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by john_flintstone 5188 days ago
This is not just a software/startup problem. Every single web project / eCommerce site / anything online that requires work, should be rolling out a variation of an MVP.

I had a meeting with the brother earlier today. He runs an online wholesale business (I do all the tech stuff). I've been leaning towards launching a retail arm in our one EU country, and launching 3 new wholesale websites translated into Dutch, French, and whatever they speak in Belgium.

We decided instead to translate just the landing page 3 times into 3 languages, to set up a retail site landing page, and to run 4 Google ad campaigns for a couple of weeks, dropping a couple of hundred euro on each one - to see what happens... impressions, clicks, etc.

Here's he point. On HN, we hear non-stop about MVPs, and because of the site that's in it, it's all software or web services. But the reality is that everything that points towards an MVP being a good idea for software and web services, is also true for more traditional eCommerce and info sites.

1 comments

whatever they speak in Belgium

Dutch and French. :-)

That doesn't help. If I listen to the 10 o'clock news in the Netherlands, do I get a choice of languages? Newspapers in two languages? Parliamentary questions and interviews in 2 languages? Seriously?
The Netherlands only has one language, Dutch. Belgium has two: the top part speaks Dutch, the bottom part French. And they don't really seem to like each other. And, yes, official things are in both languages.
There are news shows and newspapers in multiple languages available in countries like Belgium or Switzerland that have two or more official languages. It's no big deal.
In Canada, at least, parliamentary discussions are in both English and French, with real-time translation.