FYI Chrome is flagging your site because the domain name on your SSL certificate doesn't match. Also, the site styling is completely off in Firefox. I don't mean to be completely negative, but fixing those things will probably help in getting people to sign up!

It actually looks like it's set up for *.backyard.io and is flagged for an unrecognized CA, most likely an intermediate CA not included with the certificate.

no worries. thanks for the the feedback. i'm not able to reproduce, though. Chrome and Firebox both shows the SSL as valid and styles seem to be loading as expected. which versions do you have. -travis

I have the latest Chrome on Mac and am seeing the SSL Error. Cert information is here:

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/122722/backyard_io_certificate.png

Latest Chrome on Mac for me as well.

looks like our AWS load balancer has a corrupted chain cert. we're updating the balancer now and should have the problem fixed in a few. thanks for the screenshot! -travis

Safari mobile (iPad) doesn't work (SSL error). Did you try running one of the SSL verifiers? (don't know the sites on the top of my head, google it).

I tried in Chrome and the SSL is green and verified (by GoDaddy).

The way that you're addressed can skew the tone though. For example, starting an email out with "Hi John, can you take a look at this?" sounds much more friendly than "John, can you take a look at this?"

Yeah, it's definitely classic scapegoating. The fact that it was mentioned makes them seem a bit petty...

That and the "lots of people used it! really!"

I suspect the "junior product manager"'s name is Richard Bahr.

Not only that, but do not assume that what works for one audience automatically translates (which is when testing helps). Different websites/products should target differently.

So even if this worked for one of your sites, it may not be the best thing to do with another.

I think even this is a optimistic scenario, as more often, you'll go through even more failure (i.e. your business model didn't work, you run out of money, and so you had to abandon your first idea altogether) before you succeed.

Unfortunately, due to the anonymity required, I've had to censor a lot of stories I'd otherwise share. Thus, these are more like anecdotes from my current startup.

I'd find more in-depth analysis of your startups mistakes interesting. I think that insight would be valuable.

Anything in particular you'd like to hear about? I'm being snarky on the blog, but the story about how we came up with our business model is true and the lack of vision combined with reasonable expectations is probably one of our biggest issues.

Have you spoken with others in the startup? Do they feel the same way? Have you told your boss this? You should, and either they hear you and try to learn from their mistakes, or they don't and you move on.