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cmars232
What artificial stimulants do you use?
ericc
A mortgage.
A lot of us are caffeine and nicotine junkies. What else do you guys use? What do you use for creative stimulation? A glass of wine?
4
11
2007-08-09 05:13:57 UTC
40,780
40,690
Darmani
Your issues with...
kyro
I neither use Facebook nor watch television, so I'll skip 1 and 2.Number three is a very interesting question. Why did Reddit and Digg descend into their present state?I think something other than "the userbase has grown" is going on here. I think one major reason is that you see others' opinions before you decide your own. As a general rule, any Internet poll prompts you to vote before showing you the running results, to attempt to preserve independence of opinion. Reddit and Digg, however, breach this.Secondly, in both Reddit and Digg, any controversial item leaves public sight; only those items that most approve of reach and stay in the front. Those items only of great appeal to a subsection of the user base either fail to reach and stay in the top, and, as a result, simpler items with more general appeal begin to dominate the front.For Reddit; this was the rise of political articles; for Digg, which I am less familiar with, I'd imagine it involved less technically in-depth items.The above system accelerates; as content begins to represent the cross-section of the interests of a larger, more diverse group, the site attracts an even larger, even more-diverse group.The squashing of controversy and propagation of opinion combine so that commenting maintains a status quo: The posts that are upmodded are known to be upmodded, and, thus newcomers will associate these types of posts with being worthy of upmods and will upmod them themselves. Due to the desire for social status, those newcomers bold enough to begin making comments of their own attempt to imitate the style accepted by the community as "upmod-worthy." And thus, newcomers learn to achieve a style that causes their posts to be upmodded.The above two points combine: The oldtimers tolerated newcomers; the newcomers tolerated newer-comers; due to the logistical nature of the system, each "generation" outnumbers the previous. The newer-comers whom the oldtimers indirectly "let in" may create comments repulsive to many of the oldtimers that get upmodded to the top; this slowly disillusions the relevant oldtimers, causing them to leave, solidifying the community's shift.And there, that's Digg, according to my understanding. I must admit I've used Digg little and do not have a firm grasp on how its system works, so everything I say about Digg should be taken with a grain of salt; on Reddit, I am more confident in my ability to speak truthfully.Reddit's story goes further: In Reddit, a controversial item where one side has an advantage can reach the front page. Thus, assuming it involves the general cross section of readers, the ideology that originally had an upper hand will get its content to the front and the opposing ideologues, primarily reading items they disagree with, leave. The former ideology solidifies its hold; future opponents of said ideology get discouraged from joining; groupthink evolves.And thus, my theory for the state of Reddit today. Reddit's original techie audience created the status quo of commenting style. They drew in their friends and peers from various communities via word of mouth. The new users tolerated and contributed to the technical articles that were reddit's genesis; the techies tolerated and contributed to the nontechnical articles being brought in. The cycle occurred again, and, though the technical bias in the community was preserved through visible, active posters, a shift toward articles with broader appeal was well underway. Since the original techie user base likely contained more liberals and libertarians than conservatives, the former two ideologies, both of which involve laypeople and can be associated with most topics, began to heavily get their content into the front. Liberalism and libertarianism tolerate each other somewhat, but liberalism was stronger due to its numerical advantage among the general populace. The hold of liberalism expanded as outlined.As one might expect from the above paragraph, the front page of the Reddit of today has articles on healthcare, global warming, and other politicized material; some items supporting Ron Paul; and a whole bunch of items with broad but shallow appeal, such as pictures of cats.
So, I have several ideas that have been brewing in my cerebral hemispheres for a while now. However, I am trying to develop them into more complete and though out ones. In doing so, I have been asking people a whole slew of questions trying to pry out issues and problems they've been facing with existing services, so that I may capitalize on such issues and use them in developing my ideas. I thought I'd do the same here, seeing as you guys are a helpful, critical, and insightful bunch.And here we go. What are your issues with...1. Facebook - more speficially, do you feel that the connections you make are meaningful. Does it help you create stronger ties with existing friends? Any issues with it's tendency to expose everything out in the open? etc.2. Internet TV - Why don't you watch it? Does it focus on the wrong content? What would make you watch it? etc.3. Getting your online news - Let's face it, Digg now is crap. I know many people will agree with that. It's crapiness isn't exclusive to Digg alone, but has spread to similar services. What do you hate about it, what would you fix? I also believe that news.yc is a great source of info. What do you like about it? Anything you'd add/change?I have more questions, but this seems like a bit much already.Thanks to all who contribute.
0
9
2007-08-09 05:58:16 UTC
40,781
40,655
richcollins
Seeking partner for game development
dcbrandao
Not working on OS X + FF
null
4
4
2007-08-09 05:59:38 UTC
40,795
40,757
blored
10 Secrets of a Happy Marriage
vlad
Applicable in all walks of life. I have a feeling I was just had by link bait. Du-oh.
null
0
4
2007-08-09 06:32:08 UTC
40,796
40,783
zurla
Excellent start-up idea...
blored
isn't this how skynet got started?
An app that let's facebook users create their own facebook apps.
1
2
2007-08-09 06:36:33 UTC
40,799
40,783
parker
Excellent start-up idea...
blored
I'd much rather see a facebook app that prints "Hello World!";Simple, AND useful. Seriously. Awesome.
An app that let's facebook users create their own facebook apps.
0
2
2007-08-09 06:53:18 UTC
40,806
40,651
davidw
What artificial stimulants do you use?
ericc
Nothing - if I'm that tired, maybe it's best to get some sleep. I'll have some tea once in a while, but it's not something that really wakes me up or gets me going.
A lot of us are caffeine and nicotine junkies. What else do you guys use? What do you use for creative stimulation? A glass of wine?
