Ask HN: Have I just developed a $60K/month-revenue baby?

[dan_plan]

Hi.

I have just developed a very intuitive and easy-to-use team collaboration and project management tool: Collaborade (sorry I couldn't post the link because I am too new).

I have used Linux, PHP, Bootstrap, Jquery, Backbone, MongoDB.

For me it is a great product and I am aiming to reach $60K/month revenue by the end of this calendar year. But maybe I am a little biased... :-)

Do you think it is possible or am I just dreaming?

Any advice is more than welcome!

Cheers, Dan

[darkstar999]

I signed up to try it out. For the lazy: http://collaborade.com

The UI needs a ton of work.

* Don't launch an alert() when I submit a comment. Same for completing a task. Remove all alerts. They suck.

* The search/filter box is a mess.

* When I click on a task, a modal box pops up (why?? get rid of it. Modals are just disguised alerts). At the bottom-left, there is a checkbox for "Follow/unfollow this task". That doesn't make sense. It should just be: [ ] Follow this task. (In its current form, it's like having a voting ballot say "[ ] Vote / don't vote for Barack Obama")

* In the Edit Profile settings it says "Ask your administrators if you also want to change your name or email address." I am the only user. I AM the administrator.

* Your pricing isn't good. I can get basecamp for $30/mo, unlimited users, 15 projects. Your least expensive plan is $29/mo and only allows 4 users.

Otherwise, it's looking good and something that the company I work for could actually use. Basecamp is apparently too confusing for the sales guys, so keeping collaborade simple might be your target. Good work so far, keep it up!

[dan_plan]

Hi.

Thanks a lot for linking the website, signing up and provide such detailed feedback!

Your points make all sense - one of them is actually even a bug.

The only think I don't understand is "The search/filter box is a mess.". It looks pretty good on my screen. Can you please be more specific? Do you mean the flow and layout are confusing?

Thanks also for your encouraging words. Yes, there is still a lot to be done.

[darkstar999]

Yes, the flow/layout of that box is confusing. My eyes don't know where to look. I'm no UI expert, so I don't have suggestions on how to fix it.

[dan_plan]

Thanks!

[hojoff79]

There are many team collaboration and project management tools available in the market (many with leanings towards ease-of-use concept). It is impossible to say how yours will fare without knowing more about your product relative to the market place?

Not to be harsh, just to be direct, does your product solve a problem that other team collaboration and project management tools do not? Or is your product in actuality a tweak on other available products?

If your product has any chance at 60k / month, you should be able to easily answer that question with a problem much more poignant than ease-of-use.

[dan_plan]

Hi.

Thanks a lot for your direct question.

For now there isn't a specific problem we are addressing - as you said, the product is more of my interpretation of easy-to-use project management software.

I am hoping with a good marketing analysis (and with the help of a marketing and sales professional), we can find some customers who prefer Collaborade over Basecamp...

[IanDrake]

Clickable: http://Collaborade.com

Well now that you've built it you're already 5% of the way there. I hope this isn't the first time hearing this, but you'll need an effective way to reach your target market, which isn't easy.

What does your marketing budget look like? If you can't answer bcgraham's question, you're in trouble.

Also, I don't see a demo video on your site, just lots of text.

[dan_plan]

Hi.

Thanks a lot for linking the website.

You are right, I am 5% of the way.

I think I'll try to find a guy/girl very good with marketing and sales who can help to find the right market for it and target it effectively.

Dan

[IanDrake]

Best of luck. :) I hope you find it easier than I did.

[dan_plan]

Thanks a lot! Best of luck, too! :-)

[GFischer]

I see the prices are in euros by default, do you aim for an UK-only audience or worldwide?

You probably improve other things first, but maybe you could switch the currency shown (and maybe date settings, etc.) according to geolocation of the users' IP or something.

I agree with IanDrake that the site looks like a lot of text, which might put people off, and probably decrease the conversion rate.

My very first, unfiltered impression is that it's polished but not "world class".

Comparing to "Basecamp Breeze" (is that your competition?), Basecamp's has:

- a very friendly image greeting you (I think it's better than too much text)

- pricing clearly as the 2nd item, in US dollars

- a link to a video

I like your Plancake start page a lot better :) , btw you need to make the images in your page (http://www.danyuki.com/) clickable

[dan_plan]

Thanks a lot, there is actually a bug in the currency detection code.

Yes, you are right - probably the homepage needs some re-thinking.

[bcgraham]

I can't find how to link tasks to other tasks. Can you tell me which features make this better than Basecamp?

[dan_plan]

Hi.

That is not possible to link tasks (unless you just copy and paste their URL).

That's a very good and important question. For now, I think the only thing that differentiates us is that we are even simpler than Basecamp.

I haven't found a killer feature yet, though.

Thanks for your help!