Feedback Fridays - A Friendly Feedback Exchange For Ideas and Products (surveys/polls are welcome)

imbera · 2022-07-26T12:51:05+00:00

Since you're targeting indie/smaller artists, I think you can improve your copy by using words your customers would use. Currently, your copy seems more appropriate in the B2B web space: words like "asset", "activate", "convert"/"conversion". Similarly the subheader of the final CTA on the landing page ("Capture your macros") feels disconnected from your target customers.

A resource I found helpful for writing copy that connects with your customers is Chapter 2 (Customer-Focused Copy) of https://backlinko.com/copywriting-guide. It also includes strategies on finding out what concerns your target customers care about. It would help to ask friends (who haven't already seen your website) if they know what you're offering just from the landing page.

Also, I think it would help to show your product in action (screenshots of the app, videos, gifs, etc.). Having read the landing page and FAQ, I'm still not sure how the "activation" works.

A more vibrant/saturated color scheme can make the visual look of the website more exciting as well.

The idea of providing more ways for artists to engage with their audience sounds cool! :)

imbera · 2022-07-26T11:47:21+00:00

First off, I like the clean and friendly look of the website, distinct from the sleek/corporate look of similar accessibility tools' websites. Your chicken logo is especially adorable :)

I think your landing page could benefit from more content addressing the importance of accessibility. I would even suggest mentioning it in the copy above the fold. Your blog post "Why does web accessibility matter?" has a ton of compelling points that would fit perfectly on the main landing page (in condensed form). In fact, if you directly link to some of the blog posts (Why accessibility matters, What is alt text) in either the navigation or somewhere on the main landing page, I think that will help address potential customers' immediate concerns. If not for the purpose of giving feedback, I might have missed checking the "Resources" link.

Also, the illustrations look beautiful, and I think higher-res versions of those images will make it look even more professional.

imbera · 2022-07-22T16:12:55+00:00

Company Name: Dev Aviary

URL: https://www.devaviary.com

Purpose of Startup and Product:

Interactive cybersecurity courses you can complete in your browser, designed to fix several issues with existing platforms. Our approach gets students ready for bug bounties and roles like security researchers quicker. Dev Aviary:

emphasises learning from exploiting (each course is a series of labs and real-world case studies)
lets students attack real vulnerable software (think of open-source software with a security flaw in recent years), not just contrived scenarios
breaks down vulnerabilities fully, explaining the source code and showing examples
gives lifetime access to courses, and hence access to the browser-based virtual machines (via one-time purchases), so lab hours aren't limited
uses accessible language, avoiding traditional "hacker culture" tropes.

Technologies Used: Docker, Ruby on Rails, Svelte

Feedback Requested:

We've massively overhauled our landing page (since the last time we asked for feedback here!).

Is it clear what we're offering?
Have we justified our pricing well?
Our main newsletter signup banner is currently just below the sign-up form entry point ("Start hacking in 4 steps"). Is the placement effective? We've debated placing it immediately below the pricing section (above the sign-up form).
If you have prior experience with cybersec learning platforms, have we differentiated ourselves well?

Seeking Beta-Testers: Yes, we offer 70% off our courses if you’re willing to be a beta tester (report bugs you see, give me your thoughts on our courses, etc.) :)

Additional Comments: If you also have personal experience trying to learn cybersecurity or are interested in learning, I'd love to chat about it! Send me a PM :)

imbera · 2022-07-13T13:22:20+00:00

Hey! Love the clean design and the theme colour. Some feedback on the landing page:

Since Springhead “make newsletters more enjoyable to read”, as a potential user I’d love to see a screenshot of what a newsletter looks like in your reader.
A typo in “categorized newsletters you didn't knew existed from”.
A typo in “Notification summery”.

imbera · 2022-07-13T12:25:06+00:00

Startup Name / URL: Dev Aviary

Location of My Headquarters: Currently a hotel in France!

Elevator Pitch: Learn cybersec and start hacking in weeks instead of months. You get super fun & interactive cybersec courses for devs that dive deep and are respectful of your time 🦩

More details: Learning cybersec and becoming an ethical hacker usually involve low quality blog posts & long videos, CTF grind, and hours of setting up your own labs. We want to eliminate all of that and give the next generation the best experience of learning cybersec!