18
11
2007-08-09 07:55:09 UTC
40,808
40,805
palish
The Rails Blues
tim
Translation: "I don't know how to read the log files or figure out what's going on or ask for help in #rubyonrails, so I'll just completely ignore that PHP is 13! years old, whereas Rails is two or three, and just write this blog post instead."Seriously, Rails has brought me nothing but joy. I'm going to release a community site next weekend and if I experience these mysterious voodoo troubles I swear I'll eat my words, but it's been rock solid so far. Rails just makes so much sense.
null
0
1
2007-08-09 08:18:45 UTC
40,811
40,800
mark-t
Dan Kaminsky just killed OpenID with unveiling of his attack suite during Blackhat conference
nickb
Slides are available online, in some strange proprietary format: http://www.doxpara.com/?q=node/1149 .
null
1
1
2007-08-09 08:28:10 UTC
40,812
40,574
mynameishere
An example of Apple's latest Web2.0 app: Gallery viewer (best gallery so far?!)
nickb
Right mouse button doesn't work = Worst gallery so far.
null
1
5
2007-08-09 08:29:25 UTC
40,815
40,814
vlad
Future of Corporations: Results-Only Work Environment--Focus on Output, not Hours or Face-Time
vlad
"Achen says he would never go back. Orders processed by people who are not working in the office are up 13% to 18% over those who are. ROWE'ers are posting higher metrics for quality, too. Achen says he believes that's due to the new office paradox: Given the constant distractions, it sometimes feels impossible to get any work done at work."
null
3
10
2007-08-09 09:07:46 UTC
40,818
40,809
jey
Attention and sex
arasakik
Good talk. Although by about 3 minutes into it, I was kind of expecting the punchline to be that sex wasn't mentioned at all in the talk, but yet we were still paying attention to him simply because he titled his talk "Attention and Sex". :-O
Awesome video talk of Scott Berkun at Ignite Seattle 3
0
6
2007-08-09 09:13:07 UTC
40,821
40,819
tuukkah
A NIST guide: Tell the story of your business compellingly
tuukkah
Actually, at this point, I'd like to know if anyone has a link to a similar guide but more focused on written than in-person presentations.
null
0
1
2007-08-09 09:25:26 UTC
40,822
40,816
rms
Outsource Tasks, GMail, Yahoo!, ZipCar, etc to India - $30/mo - Coupon BETA for a free month
vlad
Starting this company required a significant capital investment.What's the best thing for someone with a capital intensive idea to do?
null
4
10
2007-08-09 09:34:46 UTC
40,824
40,550
jgamman
The #1 Secret to Coasting Through College
vlad
step 1: decide on the minimum grade you want for each class step 2: work harder for an A than a B and likewise for a C step 3: do the work rinse and repeat. oh BTW, as someone that had to grade uni students, having someone harass you for every single point on an assignment that was only going to generate 1% of your final mark does not endear you.
null
1
3
2007-08-09 09:43:05 UTC
40,831
40,655
fad
Seeking partner for game development
dcbrandao
I have a Tetris too :) http://frank-duffner.de/noTWebApp_tetris.html
null
0
4
2007-08-09 11:01:00 UTC
40,832
40,816
rms
Outsource Tasks, GMail, Yahoo!, ZipCar, etc to India - $30/mo - Coupon BETA for a free month
vlad
I've got a different capital intensive idea that could be very profitable. It's in biotech which has a lot of things that truly are capital intensive, like proving product safety to the government.Synthesize 7-hydroxy-mitragynine and get it approved by the FDA for the treatment of severe chronic pain. It takes many millions of dollars but there's an enormous market for a new painkiller that is as powerful as fentanyl and measurably less addictive. Oxycontin is pretty much taboo after the enormous settlement they paid. There's always money in the legal drugs business. The patent holder for formulations of 7-hydroxy-mitragynine would need to be much more responsible about marketing than the Oxycontin suppliers. Mitragynine alkaloids are atypical opiates that are less addictive than the opiates in the poppy plant.7-hydroxy-mitragynine is the main active alkaloid in kratom, but kratom is not currently approved for sale as a drug or supplement in America. Getting it approved as a supplement would take millions which no kratom vendor other than wholesaleshamanicherbs has.
null
0
10
2007-08-09 11:02:07 UTC
40,835
40,702
bootload
The Best Venture Capital Advice I've Ever Seen
vlad
"... best ever venture capital advise I've seen ... 'Demos are not a requirement - the potential investors can visualize the product' ..."the best I've heard is "you are (probably) going to fail".
null
1
4
2007-08-09 11:25:32 UTC
40,837
40,814
pg
Future of Corporations: Results-Only Work Environment--Focus on Output, not Hours or Face-Time
vlad
Maybe the next step after that would be to keep the results-only part but ditch the top-down corporate oversight, letting everyone work on whatever they wanted and keep nearly all the upside. Oh, wait...
null
0
10
2007-08-09 11:29:38 UTC
40,840
40,740
extantproject
Stop it. Stop it right now.
nickb
I agree. I like the iPhone. I use mine every day. But I've noticed this trend to make everything developed for it look and feel "like a real iPhone app" and not pay attention to other browsers. Why not develop for the web and make it look and feel like whatever it needs to look and feel like?YC News, for instance, is very usable on the iPhone. Not surprisingly, Paul Graham's essays fit the screen perfectly. Neither seem to have been specifically designed for the iPhone, but bother work well because they are designed well.
null
0
3
2007-08-09 11:37:41 UTC
40,841
40,814
bootload
Future of Corporations: Results-Only Work Environment--Focus on Output, not Hours or Face-Time
vlad
"... At most companies, going AWOL during daylight hours would be grounds for a pink slip. Not at Best Buy. The nation's leading electronics retailer has embarked on a radical--if risky--experiment to transform a culture once known for killer hours and herd-riding bosses. The endeavor, called ROWE, for "results-only work environment," seeks to demolish decades-old business dogma that equates physical presence with productivity. The goal at Best Buy is to judge performance on output instead of hours ..."When I read that I think someone is working out the cost per person per square meter and saying to themselves we pay for that floorspace and nobody is using at night or it can be done cheaper. Lets get rid of all but the core and let them work elsewhere.
null
1
10
2007-08-09 11:47:49 UTC
40,843
40,816
martin
Outsource Tasks, GMail, Yahoo!, ZipCar, etc to India - $30/mo - Coupon BETA for a free month
vlad
It may be worth noting that other well-established companies like Your Man In India have been offering remote personal assistant services for some time. Timothy Ferriss' "The 4-Hour Work Week" has an entire chapter on how to outsource your life to India. Pretty entertaining. $30/mo is an attractive price point, though.
null
1
10
2007-08-09 11:56:55 UTC
40,844
40,412
nanijoe
We went ahead with it anyway.
blored
Were you offered funding for ClutterMe.com ? Was that based on the content you presently have on your site?
