@Jason and team launched Inside (3.0) 3 months ago and today released the first in a series of category-specific apps. Inside Drones is effectively the same app and the content could certainly fit within the Inside app (no pun intended) but they chose to bifurcate their userbase and product. Both have their pros and cons and this is something we're thinking about as we expand Product Hunt beyond its current tech focus.
How are you thinking about this, @Jason? I have my assumptions but why make multiple apps rather than focusing all your energy (and maintenance) on one?
@rrhoover great questions. Inside.com is "the top 100 stories of the day summarized perfectly."
Inside Drones is "The 20 Most Important Drones Stories Today -- Ranked & Summarized."
We added two additional features to this vertical product:
1. Drone Podcasts - Like a light version @SwellApp (which I invested in and was sold to Apple)
2. Drone Videos - Like a light version of @OnFrequency (I'm an investor) or @n3tworkco (wish I was an investor)
My thinking on this strategy is that it worked at Weblogs Inc, where we had Engadget, Autoblog, Joystiq, TUAW and 75 other niche blogs (AOL killed all but two of them :-( ).
In terms of my advice for Product Hunt is that you have traction so I would keep doing the group thing, and if one of the groups goes super nova (i.e. if SaaS tools could fill up 5 pages a day, well, then do Product Hunt SaaS as a sister site).
You do need to pick one strategy or the other early on I believe.... we did the single App and it did well, but let's be honest, none of the dedicate news Apps have broken out to scale. Right now Feedly is actually the most promising mobile news product -- not even massively funded flipboard! So, mobile + news is HARD.... really, really hard.
Verticals is a way to have excellence in a small way, which we hope will help folks discover the main app!
The great thing about Product Hunt is that, like Engadget, it filled a massive void in the market. Circa, Inside, Flipboard.... well... they don't fill a massive void (there are news sites out there), they try to do it better.
Filling the void is much EASIER than making a better version of a crowded market!
1. Give me some feedback on the beta please!
2. What topic should we do next?!
Great thoughts, @jason. We'll be releasing our first category expansion shortly (that's just our jab -- @garyvee reference). 😀
1. I'm honestly not a drone geek (yet!?) but I love that you're curating written/editorial content along with audio and video. This gives enthusiasts MORE opportunities to explore the app (e.g. listen to a podcast while at the gym, watch a video when tired laying in bed).
2. I'm very curious what topic you dive into next. IMHO, I would try to identify:
(a) which popular categories -- based on engagement and volume of content -- are emerging within your existing Inside community since those are the easiest people to reach and one of the best signals of market validation.
(b) emerging topics that have potential to fuel an entire magazine or editorial publication. You're attacking Drones at a great time. There's a lot of enthusiast interest already and I think it's a safe bet to assume the market will grow within this category over the next few years.
(c) things you/the team actually care about. It's way more fun to work on a product you use and love. 😀
Can you hint at which topics are next?
@rrhoover the topic selection process is:
a. are there people passionate about this topic?
b. are their products for them already? (i.e. there are a lot of places to read about gadgets in 2015, there were none in 2004 -- thus, Gizmodo and Engadget great fast with little money. In 2012 when TheVerge stole the idea it cost them $5-10m to replicate it -- not the $50,000 it cost us to build engadget!).
c. does that vertical have enough news in it
@rrhoover oh yeah, if i was you I would look at the complexity of building the product.... I would look at the Wirecutter and consumer reports and work backwards from "how many people did it take to make this?" an umbrella? not many!!
@jason I love my drone, so I'm definitely in your demo and see the need. Reminds me of how Kevin Rose is filling a need for Watch enthusiasts. To your point about mobile + news being hard... I think it's because there hasn't been anything interesting enough to shift consumers from their normal routine (i.e. Check Twitter, Instagram, etc.). I also think summarization on mobile has become as ubiquitous to mobile news as the follower model is to social. The opportunity is in creating new information experiences that are delightful and different. Flipboard won on the iPad with that approach.
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@Jason - love the app and iterations it went through. In answer to your questions.
1. add @producthunt ability to "add to your collections" for building out fav stories, podcasts, vids, etc. Keep ppl in the app, not exporting to Pocket or Evernote.
2. Would love to see Inside 3D Printing (overlaps Inside Space, maker community, disrupting big boy manufacturers) & Inside Synthetic Bio (for those who haven't watched the Blade Runner stuff in the TWISTartups episode with Cambrian Genomics, welcome to the nerd room: )
@ddmirolli we've talked about some different "add to your collections" approach, and you can do that now by starring your favorites. In this super quick MVP we just didn't add a favorites view (its in the main inside profile, for example).
I'd love to do some additional support for external exports, also. Maybe some things like pocket and evernote, specifically. Just haven't made it that far yet, but we will!
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I'd love to see this become a SAAS offering. i.e. I'd like to pay a monthly fee and launch my own niche news app and site.
Location, topic/s, opinion, curated etc.
Inside.com then becomes the global view of most popular stories across the platform.
@shauntrennery wow... that's a killer idea. We've discussed it... we would consider it if we could find a partner willing to spend a decent amount on a monthly basis to help us build out the platform.
i.e. we would do it for $500 a month, but we might for $10k a month.
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@jason what about topics outside of tech as an expansion?
Drones seems like a good choice since it is inherently an early adopter market. But it probably has a much lower cieling than say a sports or culture specific niche.
@bitonbit Glad to see you here. Why didn't you do one on Bitcoin? Or, was that ZeroBlock. :)
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@jason I'm a "daily user" of Inside 3.0.
Some interesting verticals that I think are broad enough, but yet still relegated to a subset of early adopters I think needs an Inside approach:
1. VR (I know you hate this topic)
2. 3D Printing
3. Robotics = RaspPi, Hardware Hackers
4. IOT
5. Wearable Tech & Quantified Self
6. Demand Economy (Uberficaction or the physical world)
7. Bitcoin and Digital Currency
@webjoe
1. I'm not a VR hater, I just want to see some folks step it up and have actual products that are awesome -- which folks seem to be doing!
2. for sure
3. for sure
4. might be too niche
5. part of health & fitness
6. too niche / part of Inside Startups
7. for sure -- if ti grows!
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