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Question

Developing a high tech video hosting website? whom to approa

Dec 1, 2012 10:26PM PST

Hello,

I want to develop my own website of video hosting similar to YouTube, Vimeo, where it will be relying on (user generated content).

I don't know how to approach this project, whom to go to. Should I go for a freelancer, or an established company specialized in developing softwares and websites.
I am only putting down 20k for this website.
My objective is not to generate money as much as to find an alternative of YouTube.

My questions are:
Do you think 20k is enough? as a start
Do you think I should approach companies or freelancer?
Also I am developing an iphone app for this website as well.

Please include references to programmers and developers if you have anything in mind.

Discussion is locked

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Answer
Maybe in some other country?
Dec 2, 2012 1:27AM PST

The last iphone app a company I have worked with dropped about a half million for their iphone app.

They had it done in South America and your 20K (USD?) would be eaten up in about 2 to 4 trips to see the developers.

You might want to think about your idea as there are alternatives to YouTube already plus you have other than iPhone users out there.
Bob

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Answer
Answers
Dec 3, 2012 10:42PM PST
Do you think 20k is enough? as a start

That entirely depends on how much YouTube and Vimeo's features you are replicating. If it's only a web page for registering, logging in and uploading videos, that's pretty straight forward. Once you expand to a commenting system, social integration, ratings, creating groups, following people, etc, the more time and money it will cost. You'd be best off to first define what it is you want to accomplish.

In addition, there are several cost factors to consider. There is the cost of the initial development, but also server costs, which will eat up your 20K pretty quick. You'll need lots of storage (video files), RAM and CPU (video conversation), bandwidth (stream videos) and probably a content delivery network (localization).

Do you think I should approach companies or freelancer?

I can't say one is better than the other. What it comes down to is finding the right "person" to do the job. It may be a company, it may be a small business, it may be just one or two people.

Also I am developing an iphone app for this website as well.

I think a better approach would be to create a responsive design that can adapt to various mobile platforms, whether that would be the iPhone, iPad, Android devices or now even Microsoft tablets. The fact is, there are so many devices and platforms, why narrow down your potential market based on hardware requirements.

~Sovereign