We got rejected the first time around with Ycombinator and have now been offered funding. Thanks for your support everyone, this forum rocks.
7
25
2007-08-09 11:58:13 UTC
40,851
40,584
nomoresnow_c
Zenter founders and YC grads share their Google acquisition story (audio interview)
scrollinondubs
I like the one point these guys made about putting emphasis on finding co-founders who have previously worked on their own side-projects, before people wanted to pay them to do something.
null
2
36
2007-08-09 12:32:34 UTC
40,857
40,584
davidw
Zenter founders and YC grads share their Google acquisition story (audio interview)
scrollinondubs
There's an interesting bit at about 28 minutes about working with PG.
null
3
36
2007-08-09 13:13:17 UTC
40,859
40,740
ivankirigin
Stop it. Stop it right now.
nickb
I mused with my partner whether archaic browser support was a form of premature optimization. Some things are easy and can be wrapped in a function to make them simpler. Others, not so much. I don't plan on testing in more than 6 browsers/versions on the 3 big platforms before release.Thoughts?
null
1
3
2007-08-09 13:18:10 UTC
40,869
40,651
Goladus
What artificial stimulants do you use?
ericc
Nothing. I just try to eat healthy food, excercise regularly, get enough sleep, and be around stimulating people. Caffeine makes me irritable, and since I've made it almost 30 years without trying a cigarette I have no intention of trying one any time soon.Sometimes I record myself at the piano while I'm drinking, and then go back later and extract any of the good ideas. I've never had any luck coding drunk, though.
A lot of us are caffeine and nicotine junkies. What else do you guys use? What do you use for creative stimulation? A glass of wine?
10
11
2007-08-09 14:00:33 UTC
40,870
40,847
rms
College will kill your entrepreneurial spirit: A 9 year old's foray into startups.
rzwitserloot
Great blog and a fascinating literary experiment.
null
9
17
2007-08-09 14:05:33 UTC
40,873
40,738
cmars232
Ask News.YC: Do you prefer to hack in darkness or in the light?
palish
Light, but only natural sunlight. Darkness is better than ugly green fluorescents/ugly yellow incandenscents.
null
3
2
2007-08-09 14:10:04 UTC
40,878
40,862
jamescoops
Good luck on demo day, guys!
aston
not really seen anyone properly blogging stuff this round like Boso crew did last time, apart from a few posts from Remember Me
I don't know all the teams, but I'm hoping my boys the Dropboxers do well.
5
16
2007-08-09 14:19:41 UTC
40,880
40,847
vegashacker
College will kill your entrepreneurial spirit: A 9 year old's foray into startups.
rzwitserloot
The piece kept me reading, but I couldn't disagree more with this part:"...College does not turn people into free thinking individuals who will someday have the whole world at their feet. It turns them into worker bees that will spend their lives in cubicles just so long as they get 2 weeks paid vacation time per year."
null
4
17
2007-08-09 14:24:11 UTC
40,890
40,738
ivankirigin
Ask News.YC: Do you prefer to hack in darkness or in the light?
palish
It's nice to be able to look away from a computer screen to think. So facing monitors and a window at the same time is ideal. I find this setup good for day or night, and have a similar setup at home. I took a quick picture to show what I mean. http://flickr.com/photos/ikirigin/1061406827/I constantly have headphones on. Sometimes without music -- lowering interruptions.
null
1
2
2007-08-09 15:09:20 UTC
40,892
40,886
ivankirigin
Do you live under the fear that a YC company is about to demo what you working on?
rokhayakebe
No, don't worry about someone else making something. Worry about how fast you can make it yourself. Worry about your community of users. But try to keep track of your competition.
null
1
9
2007-08-09 15:16:00 UTC
40,898
40,862
ivankirigin
Good luck on demo day, guys!
aston
Watch out for gazeons. They are particles produced by gazing on-lookers -- especially by important people. Most demos are tested with only a few participants, limiting the ambient gazeon level.Without proper gazeon shielding, the demos might be friend by the number of potential investors in the room.I learned all this from Hod Lipson, a really smart guy http://www.mae.cornell.edu/lipson/
I don't know all the teams, but I'm hoping my boys the Dropboxers do well.
0
16
2007-08-09 15:38:44 UTC
40,900
40,879
dottertrotter
To build a social network. would you use off the shelves (like joomla) or build from scratch?
rokhayakebe
Build your own. The thing to keep in mind with social networking is that it should not be the only draw of your website, but should be an added feature that makes the draw of your website more interactive. Also, I just completed a site that includes social networking, and it was so much easier to integrate with the focus of the website, because I built it from scratch.
null
0
2
2007-08-09 15:42:24 UTC
40,902
40,801
far33d
Just look at the ilike.com team! Wow
eusman
They have some strange old media connections (clear channel and ticketmaster) that will probably be both helpful and destructive.
Not a typical startup I guess
0
3
2007-08-09 15:46:29 UTC
40,905
40,786
mynameishere
Alexis of reddit fame tries Lisp: "i thought lisp would be fun to learn"
nickb
Mental note: Don't take on a "business" partner.
null
0
10
2007-08-09 15:53:11 UTC
40,907
40,888
samb
Can You Build a Startup Ecosystem Outside the Valley?
matbalez
the technology park/corridor concept won't make it happen. building a "funky" building and slapping the incubator tag on it doesn't work. i belive it can only happen organically. you can't force it. it's not like making soup.
null
1
8
2007-08-09 15:56:38 UTC
40,908
40,897
ivankirigin
cookout at the anybots/yc office
Sam_Odio
If you could have Dexter make a delivery to my office in Boston, that would be delightful.
