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In The Pink: A Labor of Love

In The Pink: A Labor of Love

The story of building a product and bootstrapping Dribbble, a site for designers to share screenshots of what they're working on. Also, thoughts on niche opportunities in social space.

Rich Thornett

June 08, 2012
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Transcript

  1. GAME PLAN • Creative control • Product design • Social

    studies • Sustainability Friday, June 8, 2012
  2. “We get into creative work because we have good taste.”

    – Ira Glass http://www.brainpickings.org/index.php/2012/02/22/ira-glass-on-the-secret-of-success/ Friday, June 8, 2012
  3. CODING HORROR Jeff Atwood leaves Stack Exchange, to spend more

    time with his family. http://www.codinghorror.com/blog/2012/02/farewell-stack-exchange.html Friday, June 8, 2012
  4. “It's a bummer there's no TechCrunch of lifestyle businesses.” –

    Matt Haughey http://a.wholelottanothing.org/2012/03/my-webstock-talk.html LESSONS FROM A 40-YEAR-OLD Friday, June 8, 2012
  5. “Designing a product is keeping 5,000 things in your brain...

    and fitting them all together... every day you discover something new... a new problem or a new opportunity, to fit these things together a little differently.” – Steve Jobs http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/11/11/15/steve_jobs_lost_interview_design_is_keeping_5000_things_in_your_brain.html Friday, June 8, 2012
  6. we sent a hand-picked beta group snail mail invitations &

    t-shirts BUT... Friday, June 8, 2012
  7. INVITATIONS • Graceful growth • Drafting: Ownership and accountability •

    Community changes slowly, feels stable • Delay spending time on filtering noise • Time we spend on user support • Scaling concerns growth hormones that regulate... Friday, June 8, 2012
  8. INVITATIONS... Marketing wasn't our focus, but creating scarcity can build

    BUZZ. It scares us sometimes. Friday, June 8, 2012
  9. STONE SOUP • Throttled shots (24 per month) • Comments

    • Likes • Following • Rebounds • Navigation: Following, Popular, Everyone • Working beta: 8-months to marinate Friday, June 8, 2012
  10. “Community sites need time to grow. We shut down new

    users signups and there were very few features added between 2002-2004.” – Matt Haughey, MetaFilter http://a.wholelottanothing.org/2012/03/my-webstock-talk.html IS MY BETA TOO BIG? Friday, June 8, 2012
  11. COMMUNITY • Communities are grown, not manufactured • Happy users

    become guardians and advocates • The perception of quality matters a lot Community is your competitive advantage Friday, June 8, 2012
  12. FRENCH PARENTING Steward, don't police Let the community figure it

    out whenever possible. Friday, June 8, 2012
  13. LEND A HANDBOOK Once a guideline is written down, there's

    no debate. Simply link to it. Friday, June 8, 2012
  14. GAMIFICATION “There's a fine line between stupid and clever.” –

    David St. Hubbins, Spinal Tap Here lies David St. Hubbins. And why not? Friday, June 8, 2012
  15. FEEDBACK Give users what they need. It may not be

    want they want. Avoid knee-jerk reactions. Complexity has to earn your attention. Friday, June 8, 2012
  16. API “Don't publish an API without a strategy. If you

    rely on revenue, establish your business model. When you understand how access to your data complements that model, then... make it programmable.” – Me, paycheck hugger Friday, June 8, 2012
  17. “Simply making decisions, one after another, can be a form

    of art.” – John Gruber http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xk3UcgbbmxQ Friday, June 8, 2012
  18. “By far, our biggest competitor for all our products is

    email.” –David Heinemeier Hansson http://www.sebastianmarshall.com/37signals-we-compete-with-email Friday, June 8, 2012
  19. FACEBOOK PIE And this is just the world of images...

    Others Not all-inclusive and not drawn to scale! (Dribbble is much bigger in my head :) Friday, June 8, 2012
  20. Facebook may want its pie back... but at pie-high prices

    $1 billion / slice Friday, June 8, 2012
  21. DSN Domain Specific Network A social network focused on a

    single domain that is distinguished by its community. Friday, June 8, 2012
  22. SCRATCH A NICHE • Simple value proposition • Focus on

    quality v. scale • Niches are good for targeted advertising or marketplaces Friday, June 8, 2012
  23. COMMUNITY • Communities are grown, not manufactured • Money &

    tech are good for manufacturing, but growing requires nurturing and patience. Once More, with Feeling Community is your competitive advantage Friday, June 8, 2012
  24. dailymile is a "social experience for active people." It's a

    bootstrapped, profitable 2 person company. ~500,000 registered users Revenue comes from integrated advertising and Pro accounts. Friday, June 8, 2012
  25. Ravelry is a site for knitters and crocheters. It's a

    bootstrapped, profitable 4 person company. 2,170,320+ registered users Revenue comes from Yarn-related advertising and pattern sales. http://blog.ravelry.com/2012/01/25/how-does-ravelry-make-money/ Friday, June 8, 2012
  26. “If I like the things you create, nothing makes me

    happier than giving you money to keep doing it.” – Jason Santa Maria https://twitter.com/#!/jasonsantamaria/status/167342553778237440 Friday, June 8, 2012