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59 Comments

Post what you're building and I'll give you my first impressions! πŸ”¨πŸ“

I made this post on my Twitter account, but feel free to comment below if that's easier and I'll take a look and give you my first impressions of your project/startup/idea! πŸš€

UPDATE: Thanks to all who replied! Hopefully the feedback/impressions given is helpful! I'm going to stop now as I've blown through a few dozen on here and Twitter so going to get back to my own startup. All the best!

on January 14, 2022
  1. 4

    Been working on www.slayerai.com -- an AI that predicts engagement before you post, custom to your specific audience.

    Boost metrics across the board with better headlines

    1. 1

      Impressions:

      • Really great idea if it works.
      • Seems that the homepage is very heavily marketing towards email. I would make that clear it's all platforms.
      • I would move the 'approach' to the homepage as well to give let people know how it works. In my mind it seems more just an "AI" pitch.

      This is definitely a cool product. The key here is proving that your product works. I would get case studies of clients to prove results and use that as a big driver for marketing.

      All the best!

  2. 3

    Currently building Dundy.co - a simple, free and lovely digital payment experience.

    1. 3

      First impressions:

      • Awesome landing page.
      • I would emphasize "For Free". Bold is nice, but maybe making it all caps or even some type of banner/graphic.
      • I would differentiate how you are different from PayPal or Stripe. If I'm already using Stripe, I'm not sure exactly the benefit I get by switching over or what that would entail.
      • On your pricing page, I would emphasize "We are actually working on providing you with innovative services around cashflow and growth." as I was a bit leary in the free product. The messaging is solid that you don't share data (I appreciate that running a privacy-focus company myself) but I felt this could be emphasize or fleshed out a bit more.

      Overall, this looks like an amazing product. One of the best landing pages I've seen to date. Continue on trying to hone in on the value proposition of using this over other services and you will do very very well.

      1. 3

        Thank you for the thoughtful feedback & support, Kyle!

        You make some very good points about differenciation & messaging.
        Free can be scary and we need to make it very clear to our users their data is not the tradeoff.

  3. 2

    Writing a book called Startup Killers, to prevent early founders from making common mistakes!

    https://best-periodical-bca.notion.site/Startup-Killers-ff959ab1a1444819b435a922b837bd96

    1. 2

      First Impressions:

      • Instead of knife, I'd probably use a chart going down (something like πŸ“‰ ) to show that startup killers are ones that make numbers tank. I guess a knife does go well with the "killers" idea though.
      • I would change "Don’t let them take yours!" to something like "Exposing overlooked, but common mistakes that kill startups"
      • Instead of telling people what you think of the content (i.e. "I’m 5 chapters in and I clearly see that this content is super powerful. Going through it makes me jump in joy") I would use social proof, tweets, testimonials to show what others think of the content.
      • What's inside section is great to get a glimpse of what's included.
      • You may try designing a landing page instead of having just text, that would probably increase conversions too.

      In my mind this has A LOT of potential, there's just not enough information on the landing page to make me want to spend $10 on pre-order. I would definitely put in my email to get notified. If you add in social proof I might be more likely to buy. Again, this topic has a lot of potential and already has a lot of interest so by shaping your landing page the right way you can probably drive some good sales here.

      Good luck!

      1. 1

        Thanks Kyle!
        Added email form for getting notification. Edited heading to "Exposing common mistakes that kill ambitious projects".

        How do you get social proof for an unfinished book?)

        1. 1

          How do you get social proof for an unfinished book?)

          Easy:

          1. Make a Twitter post saying that you're looking for some reviews on an eBook you're writing
          2. Send people your current draft
          3. Ask them to write a sentence or two about what they thought about it
          4. Post it as social proof :)
          1. 1

            Got you. Thought I have to keep the draft in secret.

  4. 2

    Currently building Nicely done, a library of web applications examples organized by screen type (landing page, pricing, 404, sign in, sign ups, onboarding, settings, account deletion...)