One of the few things I accomplished at anybots was to organize a weekly BBQ at the office every wednesday... Well, because of demo day, I thought I'd reschedule next week's BBQ to saturday (the 18th), and invite some News.YCers. Trevor says the YC crew will still be in town, so some of those guys might show up as well...Space is limited - I can't afford to cook for more then about 10. RSVP here. Cookout starts @ 12:30, arrive early if you want to hack / chill / check out the robots / whatever. Dexter & Monty will be serving the food.UPDATE: Please, no schmoozing. Don't come if you're only interested in pitching your business.
1
10
2007-08-09 16:01:05 UTC
40,910
40,847
walterk
College will kill your entrepreneurial spirit: A 9 year old's foray into startups.
rzwitserloot
There's merit to the idea that college typically does not foster an entrepreneurial spirit, as the prevailing assumption is that you'll go on to apply for a job. Still, I think the author is seriously underestimating the value of going to college, which Steve Jobs' 2005 Stanford commencement address addresses nicely:http://news-service.stanford.edu/news/2005/june15/jobs-06150...Of course, whether or not to stick around until you get your degree is another matter. But I'd argue that much of what you learn about the world, culturally, historically, theoretically, can be invaluable to entrepreurship.
null
0
17
2007-08-09 16:03:29 UTC
40,911
40,897
acgourley
cookout at the anybots/yc office
Sam_Odio
('I can't make it' thread)I can't make it, but thanks for putting it on.
One of the few things I accomplished at anybots was to organize a weekly BBQ at the office every wednesday... Well, because of demo day, I thought I'd reschedule next week's BBQ to saturday (the 18th), and invite some News.YCers. Trevor says the YC crew will still be in town, so some of those guys might show up as well...Space is limited - I can't afford to cook for more then about 10. RSVP here. Cookout starts @ 12:30, arrive early if you want to hack / chill / check out the robots / whatever. Dexter & Monty will be serving the food.UPDATE: Please, no schmoozing. Don't come if you're only interested in pitching your business.
2
10
2007-08-09 16:03:56 UTC
40,914
40,862
blored
Good luck on demo day, guys!
aston
If I was demo-ing, I'd hire girls to ask cute questions and clap whenever something went right.
I don't know all the teams, but I'm hoping my boys the Dropboxers do well.
1
16
2007-08-09 16:15:33 UTC
40,915
40,913
samb
ooma on sale today
samb
anyone care? i don't think i do. at least not today.
null
2
3
2007-08-09 16:16:41 UTC
40,916
40,886
parker
Do you live under the fear that a YC company is about to demo what you working on?
rokhayakebe
There was a great article on news.YC the other day about some of intuit's reasons for success. This quote stuck in my mind:"Your competition isn't other companies, but the way things are done now"There were like dozens of other companies working on personal finance software, and the intuit founder instead concentrated on his biggest foe: pen and paper. And hey, if it's a big enough market, it can support many different companies!
null
0
9
2007-08-09 16:17:07 UTC
40,920
40,862
parker
Good luck on demo day, guys!
aston
I second this motion -- there seem to be some fascinating ideas this session (not to mention some slick design!)... Good luck!
I don't know all the teams, but I'm hoping my boys the Dropboxers do well.
4
16
2007-08-09 16:24:16 UTC
40,922
40,918
ivankirigin
Is there a place where someone can live-blog demo-day?
blored
This is probably related to the question I asked about recording talks. Privacy frees conversation, or so the theory goes.
Number of Investors. Presentation Time. I offer upvotes, but you'd also be providing a service and be henceforward referred to as 'champion' instead of your real name by me and several others.
0
1
2007-08-09 16:26:10 UTC
40,923
40,615
richcollins
Tandem Entrepreneurs -- seed investors
vegashacker
Tandem is funding our company. At first I had reservations about a hands-on approach: "I'm an independent, iconoclastic programmer! Just give me my money and get out of my way!"Now that I am over my ego, I have really come to appreciate the fact that I have to give minimal thought to legal, accounting ... etc. It is also really nice to get immediate assistance with strategic, technical and networking (social, not computer) issues.I would be happy to answer any questions people have about our experience with them. Either here or via email ([email protected]).
null
2
18
2007-08-09 16:26:36 UTC
40,925
40,886
sabat
Do you live under the fear that a YC company is about to demo what you working on?
rokhayakebe
Sure I do. And I really worry if I find out that someone has done stuff well and completely when I've barely started.But other than that, competition often just validates a market. God knows Google didn't care that Infoseek, Excite, and Altavista already existed. Obviously they were doing it wrong.
null
8
9
2007-08-09 16:27:27 UTC
40,929
40,897
jamiequint
cookout at the anybots/yc office
Sam_Odio
me (jamiequint), sumon (sharpshoot), and tim will be there :D
One of the few things I accomplished at anybots was to organize a weekly BBQ at the office every wednesday... Well, because of demo day, I thought I'd reschedule next week's BBQ to saturday (the 18th), and invite some News.YCers. Trevor says the YC crew will still be in town, so some of those guys might show up as well...Space is limited - I can't afford to cook for more then about 10. RSVP here. Cookout starts @ 12:30, arrive early if you want to hack / chill / check out the robots / whatever. Dexter & Monty will be serving the food.UPDATE: Please, no schmoozing. Don't come if you're only interested in pitching your business.
8
10
2007-08-09 16:36:52 UTC
40,933
40,897
RyanGWU82
cookout at the anybots/yc office
Sam_Odio
Thanks for the invitation -- I'll be there!
One of the few things I accomplished at anybots was to organize a weekly BBQ at the office every wednesday... Well, because of demo day, I thought I'd reschedule next week's BBQ to saturday (the 18th), and invite some News.YCers. Trevor says the YC crew will still be in town, so some of those guys might show up as well...Space is limited - I can't afford to cook for more then about 10. RSVP here. Cookout starts @ 12:30, arrive early if you want to hack / chill / check out the robots / whatever. Dexter & Monty will be serving the food.UPDATE: Please, no schmoozing. Don't come if you're only interested in pitching your business.
