id
int64 2
42.1M
| by
large_stringlengths 2
15
⌀ | time
timestamp[us] | title
large_stringlengths 0
198
⌀ | text
large_stringlengths 0
27.4k
⌀ | url
large_stringlengths 0
6.6k
⌀ | score
int64 -1
6.02k
⌀ | descendants
int64 -1
7.29k
⌀ | kids
large list | deleted
large list | dead
bool 1
class | scraping_error
large_stringclasses 25
values | scraped_title
large_stringlengths 1
59.3k
⌀ | scraped_published_at
large_stringlengths 4
66
⌀ | scraped_byline
large_stringlengths 1
757
⌀ | scraped_body
large_stringlengths 1
50k
⌀ | scraped_at
timestamp[us] | scraped_language
large_stringclasses 58
values | split
large_stringclasses 1
value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
11,265 | joshwa | 2007-04-10T14:26:23 | Just don't call it a Web OS | null | http://gigaom.com/2007/04/10/webos-or-not/ | 2 | 0 | null | null | null | http_other_error | 520: Web server is returning an unknown error | null | null |
What can I do?
If you are a visitor of this website:
Please try again in a few minutes.
If you are the owner of this website:
There is an issue between Cloudflare's cache and your origin web server. Cloudflare monitors for these errors and automatically investigates the cause. To help support the investigation, you can pull the corresponding error log from your web server and submit it our support team. Please include the Ray ID (which is at the bottom of this error page). Additional troubleshooting resources.
| 2024-11-08T02:17:59 | null | train |
11,267 | entrepreneur | 2007-04-10T14:26:58 | 5 Steps for Online Business Financial Planning | null | http://mindfulentrepreneur.com/blog/2007/04/10/5-steps-for-online-business-financial-planning/ | 2 | 0 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | train |
11,268 | danw | 2007-04-10T14:27:56 | error again - please kill this | null | http://www.access-company.com/developers/documents/docs/zenofpalm/Enlightenment.html#971673 | 3 | -1 | null | null | true | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | train |
11,270 | danw | 2007-04-10T14:29:21 | The Path to Enlightenment - Palm Design Philosophies, Practices and user testing tips | null | http://www.access-company.com/developers/documents/docs/zenofpalm/Enlightenment.html | 2 | 1 | [
11288
] | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | train |
11,271 | joshwa | 2007-04-10T14:29:56 | Adobe CS3 Configurator: Should your product lineup really require something like this? | null | http://blog.thebigreason.com/cs3-configurator/index.php | 1 | 1 | [
11272
] | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | train |
11,276 | python_kiss | 2007-04-10T14:36:59 | Forget the eBay Exit, Sell on Web2.0forSale | null | http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/04/09/forget-the-ebay-exit-sell-on-web2forsale/ | 1 | 0 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | train |
11,277 | kevinxray | 2007-04-10T14:43:25 | Where's the Beef? | null | http://www.allbusiness.com/marketing-advertising/strategic-marketing/4057267-1.html | 1 | 0 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | train |
11,278 | Readmore | 2007-04-10T14:43:45 | What's Facebook worth? Fast Company doesn't really know... | null | http://blog.fastcompany.com/archives/2007/04/09/inside_facebook_whats_it_worth.html | 7 | 7 | [
11297,
11324,
11304
] | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | train |
11,281 | zaidf | 2007-04-10T14:48:30 | Social Networking User Behavior Study | null | http://www.iprospect.com/about/researchstudy_2007_socialnetworkingbehavior.htm | 1 | 0 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | train |
11,282 | danw | 2007-04-10T14:54:39 | The Attention Economy: The Natural Economy of the Net | null | http://www.firstmonday.org/issues/issue2_4/goldhaber/ | 3 | 1 | [
11319
] | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | train |
11,283 | jkopelman | 2007-04-10T15:04:17 | Do you need to switch your pitch? | null | http://redeye.firstround.com/2007/04/do_you_need_to_.html | 14 | 2 | [
11362,
11374
] | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | train |
11,285 | blader | 2007-04-10T15:13:40 | Vote up if you're refreshing your email once a minute today | null | 50 | 96 | [
11459,
11382,
11307,
11415,
11414,
11553,
11478,
11624,
11309,
11485,
11602,
11365,
11286,
11367,
11327,
11287,
11345,
11351,
11519,
11560,
11390,
11293,
11432,
13216,
11291,
11294,
11423,
11477,
11528,
11468,
11455,
11483
] | null | null | invalid_url | null | null | null | null | 2024-11-08T16:37:59 | null | train |
|