    1. 1

      First Impressions:

      • This is an awesome concept. Whenever I find nice ones I send them to myself, but would definitely pay for something like this.
      • I'm not a fan of the ".club" domains -- just my opinion though.
      • There's a clear value proposition here.
      • Really clean site, very well done.

      IDEA: Let users upvote ones that they particularly like. Then you could have a "favorites" section that shows the most liked ones.

      There's not much not to like here. I like it a lot. Awesome work!

  5. 2

    I’m building wrap.so, a browser extension for creating beautiful product screenshots πŸ‘‹

    1. 1

      First Impressions:

      • Neat idea. I wouldn't have thought there was a market for this initially, but the messaging of "sharable screenshots" really makes sense.
      • I would put the pricing somewhere. I see "7 day free trial" but have no idea what you would charge for something like this.
      • Maybe even having a demo on the homepage would be nice (allow users to edit a pre-made screenshot)

      Really cool, straightforward tool. I like it. Best of luck with it!

    2. 1

      Wow, really nicely done!

  6. 2

    Kyle - Thanks! Here's what I'm launching now:

    http://ContactLink.com

    Let your customers start a live conversation from a simple link you can put anywhere. Video calls, video messages, instant messaging, easy appointment scheduling, secure email & attachments.

    Why? 50% of leads are lost between the time they fill out your "Contact Us" form and the time you call/email them back. 20% of people who schedule a meeting at your calendar link won't show up - they talked with someone else before your meeting.

    You don't have to lose all those leads - Let them engage before they leave your site!

    Use your ContactLink anywhere you're using a calendar link today. Put a ContactLink widget on your website, put your ContactLink in your email signature, put it in your social profiles. Use our Zapier integration to automatically create and send out a ContactLink from anywhere in your sales funnel.

    Questions? Hit my link: https://contactlink.to/jesse.hercules

    1. 1

      First Impressions:

      • Really clean, nice looking landing page.
      • Are there other products that do what you do? How is this different than link.tree or some of the other multi-profile sharing sites? Is it that this is for email, phone, and calendar invites rather than social media profiles I guess?
      • Good, simple pricing. I like that.

      I personally wouldn't see much benefit in adding something like this to my site as it's worked out fine to just put "Here's my email and phone number". I think really honing in on how "time is saved" by using your technology would really be helpful.

      I also would think that the same amount of people lost at a contact form would be lost in messaging through contact link if they select to send a message. I see there are other options though so is that what reduces the loss?

      I could see this being a really good B2B play rather than B2C. Dentist offices, mom and pop shops, etc. would give their customers a way to reach them that's better than just picking up the phone. You'd probably be able to 5x pricing too by targeting that market. Just a thought.

      Overall, I love how simple and straightforward the product is, I hope it does well!

      1. 2

        Thanks! I think people who think it's a LinkTree will be surprised if they watch the video or click the Instant Demo - it's as different from a LinkTree as a Chatbot is from a LinkTree. But clearly the marketing is not conveying that!

        I think I am going to need an autoplay video or something to convey that difference for the casual reader.

        It's absolutely B2B, this is for salespeople and small business owners. Consumers just won't pay for anything beyond Gmail and the mobile phone they already have.

        1. 1

          Great points and thanks for the clarification! It's a cool thing you build there!

  7. 2

    loophq.com
    Simplify your day with the tools you already use

    1. 1

      First Impressions:

      • Great idea to cut back on distractions.
      • Pretty cool idea to put everything in one place.
      • Video drove my excitement for your product but didn't really show me how it worked.
      • I love the gif on the homepage, that makes things a lot more clear how it works.
      • For me I'm not sure if having them all in one place would actually cut back on work or just make me even more hooked into getting each notification. I wonder if there's a way to mute channels or focus in on ones that are more important than others.

      All in all, this is a really cool product. Best of luck with it!