6
10
2007-08-09 16:42:32 UTC
40,937
40,886
tocomment
Do you live under the fear that a YC company is about to demo what you working on?
rokhayakebe
I wish someone would steal my idea because then I could partner with them. It's so hard to find cofounders these days as we all know.
null
3
9
2007-08-09 16:50:00 UTC
40,940
40,550
centipede
The #1 Secret to Coasting Through College
vlad
"As a final note, coasting may not be the best choice in overly demanding classes or those where grading is based on objective measures, such as multiple-choice or mathematics."I study math. Our grades are not very objective. But maybe that's because we only have oral examination and we do not have to do much arithmetic.
null
0
3
2007-08-09 16:53:43 UTC
40,941
40,897
dfranke
cookout at the anybots/yc office
Sam_Odio
Dexter? Seriously? Does he have arms now?
One of the few things I accomplished at anybots was to organize a weekly BBQ at the office every wednesday... Well, because of demo day, I thought I'd reschedule next week's BBQ to saturday (the 18th), and invite some News.YCers. Trevor says the YC crew will still be in town, so some of those guys might show up as well...Space is limited - I can't afford to cook for more then about 10. RSVP here. Cookout starts @ 12:30, arrive early if you want to hack / chill / check out the robots / whatever. Dexter & Monty will be serving the food.UPDATE: Please, no schmoozing. Don't come if you're only interested in pitching your business.
7
10
2007-08-09 16:54:58 UTC
40,945
40,847
rzwitserloot
College will kill your entrepreneurial spirit: A 9 year old's foray into startups.
rzwitserloot
It probably depends a lot on which college you go to. MIT? No question - that'll do good things for your entrepreneurial spirit.However, I agree with the idea in two situations:1. It does not really FOSTER entrepreneurial spirit - you must cultivate a seed of that elsewhere, and2. Only a very limited set of colleges do NOT completely kill it.
null
3
17
2007-08-09 17:12:37 UTC
40,947
40,913
parker
ooma on sale today
samb
If Ooma wins this battle, does that mean I never have to watch/hear that annoying Vonage commercial ever again? Quick Ooma, come to Canada, let's fight this battle together!!
null
0
3
2007-08-09 17:15:59 UTC
40,950
40,690
run4yourlives
Your issues with...
kyro
My $.02:1. Facebook is next to meaningless to me... it's cute, a cool way to share photos and waste time, but the connections have no real value, they either existed before or will remain confined to the medium. I'd imagine this is not true for those in college, but accurate for an older user such as myself.2. There is already a perfectly acceptable and available medium for tv - TV! The market of people who have access to the internet but not TV is rather small - again, an idea that might play better with a college crowd who exist in a world exactly as I described.3. The key to the holy grail of news sites in my mind is the dunbar number (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunbar's_number), as Davidw points out in his comment. I think if you can find a way to create a site that can harness the strength of this principle, you'll win here.
So, I have several ideas that have been brewing in my cerebral hemispheres for a while now. However, I am trying to develop them into more complete and though out ones. In doing so, I have been asking people a whole slew of questions trying to pry out issues and problems they've been facing with existing services, so that I may capitalize on such issues and use them in developing my ideas. I thought I'd do the same here, seeing as you guys are a helpful, critical, and insightful bunch.And here we go. What are your issues with...1. Facebook - more speficially, do you feel that the connections you make are meaningful. Does it help you create stronger ties with existing friends? Any issues with it's tendency to expose everything out in the open? etc.2. Internet TV - Why don't you watch it? Does it focus on the wrong content? What would make you watch it? etc.3. Getting your online news - Let's face it, Digg now is crap. I know many people will agree with that. It's crapiness isn't exclusive to Digg alone, but has spread to similar services. What do you hate about it, what would you fix? I also believe that news.yc is a great source of info. What do you like about it? Anything you'd add/change?I have more questions, but this seems like a bit much already.Thanks to all who contribute.
10
9
2007-08-09 17:16:30 UTC
40,951
40,863
marrone
The 80:1 Freakonomics Paradox
samb
Good points. Actually I did the same thing with "Da Vinci Code". After like 3 years of avoiding reading it, I finally broke down to read just because it stuck around so long."How To Get Rich" by Felix Dennis is another good read related to what Godin is saying. He is in the magazine business, and recommends anyone looking to start something to start it in a growing industry not already entrenched with leaders. "Ride the wave" is his suggestion
null
0
6
2007-08-09 17:17:27 UTC
40,958
40,863
walterk
The 80:1 Freakonomics Paradox
samb
This is essentially the Blue Ocean argument:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_Ocean_Strategy.
null
1
6
2007-08-09 17:28:08 UTC
40,959
40,862
plusbryan
Good luck on demo day, guys!
aston
can't wait to hear how thing go guys! I didn't get to meet all of you, but I think this is easily the most impressive group so far. blow them away.
I don't know all the teams, but I'm hoping my boys the Dropboxers do well.
3
16
2007-08-09 17:30:58 UTC
40,961
40,847
tyohn
College will kill your entrepreneurial spirit: A 9 year old's foray into startups.
rzwitserloot
When I finished high school I spent a few years working then I started my own business. I ran the business for 10 years before selling it two years ago. Recently I joined the worker bees/cubicle side of things ~ from my perspective working as a cubicle slave sucks! I can't wait till my new business can support my life! At any rate the other slaves (almost all college educated) really do live their lives for that two week vacation. But I know the unedamkaed bees (like me) live for that vacation too. So was it college or just a case of the pareto principle in action ~ 80% of the people are worker bees and 20% are entrepreneurs?
null
1
17
2007-08-09 17:50:46 UTC
40,963
40,921
brett
Idea: invite the companies most-likely-to-acquire YC Startups to demo day.
ivankirigin
I'm thinking they already do this.
It is a bad idea to pretend you're disinterested in acquisition. That is the consensus, right?If potential acquiring companies are invited, the conversation could be started early.One drawback might be tipping your competition off to the ideas, but that seems to be a smaller threat than obscurity, right?
