What do you guys think of this idea? Does anyone want to implement it with me?

16 点作者 myoung8超过 17 年前

So the market for race registrations (i.e. road races, triathlons, etc.), camp registrations, and other active event registrations is dominated by Active.com. They offer a set of solutions, but from having used it...well...the bottom line is that someone could do a lot better.They charge $3 per registration they process (so their gross margin is on the order of $1.5 - $2 per registration, which ends up being quite a lot of money when you take into account that many marathons have 10-20K runners.I'm thinking about creating a dead-easy, on-demand registration system and pairing it with either/or a) other event management tools, b) some sort of network for racers (e.g. create groups, share photos, review products, see stats, etc.).Revenues would come from the registrations, as well as ads in the vertical (which I'm guessing have a relatively high CPC/M because of the fact that this demographic buys gear quite often).Thoughts on the idea? Anyone interested in building this with me?

15 条评论

hwork超过 17 年前

I think the trick here is not the technology or the pricing: appealing interfaces and lower prices are doable. I think what's challenging about this is the barrier to entry to becoming a player in this space. That is, how do you get races and camps to get on board, and to ensure others will follow? It seems like this david-vs-goliath effort is how to build relationships with customers and really drive them to your site. Lower prices are definitely a start. But it might take a lot to build up the brand. But seriously, man, all the props to ya. This idea clearly comes from frustration with the current competitors and a 'damn the man' attitude. Good luck!!

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sethjohn超过 17 年前

I heard the founder of Active.com give a talk a few months ago. It turns out that their main source of revenue isn't the registration fees, it's the T-shirts that they sell to race participants!Unfortunately, that suggests Active.com could easily lower or eliminate the $3 charge to drive competitors out of the marketplace.

ajkates超过 17 年前

From what you describe, it looks like there may be room for a competitor. Before putting in the time though, do some research (if you haven't already). Can it really be that profitable? What percentage of the market do you plan to capture?I'm often wary of startups that differentiate themselves on a cost basis when the cost is minimal ($3 in this case). Even if the margins are substantial, the difference between $3 to get things done right, and any other lower price offered by a competitor, just may be an insignificant point of differentiation.

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jam超过 17 年前

From what I can tell, the key to these niche social networking sites (of which yours isn't exclusively one, but sort of is) is to find an existing network of people and replicate it online. It seems like you've found a great application of this idea... especially if you have loads of potentially sticky customers coming to your site every so often to register for races. I don't use Facebook, but if I had to register for courses through it, I'd probably have an account sooner or later.

brianr超过 17 年前

I think that's potentially a great idea. Active.com is a pretty big website, so you'd have to carefully decide which parts of its functionality are important and which aren't.The social networking pieces sound pretty cool, but I wonder if people would actually use them. I guess there isn't really anything like that already, and big endurance races can be pretty social, so it could turn out to be really useful.

dfranke超过 17 年前

I think you've got something here. $3 per registration really does sound like an arrogant dinosaur whose day has come. Don't go overboard on the social networking bit though. Just take some off-the-shelf forum software and add the ability to have your competition history appear in your profile and to search for other users by competition.

rms超过 17 年前

That's a good idea. Good luck.

samwise超过 17 年前

I'm sorry, but i don't see what you bring to the table. What are you doing that nobody else is or that can easy be replicated. How do you plan to get users? not putting you down, just asking.

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mrtron超过 17 年前

I like the basic idea, and think it should be easy to build.You then could run with the idea, and maybe be able to provide this service for free and charge for something else. For example, provide this service for free and make money from tshirts and advertising materials the runners receive (or any of 100 other similar ideas)I know registering for runs is kind of a pain right now, so maybe you chose a good spot.

ballred超过 17 年前

As someone who is forced to use active.com about 10x per year, I can agree with you. Someone could do better.

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bmaier超过 17 年前

I agree that the tough part about this will not be the build but developing the right strategy and relationships. A simple app will go a long way if you know where to put it.I have some contacts in this area and ran at a pretty high level. If you want some help, my email is in my profile

webwright超过 17 年前

I think it's a good idea. People are obsessed with originality, but the reality is that most truly great businesses are just taking an existing idea and doing it BETTER (Google, iPod, MacOS, Reddit).I think the first mover "advantage" really isn't.

Alex3917超过 17 年前

Regatta Central works pretty well. Once you create the roster for your club or school, you just choose an event and then check the names of the rowers you want in the boat. I haven't used it in about five years, but I assume it has gotten even better.

joeguilmette超过 17 年前

yea, i think that's a great idea, and the majority of concepts people push around most definitely are not.

bkmrkr超过 17 年前

email me bkmrkr at yahoo.com