      1. 1

        thank you for the quick review
        agreed - need an actual explainer video on the landing page

        as far as in app "overwhelm" thats where the built in intelligence comes in to ensure you are focused on content relevant to your workflow

        • your agenda filters out all chats that aren't dm's or @ mentions
        • loop prioritizes your content based on who you are working with (contact priority), upcoming meetings, open projects, tasks with deadlines etc.

        happy to set you up for a trial

    1. 2

      First Impressions:

      • Are these attribution-free images? I couldn't tell from the site.
      • How does photoland differ from all of the other stock image websites?
      • Nice clean landing page, seems there is some emphasis on helping local photographers though I'm not really sure what that means.

      Overall it's a very clean site. It seems like you're pitching a value proposition of helping local photographers (i.e. "donate (coming soon)) but it's really hard to tell what that means. The key here seems to be to differentiate from the hundreds of other stock photo sites which may be difficult, but probably possible. All the best!

      1. 1

        Those are valid points, maybe I should find a way to make the messaging a bit clearer. I'll think about it.

        Yes, it's attribution free.

        It's really early stage so currently it's not that different than others, but soon it will be :)

        Thanks for your review Kyle!

  8. 2

    Hey! Thank you!
    I am building pitch2point0.com

    1. 1

      First Impressions:

      • Good value proposition. "Pitch deck in 60 seconds" is a great pitch.
      • Maybe showing some of the possible pitch deck designs on the homepage would be a good idea.
      • Maybe pricing per pitch deck would make more sense than a monthly fee? I'd have to imagine someone could put together a deck in a week and then unsubscribe.
      • Very clean, simple hompage.

      Overall I like it a lot. Seems simple and straightforward. You probably already have done this, but take a look at https://slidebean.com and see what they're doing as I'd imagine they'd be a good basis for your product. It's definitely a good market. All the best!

  9. 2

    Hi Kyle, currently I'm working on Nolly.io

    Nolly is a feedback collection and customer engagement platform to help startups work closely with their clients for better product decisions and happier clients

    feel free to have a look

    1. 3

      First Impressions:

      • This is a much needed tool.
      • IMO there's too much going on in the image on the homepage. Seems a bit overwhelming. I would have thought from the description it would be a pretty simple tool.
      • I see now... I would change your messaging. It's not really a way to get feedback and engagement it's more a way to determine what features to build and what users like. Sure that falls under the category of what you mentioned, but I would change your messaging to be very specific to these user polls that seem to be the main focus of your product.

      Overall the product looks good. Pricing IMO is way too high as I can't imagine paying $100/month or $200/month just to get some feedback from users, but maybe with your clientele that's the right price point.

      Best of luck!

  10. 2

    Been working on Safety Knights (social community for safety professionals) since March 2020 - safetyknights.com

    1. 2

      First Impressions:

      • Does safety professionals have subniches I'm assuming? i.e. different industries? You may want to make different categories for different industries.
      • You may try updating the homepage to something like the indiehackers homepage, or reddit.com, producthunt.com, etc. that allow voting.
      • Seems like maybe you'd be able to charge for a "premium" subscription of sorts. Not sure what that would be, but it might be a way to monetize over just selling cups and shirts.
      • I wonder if there's a way to get to get sponsored by big safety organizations or go to conferences to get awareness.

      Overall this seems like a promising idea though I obviously have no expertise at all in the field. Seems like the big question would be monetization and how to get the word out. Good luck!

  11. 1

    www.sidekickai.com

    • Launched in Aug 2020 on AppSumo
    • Bootstrapped + 2 full time devs
    • General idea was build something smarter than Calendly and almost advanced as an assistant for scheduling meetings.

    Biggest competitor was X.ai and they closed in Oct 2021 because of acquisition.