11,290 | Readmore | 2007-04-10T15:21:27 | Facebook cover story from Fast Company - Hacker, Dropout, CEO | null | http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/115/open_features-hacker-dropout-ceo.html | 11 | 3 | [
11852,
11797
] | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | train |
11,299 | wschroter | 2007-04-10T15:35:47 | What a Startup Office Really Looks Like | null | http://www.gobignetwork.com/wil/2007/4/10/what-a-startup-office-really-looks-like/10127/view.aspx | 6 | 1 | [
12243
] | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | train |
11,302 | Mistone | 2007-04-10T15:41:20 | 11th Annual Webby Awards Nominees & Winners | null | http://webbyawards.com/webbys/current.php | 1 | 0 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | train |
11,320 | blader | 2007-04-10T16:12:37 | Save Your Startup Money: Open Source Alternatives | null | http://www.osalt.com/ | 3 | 0 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | train |
11,323 | jhuang | 2007-04-10T16:25:32 | Is Quality of The Team The Most Important Thing? | null | http://www.askthevc.com/2007/04/is_quality_of_the_team_the_mos.php | 1 | 0 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | train |
11,329 | blader | 2007-04-10T16:43:06 | bad link, ignore this post | null | http://designedexperience.blogspot.com/http://designedexperience.blogspot.com/2007/04/why-webos-companies-are-screwed.html | 2 | -1 | [
11332
] | null | true | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | train |
11,331 | divia | 2007-04-10T16:44:43 | Hottest Startups | null | http://valleywag.com/tech/the-chart/hottest-startups-250874.php | 5 | 0 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | train |
11,336 | blader | 2007-04-10T17:05:26 | Why YouOS et al Are Screwed | null | http://designedexperience.blogspot.com/2007/04/why-webos-companies-are-screwed.html | 17 | 9 | [
11368,
11341,
12127,
11337,
12196
] | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | train |
11,338 | mattculbreth | 2007-04-10T17:08:08 | Breadcrumb navigation is increasingly useful | null | http://www.useit.com/alertbox/breadcrumbs.html | 2 | 0 | null | null | null | no_error | Breadcrumb Navigation Increasingly Useful | 2007-04-10T05:00:00+0000 | Jakob Nielsen |
Summary:
One line of text shows a page's location in the site hierarchy. User testing shows many benefits and no downsides to breadcrumbs for secondary navigation.
Not all design decisions are a matter of website survival. Of course, it's important to get the big things right, or you won't have any users. But getting the small things right enhances usability and fosters user comfort. A perfect example here is the breadcrumb trail.
Breadcrumbs won't help a site answer users' questions or fix a hopelessly confused information architecture. All that breadcrumbs do is make it easier for users to move around the site, assuming its content and overall structure make sense. That's sufficient contribution for something that takes up only one line in the design.
Breadcrumbs have always been a secondary navigation aid. They share this humble status with site maps. To navigate, site visitors mainly use the primary menus and the search box, which are certainly more important for usability. But from time to time, people do turn to the site map or the breadcrumbs, particularly when the main navigation doesn't quite meet their needs.
Despite their secondary status, I've recommended breadcrumbs since 1995 for a few simple reasons:
Breadcrumbs show people their current location relative to higher-level concepts, helping them understand where they are in relation to the rest of the site.
Breadcrumbs afford one-click access to higher site levels and thus rescue users who parachute into very specific but inappropriate destinations through search or deep links.
Breadcrumbs never cause problems in user testing: people might overlook this small design element, but they never misinterpret breadcrumb trails or have trouble operating them.
Breadcrumbs take up very little space on the page.
So, despite the merely mid-sized benefits, the overall cost-benefit analysis comes out quite strongly in favor of breadcrumbs. Their downside is incredibly small: while they do take up space, that space is minute. When you divide a mid-sized numerator by a tiny denominator, the resulting fraction is substantial.
The main argument against breadcrumbs is that many users overlook them. So, why do something that only benefits a minority?
As I've long argued, breadcrumbs are different than most other little-used design elements for the simple reason that they don't hurt users who ignore them.
