Fab is testament to the fact that those annoying Launchrock type pages can help you launch a startup bigtime. I hate signing up to mysterious new apps with content-less landing pages as much as the next hacker on HN, but they can work sometimes.
I'm sure once you had the products, that's what drove engagement. You did a great job of curation there. But before you launched the ecommerce side of things, you clearly got lots of signups just using a landing page.
You guys have that rare combination of good product sense and marketing genius.
Just wanted to say congrats. I purchased something for the first time yesterday. It's missing a few things, such as search and links to each brand, but overall it's a very nice execution. Examples:
1. Search: I found a few things that I wanted to purchase. Came back later and couldn't find them again.
2. Links: I found myself often (web and iPad) on a product page and wanted to see more by that brand.
Also one thing that has annoyed me, but I understand why you do it. You show sold out items. 99% of the time I don't want to see it.
Links: We're working on something big there, mainly to showcase the designers. Give me 2 months ;-)
Sold out? ummmm, we're working on getting more inventory too. basically the rule is: First sale is an emotional test, 2nd sale is based on predictive data, 3rd sale is based on history.
I've noticed that from the beginning you've made it a point to share your growth numbers every few weeks (on HN and outside). How much has this helped you in generating buzz and getting more users? Would you recommend it to other startup founders?
I'm a big fan of transparency. I really do believe that the more other people know about your business the more they are able to truly understand it and get behind it. The data is the data is the data. If it's bad, you need to improve. If it's good, you can use it to tell a story. Either way, it is what it is. And, never stop learning.
Thanks, what I was thinking. I read the iPad blog you wrote, and I do think it's more about the type of user who buys an iPad at this point (with some residual bump due to the fun of browsing on the device).
On Facebook, the bigger the crowd you have liking your page, the more you can do ads that say "your friend likes Fab.com..."(though the reach isn't huge for those ads).
I don't know, I think calling them "design-centric" is to trivialize what they are doing. I think the great design is just a necessary consequence of the larger philosophy behind the company that informs the look of the website.