Pivot or Persevere? Help Us Decide the Future Of Our Venture!
Hello Hackers,
I hope everyone is doing well.
As you might know, we launched Senec.ai (https://www.senec.ai/) a few months ago with the vision of providing entrepreneurs a tool to fast-track their entrepreneurial journey. Since then, we've had some notable successes, including the creation of over 1,000 websites and the registration of more than 150 users.
However, it's crucial for us to remain adaptive and to keep an eye on market trends. In this regard, we've noticed that Framer (https://www.framer.com/) offers many of the features we initially aimed to implement. Consequently, we are contemplating ways to differentiate our service or considering pivoting into something different.
One pivot option under consideration is shifting our focus from website building to idea validation using the GPT API for web browsing. This approach would allow users to discover important market facts and trends beforehand, thereby better informing the initial development of their ideas.
Before making any decisions, I would like to hear your ideas and feedback, as we are at a crucial and important phase in Senec.ai's journey.
Looking forward to hearing your thoughts and suggestions.
Best regards,
I just made this tweet about my new SaaS reaching $300 MRR. It's in similar niche but more towards data-driven websites. I am now thinking to cater to a specific niche and see how it works.
I just took some time to explore your website, and I must say it's quite impressive. It seems we share similar views when it comes to product features. The good part with your case is that you're already generating revenue, while we're still operating on a freemium model. One challenge you may face is distinguishing your product from major competitors like Framer. If you're open to discussing this further, feel free to direct message me on Twitter at https://twitter.com/PProusaloglou. Wishing you all the best in this venture.
The pivot option to me seems very useful and I would actually use it. However, idea validation is pretty complex and it would need to explain why it gives the results it gives.
Certainly, I understand the complexity of the idea. However, it seems that the API of chat has the capability to scout the internet for relevant resources. This includes gathering interesting facts about the industry you're planning to enter, as well as offering insights into your competition. The API might even be able to perform a feature-based benchmark between your business idea and those of your competitors. I guess having a tool like that might save you a good amount of time, especially early on in the first stages of validation.
I have a strong opinion, as I have went through so much pain finding the best website building tool out there!
Framer + TypeDream is the way to go! I would definitely use it if there was something like that.
What I like about Framer:
What I don't like
seconded. Seems that different platforms have their own strengths and weaknesses, even if they have the same features or more.
Regarding idea validation, I think the best form of validation is if someone signs up on your landing page or if you could somehow get them to pay you before it's built (much harder, I tried, didn't get a sale) so I'm not sure how today's tools can help do all that for you. So I think if your existing application does something better than what Framer offers, even if the features are fewer, that would make a difference.
@wskm Thank you for your feedback. Right now, we offer a "text to website" solution, but our designs aren't as appealing as some users might hope. However, we do have a feature that we believe is valuable: the export code tool. With this, users can easily customize their websites, saving them both time and resources.
One area we're trying to improve, which you pointed out regarding components, is using AI not just for content and copy generation, but also for creating fully customized templates based on user preferences. If we manage to pull this off, imagine generating a website where almost every component, like the hero section, is completely tailored to your specific needs and industry characteristics.
Another idea we're considering is a demo builder: a software tool with a Photoshop-like UI. Companies or solo entrepreneurs could use it to quickly create interactive demos of features or services. They could then email these demo pages to existing customers to gauge interest.
I'd love to hear your thoughts, especially since you've had experience with similar tools.