Ask HN: Got seed funding from the Japanese government. How should I use it?

11 pointsrenegadesensei8y ago8 comments

TL;DR - I got 3 million yen in seed funding from the Japanese government for a marriage-focused dating site. How should I use the money to grow the business?

Longer version:

Moved to Japan two years ago. Started watching cheesy soap operas to get better at the language. Got an idea from one about a marriage contract-based dating site. Found a great domain, filed a patent, and hacked out a basic site one weekend.

https://keiyakukekkon.com

Over the last few months I've been working on it in my spare time. I made a blog (one of my posts made it to the front page here actually) and did some promotion on Twitter. With very little marketing we've managed to get about 200 users to register and tens of thousands of site visitors. Mostly I think it's just people stumbling on the domain which was a popular term on Japanese twitter.

My Japanese friend recently suggested I apply to the Japan Finance Corporation for startup funding. There is an increasing amount of accelerators in Tokyo and we figured with some money we could invest in improving the site and marketing. Well lo and behold, the representatives liked our site, and immediately gave us 3 million yen (A little under $30,000. A yen is comparable to a penny). The government as you know is very worried about the low birthrate so they want to support businesses that help people get married.

So it's not a ton of money but I have zero experience so I am not sure how to use it. I'd like to make some improvements to the site and also do marketing both online and IRL.

Anyway let me know what you guys think is a good way to proceed.

Also, if anyone is interested in the project and wants to help out, just shoot me an email. Could use technical people, designers, marketers, investors, and even a cofounder if I find someone really good. Thanks in advance!

Ask HN: Got seed funding from the Japanese government. How should I use it?

11 pointsrenegadesensei8y ago8 comments

TL;DR - I got 3 million yen in seed funding from the Japanese government for a marriage-focused dating site. How should I use the money to grow the business?

Longer version:

https://keiyakukekkon.com

So it's not a ton of money but I have zero experience so I am not sure how to use it. I'd like to make some improvements to the site and also do marketing both online and IRL.

Anyway let me know what you guys think is a good way to proceed.

8 comments

8 comments · 5 top-level

stephenr8y ago· 2 in thread

Interesting. You're either doing language detection the right way OR your website is in a foreign language for its primary market? Hopefully it's the first.

I would say if the site is actually functional (to the point that it does what it claims, doesn't need every possible bell and whistle), you probably need marketing more than more dev.

No point blowing $X implementing features no one ever sees because no one knows it exists.

Edit: btw, you Email doesn't appear to be in your profile or the post either so, the last bit about reaching out is slightly impossible ‍️

renegadesenseiOP8y ago

Thanks for the feedback. The site is meant mainly to work in Japanese but it should detect your browser's language and work in English if that's what you're using.

My email is therenegadeoffunk@gmail.com. I thought it was already in my profile but I guess it wasn't set to display. I added it again more explicitly.

stephenr8y ago

Good job - so many places get language detection wrong it's nice to see one that works properly!

miguelrochefort8y ago· 1 in thread

This looks like something from 2008. I think people's expectations have increased since then.

potta_coffee8y ago

Target market is Japan, take a look at contemporary Japanese web design -- very different.

krapp8y ago

> Mostly I think it's just people stumbling on the domain which was a popular term on Japanese twitter.

Then maybe you should add a Japanese only Twitter account and try to target those people more directly.

Oh... and an app. You need an app. Give me time to finish the Udemy course on Corona SDK and I'll be happy to whip you up something for $20,000.

twobyfour8y ago

Spend it on marketing (and get a great growth hacker to head your efforts). That's where most startups fail in the first place. A dating site in particular only works and grows if it's already got a LOT of users.

jackgolding8y ago

Happy to give you a chat on some growth strategies - especially around some of the modelling/strategy - I'm trying to do more consulting in this area so its just your time for my time, at least initially.

email is in docs i'm gmt+10 so similar timezones

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