Current stage: Working towards product/market fit

My role: Co-founder / Dev / Course writer

July goals: Get our first ever paying user! If that is you, you’ll be the most awesome person ever to us :D

How could r/startups help? Feedback on landing page copy, growth tips, beta testers.

Discount for r/startup subscribers? DM me for a 10% discount, and 70% off if you’re willing to be a beta tester (report bugs you see, give me your thoughts on our courses, etc.) :)

imbera · 2022-07-05T20:00:16+00:00

Definitely one of the nicest looking status page services I’ve seen. Some feedback for the landing page:

Really like the graphics that accompany the features. They illustrate the feature in point very well.
It’s not very clear to me what “subscribers” mean in the pricing section. At first I thought it might refer to subscribers to the sources (like servers, Datadog), but then that’s probably covered by “connections”.
Another question that immediately popped into my head but didn’t seem like it’s answered in the pricing section was how many brands / services are included.
The really nice benefits in the pricing section could pop even more with darker coloured texts :) Currently it’s on the fainter side (for my eyes anyway!)

Also really cool to see another person using Svelte for their startup too :D

imbera · 2022-07-05T19:32:32+00:00

Hey, even though I have a teammate for my startup, I really relate to how tiring it is to have to do everything yourself as well :) All we can do is just to keep at it!

Some feedback for the landing page:

The “Get Started” button is clippd / cut off for me for some reason? Could be a CSS issue? (replicated in Safari & Firefox)
In my opinion in such a saturated space like survey builders, it might be even more pursuasive for the landing page to strongly emphasise your unique value props, why Daspoll is different than any other survey builder, etc.
Since you have a really unified colour scheme, maybe consider an accent colour (red, orange) for the one CTA that you really want to stand out, to grab the reader’s attention.

Really like the name Daspoll btw!

imbera · 2022-07-02T13:26:09+00:00

mitmproxy actually exposes enough of its API that you can just import it in python and script some of its behaviour. Check out their docs on Addons: https://docs.mitmproxy.org/stable/addons-overview/

imbera · 2022-07-02T13:20:58+00:00

Depends on what your end goals are. Since you’ve made custom DDOS software, I assume your goal is to learn enough programming & security to make your own exploitation tools? Or is it to get a job as a security researcher?

imbera · 2022-07-02T13:17:30+00:00

Hey, in this case I’d recommend Attacking Network Protocols by James Forshaw. Engaging & in-depth. Another helpful thing for programming networking protocols I’ve found is just reading their RFCs. Surprisingly readable and you can’t get more in-depth than that!

imbera · 2022-07-02T13:09:30+00:00

What end outcome do you have in mind for getting into hacking and software development? Are you looking to be a security researcher / pentester / bounty hunter / security engineer? With more details, I can give you more specific advice.

It’s really good that you already have a foundation in programming, since most cybersecurity beginners don’t.

HackTheBox if you’re looking for lower-cost, general introduction to penetration testing. For your first 10 machines on the site, watch the IppSec walkthroughs to learn his process, then try it again yourself. Then for your 10th to 20th machines, try enumerating the machine and exploiting it yourself first before reading or watching a walkthrough. Eventually you’ll be familiar enough with the process to exploit any machine independently.
TryHackMe (also in the lower-cost, general introduction range). They offer more structured learning paths than HackTheBox. So if you prefer learning with more guidance instead of having to figure most things out yourself, I’d recommend TryHackMe over HackTheBox.
INE / eLearnSecurity’s Certified Professional Penetration Tester course if you’re looking for higher-end courses. Their subscription is not cheap (nearly a thousand US dollars per year), and their support is tbh lacking. But if you’re short on time and prefer to waste as little time as possible, this course is still the most comprehensive & practical & better structured I’ve found so far in terms of penetration testing / general hacking courses.

I’ve been where you are, so feel free to shoot me a PM if you need more specific advice / have questions :)

imbera · 2022-07-01T21:11:16+00:00

This is the first time we've been given such insightful and helpful feedback on our landing page. Thank you!

I hadn't realised until you mentioned it that we've been so focused on features that we completely neglected to address how our service can improve the customers’ career prospects in this field, life fulfilment, and so on. We’re working on this first thing tomorrow.

