Show HN: My weekend project, Startup Tees
zach-johnston.comGood looking shirts are all about good fit. None of your models have a shirt remotely fitted for them. The pictures currently do a disservice for both the shirt and the model!
Fun idea, though I am not convinced it will go far as a business/way to make money. I have seen this a couple of times. Sites like http://www.startupschwag.com/ had to eventually give it up despite a good initial publicity buzz and following.
Ill-fitting shirt pictures aside, the bigger problem is sizing availability. I'm willing to overlook what looks like a total lack of womens shirts, but the near lack of anything but large-size (and a handful of XL) shirts is pretty disappointing.
I have to agree, the thing that struck me first was the poor photography (washed out, hazy photos) and second, the ill-fitting shirts -- too large and baggy on most models.
EDIT: Having read your story, Go Penn State! Good luck to you.
Why did they shut down? I couldnt find this info on the site.
roddy from StartupSchwag here. It was time for bigger and better things =)
I'd much prefer startup-culture Tees - instead of wearing logowearz - some I've seen:
- "Launch or STFU"
- "Lean Startup, no Fat Pitches"
- "Keep it lean, Founda"
zach- I'll give you startuptees.com if you want it... drop me a line,
Sorry, but why would I wear a DropBox t-shirt? If I'm an employee there or something, it might make sense. It also makes sense if you identify yourself with a particular large company's ethos like Apple / Google, but I just can't see myself wearing any of these ...
Why do people wear band t-shirts? This might not be your thing, but lots of people will buy/wear shirts to promote or support an organization they like.
I don't agree a person wearing a Metallica t-shirt is actually promoting them. It's more of a case of saying, "Hey world, I'm cool because I like Metallica!". It's a case of showing off your interests to the world, not an altruistic promotion of a particular interest.
"I'm cool because I use a relatively obscure software tool to backup my data" - doesn't sound right.
EDIT1: Also I'd rather have startup quotes presented in an artsy way than just logos like this - http://startupquote.com/
EDIT2: Other cool ideas instead: @adrianwaj and @bomatson
Or how about "I'm cool because I'm ahead of the curve when it comes to technology", which, by the way, has become quite trendy lately if you haven't noticed.
I love T-shirts. I don't love branded logo T-shirts, but many folks do. So best of luck!
My advice is this: your product photography needs to improve by an order of magnitude. I am trying to give good feedback, not make you feel bad... this is key and your current photos will hurt your conversion rate.
If only I could get a Dropbox shirt with my referral code URL printed on it.
This is great and something Dropbox should do. This would make for great PR. The QR code idea underneath my post would be great on the back. Just a huge QR code.
after thinking about how to actually make the shirts, how much more per shirt would it cost(considering each QR code would be unique)?
The Dropbox shirts comes with a TOS that they own the cotton.
how about just a QR code on the back to a sign-up page with the shirt-wearers referral code?
Even better!
Is this a weekend project, or a larger project? It seems a bit bigger in scope than something put together in a weekend.
Either way, awesome idea. Acting as a distribution/sales channel for startups to spread their merch is a great idea. I can't imagine Dropbox wants to spend a lot of time dealing with selling shirts - outsourcing that to you guys makes a lot of sense.
Good luck!
I built the site out this weekend. The past couple weeks we've been receiving the shirts.
Appreciate the support :)
Why does every side project need to be done in a weekend?
It doesn't. My "side" project took years. I finally finished a couple weeks ago, but since it was a "side" project, I was never too motivated to finish it. My motivation was when I got extra time after graduating in May. http://www.hipsterorhomeless.com is that project.
Please get a domain and a product name, using a folder under your own personal domain doesn't instil confidence.
(Also I love t-shirts, I have 75 in my cupboard and ~15 currently being shipped to me, if you have good shirts I'll be purchasing lots :D)
Appreciate the advice. We just moved to startuptees.com (thanks to Roddy)
Does she come with the tee's?
(I can't be the only one thinking that!)
Please branch out into stickers! I just had a conversation with a founder yesterday about where he gets all his startup stickers (by going to events, of course). But not all of us can do that.
I second these comments, would be great for mobile games or entertainment focused startups, where a lot of users are loyal fans and would wear the merch around proudly
I'm not clear how this is better than a given startup using Printfection (or similar company) to offer print-on-demand tshirts that are fulfilled and shipped directly to the buyer. Looks like prices on Printfection would be same or even slightly cheaper than this service.
It would seem that these guys have had to print up a ton of shirts, deal with inventory, fulfillment, etc. There are companies that will do this for you the same costs.
Allow people to print up their twitter profile - ideally verify they own the account - Icon and name on front, stats on back!
Organic cotton for bonus points!
I think this is a neat idea. I'm looking forward to seeing more shirts on the site. I can see why startups would gravitate to this. Why not have someone else promoting you on their site and then having the shirts distributed to the public? Small price for a lot of PR.
Such a neat and simple site design and the shirts, oh god the shirts. I love you man <3
Shouldn't the companies in question pay me for carrying around their advertising?
I wouldn't mind wearing such an "ad shirt" for a company I also like, if I could get it cheaper than a normal shirt of the same quality.
If I were a startup, I'd probably just give away t-shirts for free, maybe just charge a nominal shipping fee. the person who is wearing it is advertising for you after all.
Most startups don't have money to shell out free t-shirts. I would gladly pay for a t-shirt to help out a start up though (similar to what bands do).
Looks great! Would it be possible to provide overseas shipping for a fee in the future?
Pretty sure you're not supposed to use the reddit logo without permission of the reddit team.
I think this could cause a lot of legal problems, especially if you're not asking for permission.
Otherwise looks good.
They're official reddit t-shirts from the reddit store, I assume the startup has been given them by reddit
Then completely dismiss what I said if so.
No shipping for India :(
Nice! Are you using spreadshirts to print?
cool! love it!
How do we submit our own startups?
send email to Henry at hforew@gmail.com
Please have a contact form in site, that will help non-HN users too
This is sick!