Growing Popularity
Consistency Breeds Familiarity
Hierarchy or History?
Growing Popularity
The case against breadcrumbs is crumbling. Every year we see more people use breadcrumbs in our studies. Because breadcrumbs are not important enough for a dedicated study, I don't have an exact number for the current percentage of breadcrumb users. But it's definitely growing over time.
In testing an e-commerce site last month, for example, one user complained: "This is missing a feature to go back to the previous page."
I found this apparent request for a Back button puzzling, since the button was featured prominently in the browser and the person had easily used it earlier in the test session. Also, for six years, it's been an established guideline to avoid duplicating browser functionality in the page design.
It quickly became clear, however, that the user wasn't asking for a duplicate Back button. Elaborating on the previous complaint, she pointed to the place on the page where breadcrumbs typically appear and said she wanted the list of links to higher-level pages.
In other words, the user wanted breadcrumbs. She'd seen them before, but didn't know what they were called, so she asked for them using words that — if taken literally — would have been easily misinterpreted.
This is a great example of the hard-won lesson of usability: don't comply with user requests. Give more attention to what study participants do than to what they say .
Consistency Breeds Familiarity
Human behavior doesn't change much over the years. My recent book documents a few cases where Web design guidelines from the mid-1990s have changed. But mainly, usability guidelines stay the same decade after decade.
Why are people now using breadcrumbs to the extent that they actually miss them when sites don't offer them?
It's exactly because of breadcrumbs' modest nature that people are becoming accustomed to them. There aren't too many ways to mess up breadcrumbs in a design. No fancy stuff, just a line of textual links.
Breadcrumbs are almost always implemented the same way, with a horizontal line that
progresses from the highest level to the lowest, one step at a time;
starts with the homepage and ends with the current page;
has a simple text link for each level (except for the current page, because you should never have a link that does nothing); and
has a simple, one-character separator between the levels (usually ">").
This consistency means that people know a breadcrumb trail when they see one, and immediately know how to use it. Consistency breeds familiarity and predictability, which breed usability. This again means that you must comply with conventions in the design of your own breadcrumbs.
Breadcrumbs are also useful for intranets: 80% of this year's award-winning intranets use breadcrumbs. [See separate article on intranet information architecture (IA).]
Hierarchy or History?
I'm sometimes asked whether website breadcrumbs should follow the fairytale model of Hansel and Gretel. In that story, the children walk through a bewildering forest, dropping breadcrumbs behind them in hopes that they might later find their way out.
In user interface design, it's often dangerous to take metaphors too far, and breadcrumbs are again the perfect example. Offering users a Hansel-and-Gretel-style history trail is basically useless, because it simply duplicates functionality offered by the Back button, which is the Web's second-most-used feature.
A history trail can also be confusing: users often wander in circles or go to the wrong site sections. Having each point in a confused progression at the top of the current page doesn't offer much help.
Finally, a history trail is useless for users who arrive directly at a page deep within the site. This scenario is when breadcrumbs show their greatest usability benefit, but only if you implement them correctly — as a way to visualize the current page's location in the site's information architecture.
Breadcrumbs should show the site hierarchy, not the user's history. (I.e., use location-based breadcrumbs, not path-based ones.)
For non-hierarchical sites, breadcrumbs are useful only if you can find a way to show the current page's relation to more abstract or general concepts. For example, if you allow users to winnow a large product database by specifying attributes (of relevance to users, of course), the breadcrumb trail can list the attributes that have been selected so far. A toy site might have breadcrumbs like these: Home > Girls > 5-6 years > Outdoor play (note that the links should be colored as well as underlined, but I don't do this here to avoid confusion with these dummy links).
Looking ahead, people will use breadcrumbs even more because they're an important navigation tool in Windows Vista. Most users don't distinguish clearly between the operating system, applications, and content or websites. Users will thus transfer their understanding of Vista's interaction techniques to your website.
If you don't have breadcrumbs, it's time to start planning for them. They'll improve your usability a bit now, meet increasing user expectations in the future, and — most importantly — they won't hurt.