0
1
2007-08-09 18:02:41 UTC
40,968
40,888
umjames
Can You Build a Startup Ecosystem Outside the Valley?
matbalez
Didn't Paul Graham already cover this in his essay "How to Be Silicon Valley" (http://www.paulgraham.com/siliconvalley.html)?
null
0
8
2007-08-09 18:19:36 UTC
40,972
40,886
michelson01
Do you live under the fear that a YC company is about to demo what you working on?
rokhayakebe
'YC company' is the new google
null
7
9
2007-08-09 18:33:09 UTC
40,976
40,879
enrique550
To build a social network. would you use off the shelves (like joomla) or build from scratch?
rokhayakebe
build from scratch. There are too many headaches with open source software...people making buggy modules that you have to wait for them to fix, finding hacks or ways around you getting things done add up to slow, clumsy websites :(
null
1
2
2007-08-09 18:43:17 UTC
40,979
40,973
far33d
Anyone Interested in Turning this Technology into a Web Application?
tocomment
I saw this guy at Siggraph.. very cool. His other paper (Photo Clip Art http://graphics.cs.cmu.edu/projects/photoclipart/) was also pretty awesome.
I think it would be a fun project / business but I'd like some help. Any takers?
4
18
2007-08-09 18:54:39 UTC
40,985
40,879
Jd
To build a social network. would you use off the shelves (like joomla) or build from scratch?
rokhayakebe
I've worked with Joomla's social networking features in the past. Avoid.
null
2
2
2007-08-09 19:15:00 UTC
40,986
40,973
jkush
Anyone Interested in Turning this Technology into a Web Application?
tocomment
How about something like "empty planet"? I'm thinking of taking photographs of famous places that are very busy (like Times Square) and digitally removing all the people. I think seeing pictures of places that are very familiar, but devoid of people would be quite profound. Maybe it's just a feature and not business, though.
I think it would be a fun project / business but I'd like some help. Any takers?
0
18
2007-08-09 19:16:21 UTC
40,987
40,809
arasakik
Attention and sex
arasakik
Scott Berkun's a great public speaker. Has anyone read his new book "Myths of Innovation"? I'd be interested to see what you guys think of it before buying it myself.
Awesome video talk of Scott Berkun at Ignite Seattle 3
1
6
2007-08-09 19:24:31 UTC
40,994
40,651
sabhishek
What artificial stimulants do you use?
ericc
Green tea with fresh mint.. trust me folks it works and doesn't ruin your already exhausted nervous system.
A lot of us are caffeine and nicotine junkies. What else do you guys use? What do you use for creative stimulation? A glass of wine?
20
11
2007-08-09 19:33:28 UTC
40,997
40,887
randallsquared
do you under the fear that a YC *tup is gonna demo what you workin on?
rokhayakebe
It's not clear whether you meant to say "live under the fear" or "understand the fear". If the former, no, because they're just another competitor, if so. If the latter, then sure, because some YC companies have kicked ass. Statistically, though, it's still somewhat unlikely that any given YC company will succeed, and only if they were going to succeed were I not in the marketplace would I need to worry about them particularly.
null
0
2
2007-08-09 19:44:30 UTC
40,998
40,800
migpwr
Dan Kaminsky just killed OpenID with unveiling of his attack suite during Blackhat conference
nickb
That link above no longer works, for anyone wanting to check this out its a good read:Google cache:http://209.85.165.104/search?q=cache:V_HlOsNVc8UJ:www.doxpar...
null
0
1
2007-08-09 19:44:50 UTC
40,999
40,993
blored
Watching Songkick Demo At Y Combinator
paul
keep 'em coming, it looks like they are in pg's basement, nice.
null
2
14
2007-08-09 19:45:38 UTC
41,000
40,973
nickb
Anyone Interested in Turning this Technology into a Web Application?
tocomment
Patent issues... make sure you license it from them!
I think it would be a fun project / business but I'd like some help. Any takers?
5
18
2007-08-09 19:47:45 UTC
41,003
40,886
henning
Do you live under the fear that a YC company is about to demo what you working on?
rokhayakebe
If you have no competition, there might not be a market for what you want to create, so competition can actually help you out.It's also possible to address similar sets of needs in different ways. digg and reddit are both successful. Live and let live. Namaste.
null
6
9
2007-08-09 19:57:03 UTC
41,010
40,897
chaostheory
cookout at the anybots/yc office
Sam_Odio
I want to go see the robotsIf not, food is good too - My wife and I could bring some extra food if you want so more ppl could come
One of the few things I accomplished at anybots was to organize a weekly BBQ at the office every wednesday... Well, because of demo day, I thought I'd reschedule next week's BBQ to saturday (the 18th), and invite some News.YCers. Trevor says the YC crew will still be in town, so some of those guys might show up as well...Space is limited - I can't afford to cook for more then about 10. RSVP here. Cookout starts @ 12:30, arrive early if you want to hack / chill / check out the robots / whatever. Dexter & Monty will be serving the food.UPDATE: Please, no schmoozing. Don't come if you're only interested in pitching your business.
3
10
2007-08-09 20:15:28 UTC
41,011
40,886
david
Do you live under the fear that a YC company is about to demo what you working on?
rokhayakebe
If you don't, try to convince yourself that you should. I've found paranoia to be a very effective way of beating procrastination.
null
4
9
2007-08-09 20:27:28 UTC
41,014
40,973
ltibb
Anyone Interested in Turning this Technology into a Web Application?
tocomment
I've got the start-up itch and i'm looking to meet some potential co-founders for this or any project. email me at ltibbets [at] gmail [dot] com
I think it would be a fun project / business but I'd like some help. Any takers?
2
18
2007-08-09 20:35:26 UTC
41,015
40,973
ltibb
Anyone Interested in Turning this Technology into a Web Application?
tocomment
If you haven't seen it already Microsoft (yes Microsoft)has a similiar scene completion technology and the demo is pretty cool: http://labs.live.com/photosynth/
I think it would be a fun project / business but I'd like some help. Any takers?