    1. 1

      First Impressions:

      • Awesome potential here if that competitor closed down. Nice luck for you guys!
      • I'd be interested to hear how your appsumo launch went.
      • Great landing page.
      • If the user can sign up without needing a demo, I would make "Schedule Demo" just some text under the "Sign up with Google" button. i.e. "Would you rather schedule a demo instead? Click here!"
      • Great social proof. Very convincing and well laid out.
      • From the homepage I'm not sure what differentiates you from the other meeting schedulers on the market. I would say why you're called sidekick "AI" on the homepage. If you are using AI that would seem to be a clear value proposition.

      Overall, nice site and promising product! Try to hone in on how your product is unique and not just another one of the dozens of scheduling tools. This seems to have a ton of potential and the fact that the biggest competitor dropped off is awesome for you guys. Best of luck with things and let's stay in touch!

  12. 1

    Hello Kyle,

    Thank you for doing this!

    I'm currenctly building focusd, a tool to help you remember everything and stay focused on what matters: https://focusd.app

  13. 1

    I'm about to launch https://fulldiv.com/ - It's a programming course with a mentor for beginners.

  14. 1

    I’m working on SolidInbox: A better inbox for Twitter (http://solidinbox.com).

  15. 1

    I am building blurscreen app

    It helps hide sensitive information during screen share

    1. 2

      First Impressions:

      • Awesome idea.
      • Instead of having both things, I would get rid of "Hide sensitive information during screen share." and just make "Blur sensitive data instantly anywhere on screen, while recording or screen sharing. No editing required" as the header text. It says the same thing and is more descriptive IMO as to what your tool does.
      • I would switch the Ludovic testimonial into 3-5 tweet testimonials / testimonials from him and other users. One doesn't seem like enough and unless it's someone with hundreds of thousands of followers, IMO it's not as big of social proof as multiple reviews.
        -- Now that I scroll down I see the section of "We are loved by more than 50+ creators, teachers, ..." I would replace that top testimonial with this section.
      • Pricing seems fair, good work there.

      Overall, this tool sounds sweet. Keep running with it and I'm sure you'll do well!

  16. 1

    I have been working on sociomata.com, a social media content automation tool. It lets you schedule your tweets and threads on Twitter.

    1. 1

      First Impressions:

      • Cool landing page!
      • IMO you need more context to what your tool actually does. I would add more content/sections to your landing page.
      • Figure out where your product differentiates from the hundreds of other scheduling tools.

      Go the AI route if you can. It's all the rage with social media tools right now and if you throw in some useful AI you'll probably be able to get some good word-of-mouth and overall growth.

      I can't stress enough, show how you're different and more importantly, better than the other tools out there and not just another scheduling tool.

      A lot of potential in this market for sure. All the best!

  17. 1

    Hi,
    We are starting a company to help start-up founders with their finance and compliance! Would appreciate if you could spare some time in reviewing our landing page and provide your honest and candid feedback!
    We are trying to go live by tomorrow noon!
    Here is the link - https://finance-web.webflow.io/
    You could reply here or mail to shreehari.ullody@hruca.com
    Thanks!

    1. 1

      First Impressions:

      • You should register a domain instead of being a subdomain on webflow.io
      • Nice, clean landing page.
      • Great social proof.
      • I would leave your ebook optin off of your homepage. You could create a blog and write about compliance and taxes and make the opt-in a popup on your blog.

      It would be nice to get a bit more insight into the tool without having to book a demo. i.e. what is the pricing? What are the features someone would get when they actually sign up? If it's a high price point then a demo makes sense, but if this is a standard bookkeeping-type software then it probably makes sense to allow signups directly on the site.

      Overall, this is a growing industry and definitely has a lot of money to be made here. Best of luck!

  18. 1

    Helping small teams move their business processes out of excel.