See also: update with 11 Design Guidelines for Breadcrumbs on Desktop and Mobile.
| 2024-11-07T22:59:52 | en | train |
11,339 | volida | 2007-04-10T17:08:39 | The wait is over! Download Joost! | null | http://www.joost.com/download | 5 | 17 | [
11380,
11405,
11349,
11406,
11611
] | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | train |
11,340 | jey | 2007-04-10T17:08:45 | How does news.yc order comments? They seem to randomly reorder themselves between reloads. | null | 5 | 15 | [
11446,
11366,
11363,
11417,
11342,
11402,
11356
] | null | null | invalid_url | null | null | null | null | 2024-11-08T16:37:59 | null | train |
|
11,344 | blader | 2007-04-10T17:14:59 | My Other (super candid) Interview with Eric Schmidt | null | http://blog.wired.com/business/2007/04/my_other_interv_1.html | 1 | 0 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | train |
11,346 | mstefff | 2007-04-10T17:17:14 | 19 Year Old Takes a Stab at Web 2.0 With a Social Site For Computing and Technology. | null | http://www.prleap.com/pr/72413/ | 1 | 2 | [
11350,
11358
] | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | train |
11,370 | danw | 2007-04-10T17:41:19 | Hype-Off: Twitter versus Justin.tv | null | http://valleywag.com/tech/hype_off/twitter-versus-justintv-249472.php | 1 | 1 | [
11403
] | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | train |
11,381 | joshwa | 2007-04-10T17:56:03 | Is the New Delicious FF Extension Recording Clickstream Data? (A New Alexa?) | null | http://avc.blogs.com/a_vc/2007/04/delicious_joins.html | 2 | 0 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | train |
11,385 | joshwa | 2007-04-10T18:00:13 | What Kind Of Web Page Are You? Users decide in the first 100ms | null | http://avc.blogs.com/a_vc/2007/04/what_kind_of_we.html | 7 | 0 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | train |
11,386 | abstractbill | 2007-04-10T18:02:02 | Something pg said over on reddit | null | http://programming.reddit.com/info/1gd49/comments/c1gi08 | 1 | 2 | [
11393
] | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | train |
11,410 | usablecontent | 2007-04-10T18:35:44 | Google Getting Cozy With Maxthon Browser, Gets Minority Stakes | null | http://startupmeme.com/2007/04/10/google-getting-cozy-with-maxthon-browse-gets-minority-stakes/ | 1 | 0 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | train |
11,412 | amichail | 2007-04-10T18:37:51 | Realizing Bullet Time Effect in Multiplayer Games with Local Perception Filters [pdf] | null | http://www.sigcomm.org/sigcomm2004/workshop_papers/net504-smed1.pdf | 1 | 0 | null | null | null | is_pdf | null | null | null | null | 2024-11-08T11:56:57 | null | train |
11,416 | amichail | 2007-04-10T18:41:30 | Time Travel in Haskell (a function's output is passed as a parameter to the same function) | null | http://community.livejournal.com/evan_tech/216270.html | 5 | 3 | [
11447
] | null | null | fetch failed | null | null | null | null | 2024-11-07T14:48:36 | null | train |
11,419 | transburgh | 2007-04-10T18:45:23 | Startup Funding Declines in 1st Quarter 07 | null | http://www.gobignetwork.com/wil/2007/4/10/go-big-small-business-funding-review-_-q1-2007/10128/view.aspx | 1 | 6 | [
11430,
11424,
11439,
11433
] | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | train |
11,429 | Readmore | 2007-04-10T19:10:45 | Google Housing? - Google now searches Real Estate and Rentals | null | http://consumerist.com/consumer/google/google-housing-lets-you-search-real-estate-and-rental-listings-251024.php | 1 | 1 | [
11443
] | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | train |
11,431 | usablecontent | 2007-04-10T19:11:41 | Wetpaint Launches Personal Messaging In Wikis | null | http://startupmeme.com/2007/04/10/wetpaint-launches-personal-messaging-in-wikis/ | 1 | 0 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | train |
11,437 | far33d | 2007-04-10T19:23:11 | Quick Stats on news.yc clickthroughs | null | 16 | 6 | [
11441,
11463
] | null | null | invalid_url | null | null | null | null | 2024-11-08T16:37:59 | null | train |
|
11,454 | amikael | 2007-04-10T20:10:37 | The online webtop. | null | http://www.fameos.com | 1 | 0 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | train |
11,460 | usablecontent | 2007-04-10T20:22:37 | Salesforce Buys Koral, Launches Content Exchange | null | http://startupmeme.com/2007/04/10/salesforce-buys-koral-launches-content-exchange/ | 1 | 0 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | train |
11,488 | usablecontent | 2007-04-10T20:55:51 | Google In Advertising Partnership Talks with DirecTV | null | http://startupmeme.com/2007/04/10/google-in-advertising-partnership-talks-with-directv/ | 1 | 0 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | train |