3
18
2007-08-09 20:37:17 UTC
41,016
40,897
npk
cookout at the anybots/yc office
Sam_Odio
I'd like to come.
One of the few things I accomplished at anybots was to organize a weekly BBQ at the office every wednesday... Well, because of demo day, I thought I'd reschedule next week's BBQ to saturday (the 18th), and invite some News.YCers. Trevor says the YC crew will still be in town, so some of those guys might show up as well...Space is limited - I can't afford to cook for more then about 10. RSVP here. Cookout starts @ 12:30, arrive early if you want to hack / chill / check out the robots / whatever. Dexter & Monty will be serving the food.UPDATE: Please, no schmoozing. Don't come if you're only interested in pitching your business.
9
10
2007-08-09 20:37:42 UTC
41,018
40,783
s_baar
Excellent start-up idea...
blored
Anything that leads to facebook becoming self-aware is a bad idea.
An app that let's facebook users create their own facebook apps.
2
2
2007-08-09 20:40:54 UTC
41,019
40,993
champion
Watching Songkick Demo At Y Combinator
paul
That's the north cambridge office. The photo makes it look more drab that it is. It has this funky 2nd floor kitchette thing -- looks like Fred took the photo from teh stairs going up to it.
null
0
14
2007-08-09 20:43:08 UTC
41,021
40,847
umjames
College will kill your entrepreneurial spirit: A 9 year old's foray into startups.
rzwitserloot
College may not be the one actually killing your entrepreneurial spirit. Most colleges just put a contract out on you. Societal hivemind thinking (which begins when you're a child) and the face-time-driven workplace are the actual hitmen that take you out.
null
6
17
2007-08-09 20:47:53 UTC
41,022
40,973
andreyf
Anyone Interested in Turning this Technology into a Web Application?
tocomment
Their demo at the top of the page looks nice, but I'm a little skeptic about the versatility of their algorithm to determine an image as "semantically valid" or not. I can see that being the RHP (really hard problem).
I think it would be a fun project / business but I'd like some help. Any takers?
1
18
2007-08-09 20:48:43 UTC
41,025
40,651
whycombo
What artificial stimulants do you use?
ericc
Viagra, is there any other????
A lot of us are caffeine and nicotine junkies. What else do you guys use? What do you use for creative stimulation? A glass of wine?
21
11
2007-08-09 20:51:59 UTC
41,026
40,847
andreyf
College will kill your entrepreneurial spirit: A 9 year old's foray into startups.
rzwitserloot
"Right now, 6 of the 10 richest people in America are proud college dropouts. The other 4 inherited their wealth. Hell, Dakota Fanning has made more money than most people will make in a lifetime and she's still in middle school."Source?
null
7
17
2007-08-09 20:55:44 UTC
41,029
40,913
run4yourlives
ooma on sale today
samb
Its going to be pretty interesting to see if anyone can turn a profit on a $400 phone.
null
1
3
2007-08-09 21:27:08 UTC
41,032
40,548
cmars232
13 Simple Words That Could Change Your Life Forever (on accountability)
vlad
Yeah, you could accept responsibility for all the bad things that happen to you, or you could just enjoy being yourself and realize that if someone else has a problem with that, its their failure as a human being :P
null
1
9
2007-08-09 21:40:46 UTC
41,033
40,897
brianmckenzie
cookout at the anybots/yc office
Sam_Odio
I wanna see the robots! So I'm coming. I can also pitch in for food if that would help.
One of the few things I accomplished at anybots was to organize a weekly BBQ at the office every wednesday... Well, because of demo day, I thought I'd reschedule next week's BBQ to saturday (the 18th), and invite some News.YCers. Trevor says the YC crew will still be in town, so some of those guys might show up as well...Space is limited - I can't afford to cook for more then about 10. RSVP here. Cookout starts @ 12:30, arrive early if you want to hack / chill / check out the robots / whatever. Dexter & Monty will be serving the food.UPDATE: Please, no schmoozing. Don't come if you're only interested in pitching your business.
4
10
2007-08-09 21:49:37 UTC
41,045
40,651
mikesabat
What artificial stimulants do you use?
ericc
i definitely don't encourage the use of prescription drugs, but if you find yourself getting distracted often at work Aderral is amazing for staying focused and working long hours.Talk to your doctor. Side effects include launch parties and series B funding meetings. Not a pharmacist.
A lot of us are caffeine and nicotine junkies. What else do you guys use? What do you use for creative stimulation? A glass of wine?
14
11
2007-08-09 22:25:43 UTC
41,050
41,044
arasakik
Prediction: YC's IPO is in the works.
rokhayakebe
That doesn't make any sense to me - why do you think that? It seems like taking in a lot of cash from wall street would put pressure on them to become more like a traditional VC.
While we all waiting for the next YC startup to go public or get acquired, we forget about YC itslef as a company. I think there is an IPO somewhere down the line.
4
1
2007-08-09 22:59:33 UTC
41,053
40,814
portLAN
Future of Corporations: Results-Only Work Environment--Focus on Output, not Hours or Face-Time
vlad
There's a balancing act here -- trying to maximize your output today can cost you in your output tomorrow. Everyone knows you can overdo things physically; you can also burn out mentally.If I stay up until 6 am chasing this one bug, either tomorrow I will be too tired to concentrate or I'll sleep in and mess up the rest of my schedule... been there a lot.
null
2
10
2007-08-09 23:09:58 UTC
41,054
41,044
cperciva
Prediction: YC's IPO is in the works.
rokhayakebe
An IPO wouldn't make any sense at all for YC. An IPO, just like venture capital, allows a company to convert equity into liquid cash; but YC has no shortage of cash. Instead, YC is limited by the supply of good candidates and by how much time pg et al. have -- neither of which will be affected at all by an IPO.
While we all waiting for the next YC startup to go public or get acquired, we forget about YC itslef as a company. I think there is an IPO somewhere down the line.
