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https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18903013
I entered into this project because I wanted to learn some software skills, and by several strokes of good luck and help from the hn community I have a rough prototype actually working. I am so excited by the progress that I want to try and market this.
I did some market research (I'd rather still be vague, so as not to embarrass myself yet). I have discovered there are basically 3-4 products that compete in this space and they are so niche that they each charge between $500 and $5000 a month for a license per user or by site. Pricey stuff.
I basically have no cost in this yet other than whatever AWS is going to bill me and some of my own time. I am considering something like charging $5 a month per user just to get a bunch of users onboard and traction established. I don't want to get in the habit of other freemium companies because I don't ever want to cross that chasm.
To be fair I think I am looking at a segment of the market that has far more users of what I am making that these other groups are not addressing. They are going after some huge "cookies", while I am looking at going after all the "crumbs" that are left over.
My goal is to get this to the point that it provides a nice side income that can maybe someday take over my main source of wages. I'm a contractor and consultant by nature so it's just another piece of the pie chart overall I guess.
What do you think, HN? I value your opinion.
We've all been there when a guy walks in your door and promises huge wealth if you'll just build and "be the geek". I'm going to be both this time.
So, HN, if you're in my shoes and moving from hard stuff to soft stuff - what language or toolset gives you the best bang for the buck? I'd like to make progress quickly but also have something I can build to be robust and perhaps bring professional developers in with me down the road.