11,489 | melhorn | 2007-04-10T20:56:23 | Second Life, making money and the lack of imagination | null | http://qiss.textdriven.com/blog2/?p=9 | 3 | 3 | [
11765
] | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | train |
11,491 | awt | 2007-04-10T21:01:10 | What is the best time of year to launch a site? | null | 3 | 7 | [
11568,
11875,
11492
] | null | null | invalid_url | null | null | null | null | 2024-11-08T16:37:59 | null | train |
|
11,496 | omarish | 2007-04-10T21:09:19 | SFP Decisions are out! | null | http://ycombinator.com/s2007announcements.html#sent | 14 | 29 | [
11552,
11524,
11539,
11498,
11559,
11521,
11535,
11513,
70082,
11550,
11508,
11506,
11571,
11569
] | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | train |
11,502 | colmworth | 2007-04-10T21:11:47 | rejected! | null | 7 | 17 | [
11503,
11532,
11597,
12190,
11537,
11576
] | null | null | invalid_url | null | null | null | null | 2024-11-08T16:37:59 | null | train |
|
11,510 | nonrecursive | 2007-04-10T21:15:57 | Looking for someone in the Boston area to work with | null | 1 | 2 | [
11523,
11517
] | null | null | invalid_url | null | null | null | null | 2024-11-08T16:37:59 | null | train |
|
11,527 | usablecontent | 2007-04-10T21:28:36 | Viacom Partners With Yahoo, Dumps Google In Search Advertising | null | http://startupmeme.com/2007/04/10/viacom-partners-with-yahoo-dumps-google-in-search-advertising/ | 1 | 0 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | train |
11,533 | joshwa | 2007-04-10T21:34:12 | delete me | null | http://ycombinator.com/s2007announcements.html#sent | 1 | -1 | null | null | true | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | train |
11,540 | amichail | 2007-04-10T21:42:29 | To those whose applications have been rejected -- how about a collaboration to test and promote each other's startup prototypes? | null | 2 | 7 | [
11545,
11549,
11544,
11567
] | null | null | invalid_url | null | null | null | null | 2024-11-08T16:37:59 | null | train |
|
11,551 | vlad | 2007-04-10T21:59:03 | Vote up if you're rejected but will still proceed | null | 50 | 62 | [
11623,
11644,
11694,
11592,
11558,
11872,
11609,
11616,
12054,
11862,
11554,
11757,
11646,
11659,
11663,
11634,
11575,
11810,
11589
] | null | null | invalid_url | null | null | null | null | 2024-11-08T16:37:59 | null | train |
|
11,563 | juwo | 2007-04-10T22:11:32 | Take Heart, There's Life without YCombinator. If you are rejected, dont be dejected! | null | 2 | 1 | [
11564
] | null | null | invalid_url | null | null | null | null | 2024-11-08T16:37:59 | null | train |
|
11,578 | mattjaynes | 2007-04-10T22:27:50 | YFratrinator - Google Group: Resources for YC fans (and rejects) ;) | null | http://groups.google.com/group/yfratrinator | 4 | 1 | [
11587
] | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | train |
11,580 | knewjax | 2007-04-10T22:28:56 | Any of the rejects looking for some working space in boston? | null | 2 | 2 | [
11582
] | null | null | invalid_url | null | null | null | null | 2024-11-08T16:37:59 | null | train |
|
11,593 | juwo | 2007-04-10T23:03:32 | Hatching chicks! Visualize Google/Microsoft/Yahoo/AOL starting another YC. Wouldn't that give them enormous leverage? | null | 1 | 1 | [
11595
] | null | null | invalid_url | null | null | null | null | 2024-11-08T16:37:59 | null | train |
|
11,594 | wcrosby | 2007-04-10T23:04:47 | Lessons learned after 3 months of Y Combinator | null | http://pioneerit.blogspot.com/2007/04/my-innoview-with-wayne-crosby.html | 33 | 6 | [
11779,
11685,
11807,
11636
] | null | null | no_error | My Innoview with Wayne Crosby | null | null |
Yes, I'm coining a new term - "innoview." Don't know what it means, I'll let the audience decide.Wayne Crosby (wcrosby at gmail.com for those that want to reach him) and I launched a complete rewrite of Webstore by Amazon last year, bringing a large dose of creativity, innovation, and bar-raising customer experiences to the market. I truly enjoyed working with Wayne and he was arguably the largest reason for the success of the product and its launch. Wayne is now off to bigger and better things, namely launching a new company after incubating it via Y Combinator. JR: Tell us a little about what you are doing now.WC: In January, Robby Walker and I founded Zenter, Inc. with the goal of building the next version of presentation software - not just PowerPoint online. For the first 10 weeks of 2007 we did nothing but design, code, sleep, and leave our apartment once day for a little tennis. All of the hard work seems to have paid off. We have written 40k lines of code, filed 2 provisional patents, created several million dollars worth of value, and have already talked to acquirers in this short time. It's been the most exciting and rejuvenating 3 months of my life. JR: Congrats