WhoBuilt

Critiquing Startup Websites

Dec 23, 2022· 24 min· 67K views·Watch on YouTube

Speakers

Aaron, a YC group partner, and Vlad, Webflow’s co-founder and CEO, review four startup websites at Webflow’s offices and discuss how their design and messaging could improve.

Make Oda Studio’s product clear

Aaron and Vlad struggle to tell whether Oda Studio takes property photos, improves them, or manages them. They suggest explaining the software with clear before-and-after examples and connecting its benefits to outcomes such as renting listings faster. They also recommend moving the most useful product information higher on the page.

Clarify who Flycode serves

The reviewers find Flycode’s promise about freeing developers from product edits intriguing, but its animation and crowded opening leave them unsure how the product works. They note that later headlines shift toward product managers and designers, which can make developers the apparent audience at first and non-developers the audience later. They recommend aligning the messaging around how both product and engineering teams benefit.

Show Colossyan’s use cases and demo

Colossyan’s AI actor video quickly demonstrates the product, though the reviewers notice an uncanny effect. They find some use case navigation confusing and a section about sales benefits too text-heavy. A later page version explains the workflow as choosing an actor, writing a script, and generating a video; they suggest highlighting multilingual video as a specific use case.

Explain Artifact’s podcast service

Artifact’s emotional message about preserving memories of a child catches the reviewers’ attention, and press coverage adds credibility. They initially wonder what a personal podcast involves, then learn that a professional interviewer talks with a parent and produces an episode, with monthly voice-note follow-ups. They suggest making audio playback more obvious and clarifying how families access and share episodes.

Takeaways

  • State what the product does near the top of the page, using concrete examples.
  • Connect product features to customer outcomes, such as faster rentals or saved production costs.
  • Keep the audience and value proposition consistent across headlines as visitors scroll.
  • Use animation to draw attention to the most important information, not distract from it.
  • Make demos and next steps easy to understand, including what users can try and how results are shared.

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