Alpha Launch Day!

Hello, Helllo, and Hello!

Remember when Facebook looked like this?

We are launching our alpha version of our product today and we are pretty excited to get the most basic version of our application out there for people to fiddle around with.

We are currently looking for fellow Hydras to find:

Feedback!
We want your feedback on every inch of the website. Despite the fact it will look dramatically different (check out the screenshot on the macbook) we want all types of input ranging from functionality to visuals!

Lists!
In order to curb the potential intimidation with no existing lists, I'd like users to simply enter what they have done today (in seperate lists). Whether it be making dinner, working out, or working on a project around the house, post it and let's fill it out!

Anonymous Fun!
Sounds a little 80s motel theme night, but we mean it! We want users to enjoy the fun beginnings of an Alpha stage product and post anything they'd like to under an anonymous disguise. We are going to roll out user accounts with our beta launch so have at it! Inappropriate posts will be considered for moderation but as for now, anything goes.

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To those who are confused on why we'd release such a basic product out there that is quite ugly, we are pretty much diehard fans of the Lean Startup methodology and Eric Ries (www.startuplessonslearned.com) has a model that essentially forces you to release early and update often. Consider our Alpha product like a bit of playdough, morph and play with it and build what you want out of it. We'll hit the ground running with a cast mold of what the users come up with when we launch the Beta :)

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Stay Hydrated my friends,
Navid Behroozi
Hydralist.com
Facebook

The Home Stretch: Beta Launch

Hello world!

Short news: We expect a live beta to be up and running this weekend. We have been busy modifying and optimizing the current checklist creator to ensure it is as easy to use as we first envisioned. We are thrilled and can't wait for all of our users to get started.

Initial Usage:

We are looking for our current beta users to contribute in anyway possible and at the least we encourage users to write down what they have done lately, similar to a status update. We can go through and expand upon the check list on how to get it done later, however we want it get started asap.

I'll be reaching out to our targets to fill up lists they have already created as well as formulating the ultimate checklist.

Stay tuned and prepare for the launch of the easiest way to explore and create checklists on stuff relevant to your life!

Keep your eyes peeled for our release as well as our new logo!
Navid Behroozi

www.HydraList.com
facebook.com/hydralist

Lists: Commercified

Fresh off a recent brainstorm session last night I had some points I'd like to address that would differentiate ourselves from anything out there. Currently steps in a list or a guide on other websites are pretty dry. They may point to a single external website but not much else. I want to change that by addressing the commerce opportunities we will offer to our users

The ability to BUY any element of a list (or the entire list as a whole) gives you a legitimate tool to get started on finishing your list.

Example #1: What's for dinner?

Imagine this at your door when you come home from work?

If you subscribe to on-going lists, for example Cooking Friday's Dinner, we envision the ability to buy the entire list, from ingredients to utilities, and have it shipped to your house. Like what you got? Keep it going! Subscribe to the list over a period of 'n' weeks and get a different (or same) Friday dinner ready to cook (using our lists) and enjoy!

The ability to buy extends to lists of style (clothing), staying fit (apparel, equipment), and so much more. If you need it, and you can buy it so let's get it out there! Tapping into online marketplaces like Shopify's Marketplace to provide you real solutions is just the tip of the iceberg for what we are envision our users to be able to do.

Example #2: OUTSOURCE!

At HydraList we understand the varying emotions and decisions going into completing a task. Simply put, some stuff you want to do yourself and other stuff you'd rather leave to professionals.

For this example I will use the concept of renovating your kitchen. Inevitably there are tasks a user may want to do themselves like tiling, basic assembly, and decoration. What happens when you need the plumbing and electrical work done?

Solution
We want to connect you with what you need and outsourcing work to either individuals or organizations is fundamental to keeping you on track. HydraList will be able to link you to local professionals so you can quickly tap into the wealth of knowledge of trusted professionals. Quality assurance is crowd sourced with our checklists and outsourced options aren't an exception. Integrating trusted review scores coupled with testimonials ensure you are getting real help.

Our launch is coming soon so keep your eyes on the FB page at www.Facebook.com/HydraList - Intelligent Checklists for Life!

Stay Hydrated my friends,
Navid Behroozi

Testing our MVP

After speaking to our freelancing friend Howard Yeend, our list editor project is nearing its arrival. Currently as it stands our list editor is very simple, and that's the way we like it. We don't want to over complicate our approach and delay getting it into the hands of our users. Here is a few of our strategies:

Method

The time for testing our MVP (Minimum Viable Product) is upon us and with this come some marketing challenges to ensure growth. I am confident we are able to target people who want to use it and those who like to read it. Getting content on our site is critical to keep the content fresh so we'll be targeting the DIY community on sites like Reddit and Quora.

Swag Swag Swag
Twitter thrived partly due to the micro-blogging platform it provided, people wanted to talk and publish easily and quickly. Blogs like Blogspot are awesome for a variety of purposes but the quick and easy solution of Twitter and other micro-blog solutions allow for high engagement stemming from a quick user experience. In this age of swag, where everyone wants to post what they've done and show off achievements, exposure is king. Checklists should be something people are proud about, and we believe it aligns well with the swag culture that exists today.

We want our MVP to serve partly as a micro-blogging tool in the beginning to encourage content and let people see what they do on a daily basis.

