Share Your Startup - May 2021 - Upvote This For Maximum Visibility!

[u/AutoModerator]

r/startups wants to hear what you're working on!

Tell us about your startup in a comment within this submission. Follow this template:

• Startup Name / URL
• Location of Your Headquarters
• Elevator Pitch/Explainer Video

• More details:

  • What life cycle stage is your startup at? 1
  • Your role?

• What goals are you trying to reach this month?

  • How could r/startups help?
  • Do NOT solicit funds publicly--this may be illegal for you to do so

• Discount for r/startup subscribers?

  • Share how our community can get a discount

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Startup Life Cycle Stages (Max Marmer life cycle model for startups as used by Startup Genome and Kauffman Foundation)

• 1. Discovery
  • Researching the market, the competitors, and the potential users
  • Designing the first iteration of the user experience
  • Working towards problem/solution fit (Market Validation)
  • Building MVP
• 1. Validation
     
  • Achieved problem/solution fit (Market Validation)
  • MVP launched
  • Conducting Product Validation
  • Revising/refining user experience based on results of Product Validation tests
  • Refining Product through new Versions (Ver.1+)
  • Working towards product/market fit
• 1. Efficiency
     
  • Achieved product/market fit
  • Preparing to begin scaling process
  • Optimizing the user experience to handle aggressive user growth at scale
  • Optimizing the performance of the product to handle aggressive user growth at scale
  • Optimizing the operational workflows and systems in preparation of scaling
  • Conducting validation tests of scaling strategies
• 1. Scaling
     
  • Achieved validation of scaling strategies
  • Achieved an acceptable level of optimization of the operational systems
  • Actively pushing forward with aggressive growth
  • Conducting validation tests to achieve a repeatable sales process at scale
• 1. Profit Maximization
     
  • Successfully scaled the business and can now be considered an established company
  • Expanding production and operations in order to increase revenue
  • Optimizing systems to maximize profits
• 1. Renewal
     
  • Has achieved near peak profits
  • Has achieved near peak optimization of systems
  • Actively seeking to reinvent the company and core products to stay innovative
  • Actively seeking to acquire other companies and technologies to expand market share and relevancy
  • Actively exploring horizontal and vertical expansion to increase prevent the decline of the company

If you are running a traditional business that is not designed to scale rapidly, feel free to reference a traditional business life cycle model and share what traditional business life cycle stage you are at.

[u/PlaneConcentricTube]

Pipewing

• URL: Pipewing.com
• Location: Switzerland / Will be fully remote
• Pitch: I feel working remotely is lonely. I want to connect remote workers with other remote workers from the same city through 1:1 video calls. That way they can get to know each other and eventually meet in person for lunch or work.
• Discount: It's free! And will remain free forever.
• More Details: What's the difference to lunch club? Lunch club is focussed on international, professional connections. Pipewing is focussed on casual, local connections you can eventually meet in real life, e.g. at a co-working space.
• Stage: A long list of early signups. The full launch will be this month.
• How could r/startups help? What would you expect from your matches? Do you have ideas how to make these 1:1 calls less intimidating? How could I adopt this for introverts? I'm looking for partnerships to focus on remote workers in one location. E.g. Some service for remote workers in Boston that isn't a direct competitor.
• What goals are you trying to reach this month? Launch the full product.

[u/imnotwildipromise → u/PlaneConcentricTube]

I know maybe your focus is 1:1 but why not also consider more than that? For example create groups and match people together into them. I think thatd be much less intimidating in so many ways. For example quick idea.. create activities “beer” “Saturday coffee” “Sunday yoga” “early morning work out” “wine night out” “spa day” “July concerts” “September concerts” and have people sign up for the activities they’re interested in. Then, match those people accordingly and fill up groups of meet ups if possible. This will help take the pressure off figuring out an activity, which is the next step after trying to somehow work out a conversation/connection which is where often things will die out. It’s always intense to make the “hey maybe coffee??” happen, on top of having an already ok connection going on which like I said may be tough to happen just because of people’s natural awkwardness at times. Set preferences like 1:1 or 1:2-4. Stuff like that. Group chats can be great and ignite lots of cool conversation more easily. Just because it’s less intimate. I have a feeling that would be a lot better than only 1:1 and maybe even preferable often, sometimes 1:1 is just awkward/feels unnatural and feels perhaps pressured. By nature we’re super social beings and often 1:1 relationships are only with people very close to us, like family or romantic partners. I think friendship and such can always develop far more easily in groups, it’s in our nature! Plus, activities. Super cool I’d think if you did this. It also feels safer just to have a gathering with more people, and also having more people involved makes you feel less intimidated because now you have a mutual several-people feeling of “awkwardness” which takes pressure of one to one person (I think the whole inevitable “intimacy” of being one to one is what adds the pressure sometimes a lot). It’s like you’re spreading the pressure across more people than just one to one. Compare. Being in a school project with one unknown person versus two or three others. Also. I’d LOVE to use this if you brought it to the u.s hahah get it working man! I’d love to wake up to a “Your pod has been filled! You are now in group 5890. Say hello!” (Maybe giving each new created group a number will automatically bring people even closer, giving them now two things in common which psychologically will reduce pressure and ease the flow, like being put on a group project for school and you have the group # in common - will induce easier communication than: ok you’ve been matched now get it working somehow !!). Group number will make you feel you are part of something together, a crew. You might even remember it one day if friendship works out! It won’t be a vague list of random people. You’ll remember lists of groups you went through, and you’ll remember the memorable ones. Just some ideas ! Then again keep the basic 1:1 if you like, and multiple group general matching without activity sign up required in case people just wanna figure it all out on their own. But try stuff out and see what people will choose ;) Games online at first can also be good as others have suggested. Anyways. Go get it man!! I hope to hear of this one day out there :) happy sailing!

[u/JBabs81 → u/PlaneConcentricTube]

What precautions do you have for malicious users? Stalkers, perverts, etc.

[u/PlaneConcentricTube → u/JBabs81]

In general, Pipewing will do the matching. So malicious users can't target someone specific. Then, after each video call, we ask the users how the call went. A malicious user could have a very short call only once.

Perhaps I'll introduce questions about the city after signup. These are visible to the other person who can accept or dismiss a call with you. E.g. "What's your favourite caffe in Boston?".

These hurdles should make it hard and unattractive for malicious users.

It's a great point and I'll think a bit more about it. Thanks!

[u/Namit343 → u/PlaneConcentricTube]

bro i like this idea. hope you succeed!

[u/PlaneConcentricTube → u/Namit343]

Thank you!

[u/tornato7 → u/PlaneConcentricTube]

Maybe you can prompt with various conversation topics or connect people who play the same video game

[u/PlaneConcentricTube → u/tornato7]

That is very interesting. Thank you!