on your rapid success! What gave you the inspiration to try Y Combinator as an avenue to launch a new company? WC: In early 2006 Robby and I started talking about doing a startup. Y Combinator had completed 3 sessions at that point, so we contacted several of the teams and most seemed to be doing well and had nothing but good things to say about it. Y Combinator was founded by Paul Graham and the team that built and sold Via Web to Yahoo! The product was re-branded as Yahoo! Stores and became the #1 ecommerce application. With my background in ecommerce (Go Daddy's Quick Shopping Cart & Amazon's WebStore) I felt like Y Combinator was a natural fit for us. We spent about 2 weeks brainstorming about a product that we felt would benefit from a program like Y Combinator. We settled on Presentation Software and haven't looked back since. JR: How has your concept been received by the community?WC: We have received almost the same reaction from everyone (technical, business, angel investors, and VC). At first people don't understand why we would want to do PowerPoint online. However, once they see a demo and understand that we are not PowerPoint, but the next generation of Presentation Software, they get really excited about it. At first I was hesitant to the idea as well. I thought "Presentation Software isn't sexy - I want to do something that is going to be innovative and revolutionary." But I realized with that thought there was something there. Presentation Software is a proven multi-billion dollar industry that has not had a significant feature upgrade in 15 years. I then asked myself, "What would make it sexy, innovative, and revolutionary? If PowerPoint were built today without the desktop limitations of yester-year what would it look like?" Low and behold we have been able to get a lot of people excited about Zenter. We are still in private beta, but have given several demos and have been picked up on quite a few high profile blogs including: business 2.0,TechCrunch,webware,several investors,and of course this one. JR: Was Y Combinator what you expected? WC: It is the truth when I say the 3 months at Y Combinator were THE BEST experience of my career thus far. Robby and I laugh about what it would be like to do this without Y Combinator. The instant credibility and connections you get by just being part of Y Combinator are amazing and really give you the greatest chance for success. Y Combinator does not give very much money to their startups, and they ask for about 5% of the company. Many people on the blogs feel this is too little money for so much equity. As someone who has been through it, it was a bargain and I would do it again in a heartbeat. It comes down to the famous watermelon vs. grape analogy. Would you rather have 95% of a watermelon or 100% of a grape? JR: Mmmmm.... grapes. What was a typical day or week like at YC? We basically lived by the following schedule 7 days a week for 3 months.10am - Noon: roll out of bed and stumble into the living room to sit at the computer, check email, blogs, news for the day and start coding Noon - 12:30: eat our $2 Lean Cuisine lunch - My personal favorite is Swedish Meatballs12:30 - 7pm: Heads down coding, music played all day long and we alternated days to pick the play list which worked well7 - 8: Kick Robby's ass at Tennis on the apartment courts. I think I may have won 3 sets over the entire 3 months. But they were always like 6-4 and it got us out for some exercise. 8 - 9: Make and eat gourmet dinner - mostly tombstone pizza, but occasionally Red Baron when they were on sale. Care packages from family were also extremely helpful to make sure we didn't eat too poorly.9pm - 4am: Code like the wind - maybe do a design session or two if we are trying work through something particularly hard. 4am - 10am: sleepTuesdays were a special day. Every Tuesday night Paul Graham makes dinner for all of the Y Combinator companies (including several past session startups) and invites a special guest speaker to give advice. This year's lineup was very impressive and included: Joe Kraus: Founder of Excite and JotSpotEvan Williams: Founder of Blogger and TwitterGreg McAdoo: Partner at Sequoia CapitalMark Fletcher: Founder of OneList and BloglinesPaul Buchheit: Creator of Gmail and Web 2.0Ron Conway: World's largest Angel InvestorSam Altman: Founder of Loopt - one of CNNs top 25 company to watch in 2007, and arguably Y Combinator's most successful company to dateJame Hong: Founder of Hot or Not Bradley Horowitz: Head of Yahoo! Small Business Mergers and AcquisitionsOver 60% of the speakers play or played an extremely important roll in our company. For example, we were struggling with a name for the product when Evan Williams came to speak. He owned Zenter.com and we