2
1
2007-08-09 23:14:26 UTC
41,055
40,879
rokhayakebe
To build a social network. would you use off the shelves (like joomla) or build from scratch?
rokhayakebe
Thank you all
null
3
2
2007-08-09 23:19:01 UTC
41,058
41,044
pg
Prediction: YC's IPO is in the works.
rokhayakebe
IPOs accomplish two things: they raise money for the company, and give the founders a way to sell some of their shares. We don't want to raise money or sell any of our YC stock, so there would be no point.But it's misleading even to answer as if it were an option. You need massive revenues to go public, on the order of $100m/year, which we are nowhere near. It takes 4 or 5 years on average for startups to generate returns. The only money we make now is from random early acquisitions. We can't even guess how much we'd make ongoing.
While we all waiting for the next YC startup to go public or get acquired, we forget about YC itslef as a company. I think there is an IPO somewhere down the line.
1
1
2007-08-09 23:23:17 UTC
41,059
41,044
bootload
Prediction: YC's IPO is in the works.
rokhayakebe
"... I think there is an IPO somewhere down the line. ..."Evidence? So why bother going to the market for more capital, less control & greater risk? - more employees? (you can't scale pg, jl with more employees) - more money? (yc spreads the risk by using micro-capital & attracting top candidates) - more advertising? (thats how the internet and successful candidates demonstrating product).Does not compute. What makes more sense is to bust open the VC market using less capital, less people creating the best VC coy. that grabs the cream of an untapped market. Sort of an iteration of the startup pattern applied to a different, but related industry.
While we all waiting for the next YC startup to go public or get acquired, we forget about YC itslef as a company. I think there is an IPO somewhere down the line.
0
1
2007-08-09 23:25:22 UTC
41,060
40,886
lmcateer
Do you live under the fear that a YC company is about to demo what you working on?
rokhayakebe
I have put a lot of thought into this. I was going to apply to the next YC class, and have had much encouragement to do so from my friends at google, however, I just got accepted to law school, and plan on continuing my project from there, maximizing the free legal advice I get from peers / professors. Basically, from what I have read / researched / been told by people who-know-what-they-are-talking-about, competition in this field is actually a good sign:1. It means that someone else has decided your product/service is worthwhile enough to actually spend the time and energy to develop it. 'No competition' is very often a good indicator of 'Bad idea' or 'No market.'2. The market -- the internet market, anyway -- is vast. Facebook has 15M users, myspace 35M, linkedin 12.5, bebo 12.5... (plus or minus, who can even keep track anymore?). There is plenty of room for companies with competing services, especially if their products are marked by substantially different features and/or payment methods (or lack thereof).3. Motivation: if I found out tomorrow that a YC company was doing exactly what I was doing, I would probably sleep less and try to get my product to market faster. Currently, there are a few competitors, but their services are either targed outside my demo or are, well, crappy. It is precisely the lack of the service that I am trying to provide that is my main motivation for working to bring it to market: I want to use it! Competition would validate that other people are thinking like me, and would also go a long way -- by using their product -- of understanding exactly what it is I am getting myself into.
null
2
9
2007-08-09 23:27:55 UTC
41,061
40,885
portLAN
Naval on the Age Question: You Create for Sex
nivi
Upvoted for combining multiple relevant sources including Douglas Adams into one post.
null
2
11
2007-08-09 23:29:15 UTC
41,063
40,847
lmcateer
College will kill your entrepreneurial spirit: A 9 year old's foray into startups.
rzwitserloot
This article depressed me. First, 'bad' college will make you despair of life, much less the entreprenurial spirit. Second, education in this country is so sorely lacking that to crusade AGAINST getting educated is profoundly depressing.Third, you get what you give. If you go to college and take a bunch of crap courses and cruise your way through, you are not going to learn anything. You can go to Hicksville State and come out with a deep and profound understanding of mathematics, if you put your back into it, and you can go to Harvard and come out a total loser -- which should really shock no one.Fourth, and most importantly, I found at college I was surrounded with impassioned people who desperately wanted to make a change in the world and to chase their dreams. The depression sunk in when I entered the working world and got a cube job and watched those hopes and dreams shrivel. So I quit, and I decided to start programming this service. Hopefully, something will come of it, and I'll be able to get a private beta going in the next few weeks before law school starts (which I am attending in the hopes it will help me understand my business better...)Basically, this makes me sad about whatever college this poor guy went to, obviously it was not very good.
null
2
17
2007-08-09 23:33:12 UTC
41,070
41,051
myoung8
Your Face To The World
marrone
love the usability walkthrough's. would be nice if they showed some examples of what doesn't work too.
Good article on home-page design. I'm sure we can all agree on the importance of the home page, but the article goes into depth of the why and the how of it.Some summarized points (lots more in the article):"A home page's impact on a company's bottom line is far greater than simple measures of e-commerce revenues. The home page is your company's face to the world. " - Jakob NielsenThere are only two important functions for a home page: The home page delivers the content to [users] that they are seeking (such as the top story on CNN ) or The home page provides strong scent to those pages that contain the content the user seeks.What Do Customers Want?When customers visit your home page, their attention span is limited. They are busy and want to find answers quickly. They don't want unnecessary distractions and will immediately leave and go to another site if they cannot find what they want on your home page. They do not want to wade through marketing messages.When customers arrive at your home page, they expect to find what they want quickly. After all, the promise of the Web is to provide an efficient, alternative channel that complements other channels like bricks-and-mortar shops and corporate customer support.When customers visit a home page (whether for the first time or as repeat visitors) they might want to satisfy an information need quickly look for contact information like a phone number or email address autonomously complete a task, without needing customer support solve a problem * buy a product
1
6
2007-08-09 23:44:00 UTC
41,073
41,044
myoung8
Prediction: YC's IPO is in the works.
rokhayakebe
sarcasm meter explodesperhaps more importantly, what do you guys think about the long-term viability of the YC model? are we going to get to a point (i.e. post-Web 2.0) where there just aren't any more opportunities for lightweight web companies?
While we all waiting for the next YC startup to go public or get acquired, we forget about YC itslef as a company. I think there is an IPO somewhere down the line.
3
1
2007-08-09 23:46:44 UTC