Am new on Radar. The few months I have been here, what I see happen to most ideas dropped here is they get murdered heavily😂.
Immediately heads pop out and start criticizing it. From the pro developers to designers, business analysts, CEO’s etc
Not that it is completely bad to criticize as it also helps the creator keep it real but the way it is done on radar doesn’t look nice.
Instantly everyone becomes a pro on UX, UI, feasibility studies… Lol!
I think we can do it in a better way and not scare people from dropping their thoughts and ideas here.
So I just wanted to ask how the Radar community would have handled Zuckerberg if he had dropped his idea of Facebook here.
Would we still have had Facebook today? Let’s think!
Sincerely, I’m liking the new Radar more everyday since @87_chuks thread, “Radar so far”. It’s been much more constructive and much, much, much less mean.
I also realised (and I think the creators did, too) that Radar is a platform of its own, with a nature significantly different from Quora or HN, and that it is a community with great potential.
Lastly…(sorry for hijacking your thread, OP😇)
Everytime I come to Radar, inwardly, I thank two sets of people…
The creators, for giving us this community that’s growing into a breeding ground for tech and innovation in Africa. If nothing else, Radar proves that @lordbanks and co care deeply about the ecosystem, and not just about what it can put in their pockets.
The contributors, from the “successful” entrepreneurs to the serial entrepreneurs to the “failed” entrepreneurs to the non-entrepreneurs to the designers and developers. Really grateful to y’all. Learn a lot most times I’m here. Though I’m more of a developer, I’ve really enjoyed the recent design challenge. (Btw, @leslie, what’s up with that? Haven’t seen any new stuff for a while.)
Just to mention a few names…@wkyo, @xolubi, @Ndianabasi, @PapaOlabode, @somtoifezue, @Light, @MrASulaiman, etc etc
Glad to have you on my Radar.
And…as to the original question… I don’t think that there’s a need to ask that. Facebook didn’t start here, and the economic, technological and social climates of Nigeria and USA, then and now, are quite different. Bear in mind also that Facebook didn’t start out as what it is today.
I think I saw a Radar thread sometimes back similar to this, linking to some article about if Facebook had started in Nigeria. Really, apart from humour, one doesn’t gain much from considering that question.
Criticisms are good if constructive unless you want your ego massaged. If that’s the case, Radar is not a massage parlour. Some criticisms can be biting but asking for review from the community leaves you open to anything and if you want to build something really good, then you won’t mind harsh criticisms.
Having said all of that, Radar is great. The family is huge and getting bigger. Like every huge family, everyone can’t be happy.
On Facebook, we have the benefit of hindsight. The business environments are completely different. The dynamics of Radar would definitely have had no bearing on the success of Facebook. If you believe in your hustle, no one can stop you. Remember Nairaland???
Zuckerberg won’t drop his idea like he’s not affiliated to it, or say something like Here is Facebook, the MySpace killer. Or Facebook disrupting the social media.
My bet will be:
Hi everyone,
My name is Mark. I just started this little project to connect college students. It’s been great so far at Harvard. And we are looking at some schools to add in a few months. I will love your input on how you think this can be improved.
Lol. I really don’t understand the whole brouhaha about Radar being “mean”. Looking for validation for what you’re doing from a set of online personas you have never met before means that you don’t really believe in your idea, or believe in yourself as being sharp enough to pivot if and when needed.
Really, if you consider “Radar bashing” to be too intense then how would one be able to stand in front of “Vulture Capitalists” who apart from saying a huge “NO” to giving you funding, might not even have the time to point out where you have gone wrong so far in your execution. If anything the “bashing” on Radar is doing you a service and saving you time and/or money.
A close examination of a few of the criticism filled threads you speak of will reveal the criticisms are much about the idea execution and not the idea itself.
When no sound thinking is given to design, marketing, maintenance etc. such idea is bound to fail already. Radar saves such fellow the heart ache that chiefly sits in the future. You will be rated based on what your idea could be rather what it is now.
With a good knowledge of what is possible in this time an age… would you still use Facebook? if it was poorly designed? or no innovation since inception?
Agreed, some criticisms are not constructive but one should be clear what one wants when one begins to strike the computer keyboard keys in order to create an idea review post on radar. So when the post starts flooding with reviews, just focus solely on what you want, and that you shall see because focus blinds.
Just curated all the good points so far
Thanks guys nice one.
So for new and existing Radar members that are scared of getting their ideas bashed please reconsider with these points made.
The radar community could be hash but its for your own good.
Pick tips from the reviews and comments you get but don’t give up on you idea unless you didn’t sincerely believe in it yourself
Btwn i think you should be emotionally strong cause the world out there is not as nice as Radar.
You need to strongly believe in your idea.
Am sure Zuckerberg would have recieved his own share of criticism.
Criticism is not exclusive to Radar, like mentioned the VC’s could be worse lol!!
Lastly, i studied some threads and found out the approach of the OP(i dont know what this means but i know you guys call the person that created the thread this… me in this case :))
matters. The really proud and refusing to learn ones get bashed real hard lol. So just come with an open heart and be ready to learn
@ajibigad Forget comparing Radar, I can guarantee you that Zuckerberg idea was probably initially dismissed and heavily criticized by his fellow Americans. That’s how entrepreneurs improve their ideas and products and pushes them to perfection.
Although constructive criticisms are the best, you as an entrepreneur have to be able to handle anything brought your way. If you cannot handle bad criticism from a few people, how would you be able to handle other major issues such as board disagreement, heavy losses, etc when your idea has been implemented?
I do agree with you in the sense that there was a lot of nonconstructive criticism here on Radar, but it looks like it has subsided. Nothing is perfect, and there is so much Radar can do without being too intrusive in the forum.
Yeah criticisms are actually constructive on radar if you care about the truth but just post with strong mind and read @xolubi posts with an open mind.
For the Zuckerberg pitch, @xolubi will probably post a myspace link with a brief history of myspace and ask what’s the need for facebook
Promise.