Show HN: My open search index project, success or failure

[hackscribe]

I started working on Stumpedia.com about 3 years ago and am having a difficult time try to determine if this project is worth pursing any further. My biggest problem is lack of resources since I am not a developer nor have the funding to pay for further development or marketing. There are currently active users and all traffic and engagement indicators are pointing up, and this is what makes it both confusing and frustrating for me. My dilemma is should I just leave the site alone and let it take its course, should I try to sell it now and recoup some of my initial investment, should I hand it over to the open-source community, should I give it away to someone who has the resources and desire to continue the project, or should I just shut it down since this concept is not going to work and I'm wasting my time.

Curious to know what some of you would do if you were in my position and this was your project?

Some side notes: I’ve already tried to look for a technical co-founder and didn’t have my luck with that. The site is generating enough income to pay for hosting costs.

[RiderOfGiraffes]

Clickable: http://www.stumpedia.com

You say it's already making money, so kudos to you. You say you've tried finding a technical co-founder but without success.

If it's making money, can you not see a way to have it make more money? Is there some value in becoming a better developer than you currently are, and then improving the site to generate more money?

I guess the answer to your question depends more on what you want to do.

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Not really knowing what I need to take the site to the next level is probably my biggest challenge. I started off with high hopes and expectations for the site and now I am having serious doubts and questions about how viable and sustainable this concept can really be. I guess these are the high and lows of entrepreneurship, and I'm at a low point right now.

[mindcrime]

At the risk of stating the obvious: Have you considered looking for outside funding? The site looks pretty slick, and I could see it having some potential, depending on where you go with a few things. This general notion of "social search" is a fairly hot topic right now, from what I've seen. With a track record of actually having delivered something useful, you might be able to raise funding to hire a team to move the project forward.

Have you applied to YC, or considered applying to YC? Or seeking angel/VC money at all?

Regardless of what you wind up doing, I'd love to chat with you about it sometime, as some of your ideas probably overlap with some stuff I'm working on. Shoot me an email if you'd like to talk.

[hackscribe]

I tried looking for outside funding early on but eventually got discouraged and gave up. I've started working on a new project this year and so my focus has shifted a bit. I may reconsider outside funding once again in a couple of months if I still own the site and the traction metrics are positive.

Haven't thought about applying to YC because I'm not much of a developer and without a technical co-founder I figure my chances of acceptance are very low.

[mindcrime]

Haven't thought about applying to YC because I'm not much of a developer and without a technical co-founder I figure my chances of acceptance are very low.

Low, maybe. Non-zero, almost certainly, based on what I've seen pg and others say here. Especially since you actually have something "live" that already has some traction. I think I saw somebody say something like "traction trumps everything" not long ago. Anyway, just a thought...