Ask HN: How can I help my friend?
So I recently met a super smart developer who is developing a framework for building browser based web applications. He is falling short on money and needs customers to develop fully functioning prototype/mvp web apps for them. Can a basic website to make web applications generate clients?
How can I help him do that? Documentation. Working demonstration examples. Testing for usability and ease of construction of applications and operations. Built-in security for data storage and security of data transmission. Ease of data portability, for both adding data and exporting data. Community-building that leads toward growth and momentum of mutual support and exploration. All towards figuring out what are the things that enable trying the project out, and reducing the impediments that deter potential users from trying out the project. We are revamping the documentation and security is pretty neat in the framework too. Right now our focus is to build web applications for customers. Where can I find people who will pay us for building good web applications? It's not clear if the framework is open. That can help in building community-building interest, and give assurance that you're not going away. More than a few frameworks are public because the founders realized it is a big deal to maintain a framework. Remember that a lot of people have seen a service provider disappear when some Big-Company likes the team that created some great application framework or web application. It's hard to find an audience for a product. Stuff that has been written on the topic: "Do Things That Don't Scale" - Paul Graham (July 2013)
http://paulgraham.com/ds.html Steve Blank in his startup & venture blog and book has a fair amount to say about discovering who your audience is for your product, and about changing the product based on what you discover. Minimum Viable Product is about trying many different things with many potential populations. Nobody initially knows who their initial or eventual customers are, or how to find them. Asking people to pay, right now, is a very instructive process toward discovery of your business model. You might have a perfect product, but no buyers. Find the buyers, one at a time to start out. Your project has a lot to learn about, towards figuring out who would want to use it. Ask people why they're not a buyer. "An MVP is not a Cheaper Product, It’s about Smart Learning" - Steve Blank (July 22, 2013) http://steveblank.com/2013/07/22/an-mvp-is-not-a-cheaper-pro... "Who’s Doing the Learning?" - Steve Blank (June 3, 2013) I hate to say it, but if he's having trouble finding customers eager to pay for it, he should rethink the project altogether.