from Hacker News

Re: scumbag signup techniques

by paisible on 11/24/11, 3:20 PM with 9 comments

Felt like ranting.

So you put me on a waiting list for an invitation to your new product. Fine. You have a few more kinks to iron out and bugs to squash before you let me and the rest of the world in.

DON'T ask me to tweet or otherwise promote your website in exchange for that invitation - that pisses me off.

I'm doing YOU a favor by trying out your product in the first place : the web is saturated with LaunchRock template signup pages, so it's already a miracle that I put in my email in yours.

Startups should let users experience their product before requiring ANY kind of signup / personal information - so if a splash page was enough to get me to put my email in that signup box, you're already getting a lot from me.

But telling me I now need to start promoting your product before I've even tried it to get access to it in the first place ? Ugh.

  • by kellyreid on 11/24/11, 5:21 PM

    I know a lot of people support the model of "put up a launchrock page and hope", but I kind of hate it. From an entrepreneurial point of view it makes sense; why bother developing something that people don't want? It feels, though, like the random LaunchRock page has become spam at this point.

    I know it's all about A/B testing and iterating and minimum viable product, but a sexy signup form that clearly required no time investment of your own does not make me think you're going to build a good product. It says "I'm a 'serial entrepreneur' cranking out crap to hope for a big pay day. If my product sucks and I get bored, I don't care."

    It makes good business sense for the most part, but on a personal level I don't much care for it. It's the user's choice to opt in, and if the product genuinely seems useful there is a chance for mutual benefit. If not, just don't sign up.

    On a separate note, what's to stop me from making up a bullshit project, putting up a fancy web 3.1 Hot New Product launch page, and just selling your emails to spammer lists? I can just put an empty and "personable" promise on my signup page and lie. "We won't spam you. Promise."

    The whole thing makes me jaded about web entrepreneurship. I've been grinding it out on one company for 30+ months, so when some 'serial entrepreneur' just craps out mediocre work and gets paid to do it, a piece of me dies on the inside. Maybe I'm just old-fashioned.

  • by revorad on 11/24/11, 5:37 PM

    The data suggests people who feel like you (I do!) are in the tiny tiny minority. Personally, it just helps me set a higher bar for choosing who to give my email address to.

  • by babarock on 11/24/11, 4:44 PM

    Thanks, now I understand why all these websites still haven't answered my signing up for beta, 3 months ago.

  • by mapster on 11/24/11, 10:24 PM

    it doesn't hurt to ask. and don't beat up the little guy. or maybe they seem like an easier target? look at the shenanigans the big corporations pull to get you to do what they want - they never let their hooks out of you.

  • by wkearney99 on 11/24/11, 6:11 PM

    Don't just whine about it, go negative. Actively DEmote their efforts.