I look forward to everyone getting their hands on our list editor soon so look out for the Hydra in you!

Navid Behroozi
www.HydraList.com

Checklists for B2B and Education

I have received some questions from some users regarding the serious side of HydraList. Checklists can help you cook dinner but could they also save your company millions? Furthermore could our platform help you learn better outside the classroom? We think so.

Big Business, Little Business
At it's core HydraList is a platform for collaboration between people however that doesn't have to exclude businesses application. Companies spend millions (either in direct investment or the lost opportunity cost) on training, problem collaboration software and quality assurance.

Having a checklist for any given problem can be the difference between costly backtracking and solving a problem the right way. For large companies having a go to CRM tool  For a small business who doesn't have the resources to afford expensive CRM and other means of training employees HydraList can be a perfect tool for keeping your employees in loop and establishing a best practice.

Taking the list on the go will save invaluable time wasted when away from the office. What to do in certain circumstances is a dynamic and time critical venture, linking HydraList to your internal dashboards eliminate unnecessary emails and empowers your employees to provide answers.



Education
We want HydraList to help people get stuff done and naturally education falls into our process quite often. HydraList can be instrumental for both teachers and students to connect and fully understand what they are doing. You remember those "In this chapter you will learn...." sections at the front of each chapter in your textbook? Well why not HydraList it? Student collaboration with a little teacher curation can go along way with just making learning easier.

Teachers can monitor and guide checklists or just leave it up to the students to see how they get it done. Stretch this out over a couple years and teachers can get measurable and direct metrics on how students approach problems over time.

In the end whether it be through the filter of the needs of a business or education environment, taking checklists on the go is where we'll truly add value. Mobile referencing and intelligent checklists can benefit your business on the go when you need it most or outside the classroom to reinforce fundamentals.

Always thinking, always testing
Navid
www.HydraList.com

Check out our facebook page at www.Facebook.com/HydraList

Why HydraList? What we dislike and want to change

Here at HydraList.com we are constantly making sure how we can differentiate ourselves with what we consider inferior productivity solutions similar to what we offer. Combined with our plans for a mobile application, here is just a few of what keeps us hungry.

What we dislike:
Currently our competitors lack the all in one solution that I envision HydraList to offer to users. We want to keep an all in one solution culture to our product. Whether it be price comparison, deal searching or suggesting real products you can buy, we'll keep you focused on doing and not searching.

- Focus on the content: Here at HydraList we believe that checklists are all about the platform and with some of our competitors focusing solely on the content of their guides or lists, they miss out on what makes checklists so simple, the list itself. The flow of the platform should be as simple as possible and very approachable to get started.

To illustrate my insistence on platform over content I point to the example of Facebook in the early 2000s. MySpace's focus on content lead to radically varying profile designs, experiences and overall branding. Facebook came in and pulled the reigns back on how far a user could modify the appearance of the site and took control of the user experience. Clean and simple, their platform beat MySpace with their clean blue colours and branded experience points like The Wall and the Newsfeed.

- Mobile Access: Currently there isn't an extension of checklists that users can take on the go. Checklists are all about getting things done and with HydraList our vision is to have a mobile application that provides real value to our Hydras. Subscribing to lists and receiving daily or weekly checklists to finish your objective is critical to our mission to help the world get shit done. The productivity category in the App store is full of potential winners and some really awesome tools for many facets of your life. When I was younger I envisioned robots to help us in our daily routines and until we get the true AI we need, the productivity sections of the App store are a great preview (combined with some imagination) of the potential in the future.

Without revealing too much we feel that our one stop solution from an ecommerce and data aggregation perspective , focus on building a great platform, and mobile application is what is going to take us over the edge and let HydraList add value to your everyday life.

Till next time,
Navid Behroozi
HydraList.com

Like us? Then Like us! Facebook.com/HydraList

Day 3 - List Ideas + Coder

So I've been thinking of the export options on our list, I don't like static websites and therefore wouldn't want hydraList to be a static experience.

We are considering exports to calendars and other productivity tools that people are currently using. Currently I am researching the optimal way to display custom daily lists that in the case someone subscribed to a "get fit" list, they'd receive a daily list of what to achieve for that day or week (user choice) and they can get to it.

Look forward to talking to our main coder, whom deserves his own introduction. Howard Yeend will be designing our list editor, you can check his work out at http://puremango.co.uk/ or on Twitter at https://twitter.com/puremango

Back to the grind, cheers all!

Navid
www.HydraList.com

Grow, Grow, and Grow!

Day 2 of Pre Launch Hyping

We are definitely looking to get by 100 likes by Monday on our Facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/pages/HydraList/325239964238305). I plan on hitting on my social outlets beginning with individually messaging everyone I know!

Our Twitter is currently taken at www.Twitter.com/HydraList (inactive account) so until we launch I'll stay off the Tweetsphere.

Our coding is going great on the back end, we have some designs in mind we'd like to start with however I want to make sure the users get exactly what they want so we'll be unveiling an optimistic suggestion mode where literally anything can be tweaked and feedback can be given on the spot

More to come!

Navid

Welcome to the Hydra Blog!

Using Launchrock we set up a launch page to gauge reaction and build some buzz prior to our launch in a few weeks.

Looking forward to the positive reaction and getting started with our platform, HydraList. We want to checklist the world and it starts one step at a time

Stay tuned for more blog posts!

Navid