    Single app for all processes, no-code. Approve, delegate, and crunch business insights on the web, Android, and iOS.

    cleverflowhq.com

    1. 2

      First Impressions:

      • The first thing that types out "Purchase Requests" goes onto a different line for me and makes the whole homepage shift down. Something to look into. I would keep it all on one line.
      • I would change your messaging to say "Helping small teams move their business processes out of excel." That's a lot more clear than "Because your business deserve better than spreadsheets." as it tells me exactly what you do.
      • I'm glad that you value privacy.
      • In the "Why are we here?" section, I would put some images or graphics. From a quick glance it's hard to keep focus with that much text.

      Overall the product looks promising. I would add some use cases to the homepage as I'm not sure the extent of what it can do from what you have listed and some will probably not be interested enough to schedule a demo just to see that. Again though, looks like you're onto something. Best of luck!

      1. 2

        Thanks for your time Kyle, this is really good feedback <3

        1. 1

          Sure thing, you're very welcome! All the best!

  19. 1

    zcal.co - Free Calendly alternative that makes scheduling personal and delightful.

    1. 2

      First Impressions:

      • Super clean landing page.
      • It says "FREE" but then I see a "pricing" tab on top. I'd probably remove that pricing tab.
      • "Trusted by..." gives great social proof here.
      • Maybe put how much time is saved by using zcal. I know calendar scheduling tools are all the rage, but with limited meetings scheduled I'm not sure the value of it if I don't already need it.

      You have a super slick website and zcal seems to be a clear winner over the other options from the few minutes I spent on the site. I think you can expand your content marketing a bit, but overall the product looks great! Best of luck with it!

      1. 1

        Thank you, Kyle! appreciate this great feedback.

  20. 1

    I'm building railsdevs.com – a reverse job board for freelance Ruby on Rails developers.

    1. 1

      Nice and clean! Forwarded to a chronically understaffed Rails team I know.

      1. 1

        Thank you! Feel free to share my email with them as well if they have specific questions or need help getting started. joe@masilotti.com

    2. 1

      First Impressions:

      • Clean UI. Very nice and simple site.
      • I'd have to imagine a "reverse job board" is a lot harder to get traffic from companies than a regular job board right? It would seem a lot easier and profitable get paid to post jobs and then get traffic from people looking for jobs. I could be wrong though.
      • Besides for being niche'd to "rails only", how is this any different from an upwork.com or freelancer.com. Plus there it doesn't cost to search for people.

      I'd be really curious to know how you're getting companies to the site, as my first impression is that companies would just put out job applications and see who comes to them.

      It's definitely a very interesting concept, but for the average joe it seems like it needs a lot of explaining why they can't just use a job site or freelancing platform that's free to search for people. It might just be me though.

      Best of luck with things!

      P.S. The fact that it's open-sourced makes you awesome.

      1. 1

        Thanks for the feedback!

  21. 1

    Thanks for the offer! I'm working on Trivial (https://www.withTrivial.com), a no-code automations platform that scales, e.g., Zapier w/exportable source.

    1. 1

      First Impressions:

      • I have very little experience with no-code products.
      • I would ditch the multi-page thing and put all of that information on your landing page.
      • It would probably be good to list all of the platforms that you integrate with. I see a few from the screenshot but not sure the others.
      • For this page (https://www.withtrivial.com/how-to-automate-your-business) I would emphasize that you have some preset tutorials or guides that people can go off of. I would continually emphasize how easy is it to get going and maybe even giving an example of something that was created, how long it took, and how much time it saves per month. That would probably add to the value proposition.

      Sorry I can't give more, I'm just too unfamiliar with the niche. Looks good overall though!

      1. 1

        Thanks for the insights, all great ideas.

  22. 1

    I'm building https://yousub.info - a browser extension for enhancing the Youtube experience.

    1. 1

      First Impressions:

      • Nice landing page!
      • When you say "developed with YouTube" what does that mean exactly?
      • I would put more screenshots where you list "Create", "Watch", "Filter", etc.
      • Awesome that you were featured on those various sites!
      • Why doesn't YouTube just implement some of the features that you built? Seems like your whole thing would then be wiped out by that though.

      Seems like a pretty nifty product. Good work!