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I'm in need of a mentor with social networking online experiance.
(Posted by: Talia Harling)
I’m a good ideas person with an eye for the bigger picture and have an idea and part business model that is larger than I can fully get to grips with. It is for an online social networking site aimed at a specific demographic of the entire population not currently fully catered for. (speaking from research and experiance). Ideally I would love to find a business partner, but for now I desperately need some sound and honest directional advice. I don’t have the technological background to fully understand the type of site I require, although I know exactly what I’d like it to do and how. Having had a few conversations with some web designers/companies, they have all given me the same reaction; “Great idea, wow- but this is BIG- I don’t think we could do it here without outsourcing some of it…” I’m also aware that in order for it to succeed I’m going to need the very best developer/team I can find. This is at present a minefield to me as they all “say” they can help me and are the best!!! How do I cut the wheat from the chaff and start looking to building my team without sounding like I know nothing about P2P technology? I hope someone out there has something to spare me of their time, knowledge or experiance. I’d appreciate all the advice I can get. Many Thanks.
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Responses to this question (5)
Alex Sass
28/07/2008, 10:37 AM
The best approach is to be totally honest about your own technical understanding whilst learning as much as you can early doors. To get the most out of the team or people you select, you need to know if they are managing your build properly, putting your funds to good use and selecting a technology or platform that will stand the test of time. To launch something online with no experience at all of online social networking technology, I’d strongly suggest getting someone with experience to stand by your side. There is of course nothing wrong with being the ‘thinker’ or ‘driver’ without tech experience (heck it sometimes helps as you can really think about visitor experience rather than the data behind it) but you need someone to translate your concept into a workable project document before a team gets cracking on it.
Investing a little time (and even money) putting together a full specification before you get quotes really is a good idea if you can do it. Also be aware that you should probably be covering yourself with appropriate non disclosures whilst chatting to new firms / sending them stuff. Nobody will mind and it shows you’re approaching it with determination to succeed.
There are some people who will help you for free- shout directly and I’ll see what I can do, but they will always need reward in some way. For a few it’s just a hug, but for many it will be involvement later on down the line when things get going.
In summary: Invest what you can in documenting your thoughts right now. Don’t run to the techs until you know what you want built and even if it can be done. Think of it as building a pub: you have in your mind somewhere that people will go, communicate, enjoy company etc, but before you open the doors, you need an engineer, a builder, someone who knows how to make the pub attract customers off the street and even someone who knows what the launch party should look like. None of these people are concerned with the plumbing and the movement of beer to tap- that’s a different job.
Alex
-You can always email me on globalsass@yahoo.com if you want.
Andrew Painter
23/06/2008, 08:31 PM
Hi Talia,
I have co-founded a social networking website called ResidentsHQ - we host a private network in modern residential developments and make it easy for neighbours to interact with each other and form vibrant communities. We are a fairly early stage company but have been featured in the national and property press and are currently growing very rapidly.
I’d be happy to offer some advice based on our experience. Feel free to e-mail me either via this website or the ResidentsHQ website.
Andy.
Josef Davies-Coates
23/06/2008, 07:38 PM
Hello Talia,
I know lots about this stuff :)
The most important bit of advice I can give you is to not start from scratch; build on top of an existing software platform that does all or some of what you want and then get a good team of developers to make it do what you want.
I can highly recommend [HTML_REMOVED]Drupal[HTML_REMOVED] and [HTML_REMOVED]Plone[HTML_REMOVED] as good powerful open source platforms to build upon.
I can also recommend [HTML_REMOVED]Code Positive[HTML_REMOVED] as good Drupal developers. [HTML_REMOVED]Computer Minds[HTML_REMOVED] look good too.
Alternatively you could just use a “create your own social networking” site like [HTML_REMOVED]Ning[HTML_REMOVED] or [HTML_REMOVED]GoingOn[HTML_REMOVED].
A good project manager for this stuff is [HTML_REMOVED]Rob Purdie[HTML_REMOVED] - although your project would probably need to be explicitly about positive social change to get his interest :)
Hope that helps :)
Josef.
Alan Lee
13/06/2008, 03:34 PM
Hello Talia
I reply briefly to your email yesteraday. I have just read your statement on the site which put us in contact in first place.
I am afraid apart from the same ambition i don’t have the technical expertise you are looking for. However from my own research to succeed in business you concentrate on what you are good at and as long as you have a sufficient basic understanding of other areas you will be ok. I live in the Portsmouth Area in Hants.
If my comments are of interest to you, welcome to email me again.
