Show more screenshots »

Answers On Startups is a collaborative answer resource for business owners. The website caters to owners of startups who have questions or those who can provide answers. Users can submit a question with a title and appropriate tags. Other users can search these questions to see if any match what they need. Those with information and experience can check out a list of currently unanswered questions to see if they can provide the insight or information the poster was searching for. The tag system also gives users another way to browse questions. Answers On Startups includes a badge system that lets users earn notoriety within the community by completing tasks and adding a badge to their profile. Badges are earned for a variety of activities, from voting 300 or more times to leaving 10 comments or flagging an inappropriate post. The badges are broken down into three categories based on how advanced each task is. Bronze badges are earned for basic use of the site while silver badges are given for those who achieve longer term goals. Gold badges are reserved for those who are very active on the site.

Answers On Startups was created to help business owners find solutions and information. The website is currently in public beta, and notes that public beta typically lasts anywhere from 60 to 90 days. The site does not provide a specific timeframe as far as when it will officially launch.

Answers On Startups gives users a detailed resource that allows them to ask any specific question and get helpful answers. There are many resources already out there, but Answers On Startups is one of the few to incorporate elements of blogs, forums, Digg, Reddit and Wikis. This gives users many ways to participate, find assistance and get assistance.

Answers On Startups welcomes users with an organized design that features dark blue, red and hints of orange. The color scheme works well against the website’s white background. The homepage features top questions, revealing the number of views, answers and votes the question has received as well as all the tags applied to it. Users can also toggle between hot questions, weekly questions and monthly questions. Six navigational links at the top, right hand corner of the page help the user find unanswered questions, tags, other users, badges, past questions and the form to submit a question.

Visitors are not required to create an account to view or search for questions. However to get the full benefit of Answers On Startups, the user should create an account. This can be done by clicking the light blue “Log In” link in the upper, right hand corner of the page (inside the dark blue header). Users can sign in with an existing Google, Yahoo, My OpenID, AOL, Facebook, WordPress, Blogger, VeriSign, LiveJournal, ClickPass or ClaimID account. Those who prefer to create a new account can click the blue “Click Here to Sign Up” link just below. The registration form (which is offered through OpenID) requires a username, password, email address and terms of service agreement.

Answers On Startups is available to all users for free. There are no subscription fees or other charges for creating an account and utilizing the site. It is still in beta, so it is possible that a premium paid membership could be added later on. For the time being, there are no expenses for using Answers On Startups.

Answers On Startups is an excellent tool for business owners who need solutions to their questions. The website is easy to use and free, making it an economical choice. The question submission form allows users to get specific answers that might be difficult to find elsewhere.

• Submit a question to get answers from the community
• Share expertise by providing an answer
• Earn reputation and badges on the site
• Search through past questions
• View questions that are unanswered or tagged

comments powered by Disqus