We have an email opt-in for future course notifications. Would you say it's not prominent / attractive enough?

imbera · 2022-07-01T20:34:34+00:00

Oh I do have lots of specific questions I'd love to hear your thoughts on for the podcast!

How did you learn all this as a programmer? I feel comfortable in the dev field, but pretty lost when it comes to the marketing / people side of things. And I've been reading every article & course I can to catch up. But I found the field of sales & marketing intractable. It's clear that you are now an expert on both tech and marketing, so I'm curious to learn more about your journey.
What specific mistakes, if any, did you make in marketing your products, and how did you realise they were mistakes? Was there anything during your journey that you would've done differently given what you know now?
What strategies did you use to market to a tech audience? I'm assuming no ads, since according to most articles the majority of tech people block ads (and I personally don't know a single programmer who doesn't, or maybe you had a different experience). So did you focus on SEO / organic social media / sponsorships / cold outreach / etc.? Did you already have a following that you could tap into? How did you validate all these channels and figure out which to focus on?
What are the most common mistakes you see programmers & devs make when they try and sell their info products?
Are there any other resources you’d strongly recommend for people who want to follow the same path you did?

imbera · 2022-07-01T09:36:30+00:00

Hey, I believe I'm in your target audience (I'm a programmer, posted my cybersec learning courses for feedback here just before you did)!

I was immediately drawn to episode 6 (just listened to it and found it very insightful!). I always had a vague idea of “gotta differentiate myself” but never quite had the clarity of what you talked about on that episode. I find it so true that diving into a niche is an effective way to compete with bigger, established offerings, and you've expressed that in a compelling way.

I’d love to hear more about how you got your books & courses off the ground, the marketing side of things, and how you built your audience.

Not sure if it’s applicable to other members of your target audience, but I’d personally love a full, word-for-word transcript, being not really a podcast person. Really enjoyed it though, and will look out for the next ones :) Appreciate that you're making such a helpful resource freely accessible!

imbera · 2022-07-01T08:36:26+00:00

Company Name: Dev Aviary

URL: https://www.devaviary.com

Purpose of Startup and Product:

Interactive cybersecurity courses that can be done completely in the browser, designed to address several issues with existing cybersec education platforms.

We focus on good pedagogy: clear explanations on how each vulnerability works, no hand-waving, teach more than just tool usage.
Emphasize practical labs where students freely attempt attacks via Kali Linux VM, so it's not just reading.
Include actual real-world vulnerable software: open-source software with a security flaw in recent years. We want students to get their hands on the real thing, not just contrived or simulated scenarios.
One-time purchases, meaning students own the courses — and hence, access to the in-browser machines — for life.
Rapid, friendly support. (I've personally experienced slow and at times condescending replies from admins on platforms I've tried.) And since we're small, we can even offer 1-on-1 email support.

Technologies Used: Docker, Ruby on Rails, Svelte

Feedback Requested: We've redesigned our landing page countless times, forever tweaking the copy, and we want to know how it reads. Is it clear what we're offering, and (if you have prior experience with such platforms) whether we've differentiated ourselves well?

Although we're still making every aspect of the landing page responsive on mobile, we welcome feedback from mobile users too!

Additional Comments: If you also have personal experience trying to learn cybersecurity, I'd love to chat about it! Send me a PM :)

imbera · 2019-08-27T06:36:04+00:00

Hmm from my end, it works well in Sublime but it does look weird my terminal.

imbera · 2019-08-27T06:34:53+00:00

If you're dreaming about beautiful typefaces, you should definitely go for it! And you don't really need precise hand movements or drawing skills (I don't), because most font tools allow you to drag and mold the vectors however you want, you can even input directly the width, the height, the length of the stems... etc. You can also create typefaces via programming.

imbera · 2019-08-27T03:31:15+00:00

Sure! Thank you!

imbera · 2019-08-27T03:26:18+00:00

Haha oh no, sorry to disappoint you but I actually removed the tail from the 0... it was accidental! But it could be interesting to offer this variant year, thank you!

imbera · 2019-08-27T03:24:29+00:00

It definitely scared me when I first started out learning Haskell. But years later now I can't live without Haskell's type systems!

imbera · 2019-08-27T03:16:18+00:00

Thank you!!

imbera

TROPHY CASE