Scrappy Startup Test #1 -- Message ALL of your friends for feedback!

You know you're a scrappy entrepreneur if you've just emailed all of your friends asking them to try out your new site -- guilty!

This is exactly what I did last week Thursday. I messaged all of my friends on Facebook (which may have been many of you) asking to try out my new website and provide some feedback on it.

Some of you may have found this annoying or asked yourself, "why is he spamming me?", or both. However, when you're a scrappy entrepreneur, you've got to be able to do anything and everything to make something happen. And, one of the first tests that a scrappy entrepreneur should pass is to be able to message all of their friends and ask them to try out their new product.

In my case, Viewpointr is a consumer-oriented startup that is not particularly targeted to anyone specific yet. So, my friends feedback can really be helpful especially in terms of: determining who we should be targeting, and also, providing thought processes through every step of using the site, commenting on the user interface and functionalities of the site.

This point was recently re-enforced by Dan Martell, Co-Founder of Flowtown at an event a few weeks ago organized by Tracy Lee at LiveUmbrella.com entitled "How to Run a Scrappy Startup." Dan mentioned the #1 test to see if you are a scrappy entrepreneur is if you have the guts to email all of your friends asking them to try out your site and beg them to give you feedback on it.

So, here I am imploring you, all my readers.

I would like to put you in touch with a particular type of person that you want to connect with... in return for your feedback on Viewpointr.

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Go to http://viewpointr.com:

1. Fill in your request.

2. Sign in through Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Gmail, Yahoo, or Hotmail.

3. Invite me: andre@viewpointr.com, so I can easily point your request to the people you've requested.

In return, all I ask is for you to please share your feedback (i.e. bugs, suggestions, likes, dislikes, etc.) -- http://feedback.viewpointr.com.

I appreciate your help in advance.

If you dig Viewpointr:

Fan us on Facebook (http://facebook.com/viewpointr)
Follow us on Twitter (http://twitter.com/viewpointr).

I really appreciate your support!

Cheers,
Andre
http://twitter.com/acharoo

P.S. Have you spammed your friends for your startup? What was the response? Did you get any good feedback?

Take 3 - Viewpointr Preview 2.0 Releases Today!

If you have followed my blog since I started it back in 2007, you may know that I have been working on a startup that has evolved a few times now. Initially, the company was called nkdGuru and then changed to ProspectLinker, and now has been changed to Viewpointr. There's good reason behind each of the iterations. Check out the company story here.

When speaking to people who haven't seen me in a while, but know that I'm working on an internet startup, I always tend to explain how it's funny to see how ideas evolve overtime. I've read about it many times from serial entrepreneurs. However, I didn't realize it when I first started that often times, the idea you started with, won't be the idea you end up with or the one that may be successful. The key is being committed to it and seeing it to fruition, no matter how many times you have to change.

Well, there's something different about this time around. My girlfriend asked me the other day, "What's so different in this take than the previous ones? Why do you feel like this one is it? Because, from someone on the outside looking in, you've been confident and extremely excited about the past two iterations." The question was good one and I felt that I should share it with others, hence, why I'm writing it on my blog.

The reason I believe this 3rd take is "the one" is because:

- it's based on real interactions from users on ProspectLinker.

- it's not entirely based on a business plan, but rather, on a real product with users.

- the value proposition has never been clearer.

- it's a part of an exciting market opportunity that others have recently helped validate such as Aardvark and Formspring.me.

- it's clearly differentiated.

- it's focused on creating value for users first and foremost.

- it suggests exponential user growth due to a viral component that was previously missing.

- it's scalable as it leverages the network effect.

- even though we've changed a couple of times, we have remained consistent to our vision -- to help people get advice from others who are outside of their network.

All of these reasons don't guarantee success by any means, but if anything, it suggests that we're persistent, dedicated and will die trying ;)

Check out this new iteration of Viewpointr, try it out and tell me what you think. Learn more about it on our blog. Share your thoughts in the comments below, Facebook, Twitter, or on the Viewpointr Feedback Forum.

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Btw -- have you had a similar experience in your startup? How many times have you changed your product, business, or blown up your code? I recently heard a stat that shows the best startups change directions around 7-8 times in the first 5 years. Hmm...Interesting.

Cheers,
Andre
http://andrecharoo.com

--
Follow me on Twitter || http://twitter.com/acharoo
Blog || http://andrecharoo.com

My Professional Life Story so far...

Check out my new blog post on Untemplater.com entitled "Are you the ideal candidate?"

It's a bullet point run down of my professional life story, a few challenges I faced and currently face, and the things I have done to help overcome them.

I was pretty hesitant to share this info about myself, however, I honestly feel that it could help others in achieving their professional goals in life.

Hopefully, it will for some.

Cheers,
Andre
http://andrecharoo.com

--
Follow me on Twitter || http://twitter.com/acharoo
Blog || http://andrecharoo.com