing really special.
  But it makes us happy, when it happens in first days of a silent launch :-)
  Stefan W
  
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  8 years ago
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Hey Stefan, how are things progressing with this project? Job boards are a notoriously crowded market - I've worked at one of the biggest in Europe (Stepstone group - including TotalJobs and Jobsite in the UK). You've got my linkedin from our previous chats about VoIP stuff, don't hesitate to get in touch if you have any questions - I might be able to answer some questions (maybe not mind you!). Good luck! :)

blunicorn

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8 years ago
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  Hi :-)
  Sure, please ping me when you have a minute.
  And yes, very crowded. But I have some ideas coming from my roles where I had/have to recruit in this area and it's also to get into some tech stuff without urgent need to get a big business.
  
  Stefan W
  
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  8 years ago
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ArangoDB <3

imetallica

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8 years ago
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  oh yes, I forgot the heart :-) ArangoDB 3.x
  Thanks imetallica
  
  Stefan W
  
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  8 years ago
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