Ask HN: Feedback and CoFounder - privatetransit.org

[mbuchanan]

I'm almost ready to open this site up... http://www.privatetransit.org . It's a site where you can post your commute/route. Then riders can request to ride.. It's like carpooling, but more business-like. Payment is paypal, reports can be printed for employer reimbursement. There is feedback/ratings... email status alerts, account info... etc What do you think - thumbs up or down? (also... btw, the site is not functional... even pre-alpha still)

And I'd like to find a cofounder by rollout time who can market and hopefully has avenues to find funding.

[tstegart]

Is it working yet? What's with the map screenshot on the front page, is that supposed to be something? Also, don't repeat the menu in any screen shots, it confuses people into thinking they're clickable and do something. Remove the tabs from screenshots.

Your marketing on the front page needs a lot of work. I didn't know there was a tour until I clicked next. It also seems very small, why aren't you using your screen real estate? Is it supposed to be a mobile site?

I also clicked on "my transit" and got more tabs to show up, but then I couldn't get back to the homepage, I was stuck there no matter how many times I clicked on the home tab. .

You should have more descriptive text on the tour instead of repeating those two lines about public and private transit. I expected them to be descriptive and relevant to the picture being shown on the tour. Their graphical hierarchy made me expect that was where my eyes should look first, and instead it was just lines from the home page. I've read those two lines, no need to repeat them on every tour page.

I don't mean to be harsh, just asking a lot of questions.

[mbuchanan]

Thanks... No it isn't working yet. I'll clean those bugs up and post again when I ask for private beta folks.

Good points about the marketing and tour. I really want it to convey this is the solution to outrageous gas prices, global warming, dependence on foreign oil. It's also the right time with wireless laptops and mobile phones to give up driving. and that these web technologies are the right product.

What do you think of the idea?

[tstegart]

Well, I think its an idea. I don't know too much about it because its not explained very well. You might want to look at how other web 2.0 companies are mixing selling and explaining on their homepages, because they do it really well. You want to make people want to start using it, but also explain what it is very quickly. there are some great websites out there that make great use of the available space and use color really well. So part of the problem is you need to work on that.

Even the stuff you just said in the comment above can be used to promote your app, you've just got to use it. "Want to save gas?" "Think more people should drive together?" "With Private Transit you can do both." "Just map out your route and see if it matches up with others. Organize a pool and you're on your way to saving money and the world. Your co-riders can chip in with cash or pay their share using PayPal through the website." "You can even keep track of miles, print out reports or get email updates to your mobile phone if someone can't make it."

I mention all this is that no matter how good the back-end coding might be, if people don't understand it or are encouraged to use it, it won't take off. Coding was the tough part, but now design and marketing is the next tough part. It really needs to be almost as important as all the work that you've put in already.

[gasull]

1) Where do you live? You probably want your cofounder to live in the same urban area.

2) You want a good hacker to be your cofounder. How to find a good hacker. Paul Graham gives some advice about this:

http://www.paulgraham.com/start.html

"What you should do in college is work on your own projects. Hackers should do this even if they don't plan to start startups, because it's the only real way to learn how to program. In some cases you may collaborate with other students, and this is the best way to get to know good hackers. The project may even grow into a startup. But once again, I wouldn't aim too directly at either target. Don't force things; just work on stuff you like with people you like."

What if you are not in school? I would welcome an article in HN about how to find a cofounder for a startup. You might want to go to startup events and take part in an open source project.