Last week we casually submitted a link to our pre-launch page on Hacker News (update: and reddit). I wasn't really expecting much since it's so easy to get lost in the noise of submissions. Also, since the pre-launch page is [by design] light on specifics we anticipated only a few questions to trickle in via Twitter or email over the next month.

What we received instead was this. Traffic. Those eyeballs also came with some excellent feedback, questions, and even a few fans of our pre-launch design and sign-up confirmation. Oh, and a 23% conversion rate. Awesome!

Spreading the word

We have three key goals with a "pre" launch.

1. The first is to make sure our idea isn't crazy. That other network & system admins have the same need we do when managing servers and services throughout the world. That need being a simple way to setup alerting and server monitoring.
2. The second is to have a sounding board of technical users. Objective feedback and live data is key as we continue to develop our interface and streamline processes.
3. Also just as important is to let people know we're out here. In other words: marketing ourselves. We borrowed an idea from last years Fork.ly launch and will be giving invite-only access to influencers and early adopters. The more people you refer to us, the sooner you'll get access to Checkmint when we launch.

A side result we didn't foresee was the uptick in morale as a result of the positive interest and small buzz we were able to generate. This translated directly in to renewed motivation and energy. The long hours and sometimes mundane programming tasks were validated. At least in our eyes!

As a start-up - we'll take motivation or inspiration any way we can.

Let us know what you think.

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