Ask HN: Please Critique my Startup, Slidingboxes.com

[ZiadHilal]

Hi HN,

Quick personal background: My name is Ziad Hilal, I've been working full time for 2 years as a web developer for an interactive agency. Before this job I had started a company called "Subdreamer" which I ran for 7 years until I sold it. Unfortunately the next project I started afterwards didn't do well and I burned through my savings which is why I'm now working for someone else.

Getting a job was hard for me because deep down I've always been more of an entrepreneur than developer. I do well in my job, I've been promoted to senior developer, received raises, and enjoyed the projects. However, I never felt satisfied because at the end of the day I was working for someone else, following someone else's dream.

Starting a personal project while working full time is extremely difficult. By the time I'm finished with my job I'm usually too tired to do any further work. But it's definitely possible and that's what I've been doing on the weekends for the past year and a half. All those weekends add up and I'm finally finished with my project.

It's called "Sliding Boxes" and is a portfolio website for creative professionals: http://www.slidingboxes.com/

It's a freemium SAAS model (using Stripe to process payments). I'm aware there's a lot of competition in the portfolio websites department. The goal was to create something that looked really great (single page application, lots of JS) and worked well on tablets as well. Here's a portfolio example: http://lucalagreca.slidingboxes.com/

Any feedback would be greatly appreciated. I'm a huge fan of Hacker News, have been reading this site for years and it has always inspired me to keep on pushing forward.

Thanks, Ziad Hilal

[pikewood]

I don't think you're emphasizing what you think are your biggest advantages over others.

Your main screenshot is static, which means it looks as basic as any carbonmade/etc. portfolio site already out there: boxes on a screen. Since your page customization is fairly low compared to your competitors, you're all in with this sliding design, and you need to put it in front of everyone in a big way.

Does HTML5 mean anything to non-developer types? I'm not sure that everyone associates HTML5 with "works on all devices". Does your target market know multi-device display is a problem (and is it a problem with your competitors?) If not, you need to explain why you have something better to offer.

Also, personally, the Steve Jobs-esq language (i.e., "Show off your work in the most incredible way.") is a little off-putting, especially if all one can see up-front is static boxes on a screen.

[ZiadHilal]

Agreed with everything you mention. I'll update the front page of the website and duplicate the Sliding Boxes effects on the main screenshot.

I'll rewrite some of the language to target artists instead of developers. Thanks for this feedback, marketing is definitely not one of my strong suits.

[blparker]

Agree with you, sir. I'm not the target market, but I'm not entirely sure how this application differentiates itself against the bigger names in the space (namely Carbonmade). I'd be interested to hear what the OP says.

[ZiadHilal]

Carbonmade is plain and basic. And while I tend to believe that less is more, the only real customization they offer is allowing their artists to select between 2 different background colors.

With Sliding Boxes, my goal is to offer artists a more beautiful and customizable canvas for their work. Boxes on the portfolio's front page slide to reveal other artwork. And because it's built as a one page application, page transitions are sublime: http://lucalagreca.slidingboxes.com/

[m3t]

Looks great! I have little experience in this market, but regarding plans/pricing:

1. 5 projects seems like a lot of projects for a "Free" plan

2. Nothing differentiates "Basic" from "Pro" other than numbers. Google analytics and custom backgrounds / white labeling seem like "Pro" features to me.

3. Pro should cost more, and possibly just include "Unlimited" images (if someone actually ends up abusing this, that might be a good problem to have).

[tagabek]

I agree with raising the prices. If you feel worried that Sliding Boxes 'is not worth it,' remember that pricing can be highly psychological. When I see something that is $7/month, I don't think of something that is of great quality. That's a coffee and a half (at Starbucks). There are many different opinions on this subject, but your site seems pretty great so far.

[ZiadHilal]

I would say my biggest competitor is Carbon Made, they charge $12/per month and also have a free plan which gives 5 projects and 35 images. Being new to the market, I thought it would be a good idea to offer a better looking product for a few bucks cheaper. An incentive for their customers to make the switch.

[xauronx]

This is a great idea in my opinion. Every time someone posts a project here everyone says "CHARGE MORE!". I think I remember people telling some guy with a jQuery plugin for giving website walk throughs to charge like $20 a month or something.

Your logic and pricing seems sound as long as its enough to sustain the company.

[ScottWhigham]

Looks good, performs well, I like it. I'm not your target market so I don't know how much "advice" I could offer though. Pimping "HTML5 Technology" seems weird to me but that's no big deal. The only thing I thought of was that you might put up an annual payment option.

[codegeek]

You might want to update the "Create an amazing portfolio" to "Amazing Portfolio for Artists" or something like that. You mention "made for artists" a little below but i think it should be in the main tagline.

[codegeek]

clickable http://www.slidingboxes.com/