So I saw this video on reddit and thought it was really cute but said to myself at the time, "I hope this doesn't wind up on hacker news because it's not really hacker news". So I'm honestly not trying to "big bummer guy" but I always thought of HN for more tech and startup news than heartwarming stories. I think we all agree that memes and +1 are not for HN, so where is the line?
This story was really touching and inspiring (and my first exposure to it since I don't read reddit) and I hope one day to create an environment where my own child can build as prolifically as this kid has.
Some highlights to take away if you're focused on the entrepreneurial lessons from this kid:
- Ability to see the core value proposition: that S-hook with string is the fun part of the claw game, you don't need the complex mechanical arm and flashing lights to make it fun
- Scrappiness: use what you got, he only had his toys so made those the giveaways in his arcade.
- User testing: soccer game wasn't hard enough so put up army guys
- Lean startup: don't build a ticket dispensing machine while you're still testing development, just sit in the box and dispense tickets while you watch the balls fall through
- Pricing: make the upgrade plan really easy to justify to yourself (4 plays for a dollar, 500!!! plays for $2)
- Marketing: he even had the cool web startup t-shirt going!
I'm sitting here with practically unlimited web technology in front of me and all that kid had was cardboard... and I think if the flash mob came to my creation they'd have a lot less fun :)
This is exactly the type of thing that would end up on HN. The kid has both the hacker and entrepreneurship spirit in him and that's exactly what this site is all about.
An upvote, in my opinion wouldn't be nearly enough to let you know how funny I though this comment was... as a fellow entrepreneur just starting out without income it helped remind me that maybe I don't have to do everything perfect the first time around, that I can take some small shortcuts, so long as the end-user enjoys using my application how or what it is made out of doesn't matter.