ended up trading a little stock for the domain and to get him as an advisor. He now has an active interest helping Zenter succeed and even offered office space to us in San Francisco.JR: So, with the sleep and eating schedule its basically like college? Watch what you eat or you'll end up with my physique. What was different at YC from what you expected?WC: One of the hardest things about doing a startup is surrounding yourself with successful and supportive people. This was one of the main things that attracted us to Y Combinator. However, when we applied I was thinking these roles would be filled by Y Combinator founders and some of the speakers. I completely underestimated the value of fellow entrepreneurs who are going through it. Y Combinator companies have an incredible bond and help each other out more than I ever expected. There is an apartment building in San Francisco nicknamed the "Y-Scraper." The apartment has an unusually high percentage of Y Combinator startups in it. The eight there now are:ZenterScribdjustin.tvWeeblyRedditSnipShotXobniEvery one of them is on the path to greatness and it creates an environment like none other in the world. Also, Paul Graham is ALWAYS right. But at the same time, he lets each of the teams figure things out on their own without forcing his view. For example, Every week at the dinners he would say, "Just build something people want - don't worry about raising money now" and then would hear people say something like "Raising money takes a long time, plan on 6 to 8 months". This was petrifying to us. We were watching our small round of seed funding run out day by day and we were supposed to plan on 6-8 months after we started the fund raising process to see more. Shouldn't we start ASAP? I can only speak from my experience, but building something people want is the hard part - raising money was easier than I expected. JR: What was the downside of your experience YC?Y Combinator requires you to move to either Cambridge, MA (Summer session) or Mountain View, CA (Winter session). The night we submitted our application to Y Combinator, we found out my wife was pregnant with our first child. The hardest decision my wife and I made was me going off to do a startup while she remained in AZ. We bought video phones and used Skype video conferencing every night to stay in touch. The video phones helped a ton, especially since I only made 1 trip back home in the 3 months. Looking back it was absolutely the right decision for me, the family, and our future - but it sucked not being around her for 3 months. JR: What advice would you give entrepreneurs now that you have been through this experience? WC: I'm far from an expert on this one - but here is my advice for whatever it's worth:Get something - anything - out to the world. Pick a product that matches the resources you have available to you. Last January I started 2 side projects as my first venture into entrepreneurialism. First was a real estate site that aimed to streamline the existing processes that exist today. The second was a sudoku website, www.counttonine.com. The real estate project ended up being too large of a project to get off the ground with 1 person working part time on it. However, the sudoku site has exploded since its launch. It currently has more than 10 million page views per month and continues to increase 10% or more each month. Count to Nine has supplied a nice supplemental income while we got Zenter off the ground. It was an easy side project and ended up being what enabled me to make the transition to focusing on a startup full time. Surround yourself with other entrepreneurs. If you are not in a startup hotspot - you have one option. MOVE. I am a big believer in being immersed in a culture that supports entrepreneurs. I look at it like this - there are so many things that you cannot control that dictate if a startup succeeds or fails. The location of the startup is something you have complete control over. Why not maximize the chance of success by moving somewhere where you will be surrounded by people who understand what you trying to do? For example, when I returned to AZ and told people what we were doing I often got, "You aren't serious are you? YOU are going to directly competing with Microsoft?" Most people thought we were crazy. In Silicon Valley, people are excited about it and want to talk about how they can be involved. Pick your co-founder(s) carefully. Get a co-founder you can spend every minute of every day with - pick someone you have worked with in the past that you have a good working relationship with. DO NOT attempt to do it alone. In my opinion the best products come from small teams of 2 to 4 people. No one person is good at everything, so pick someone that compliments your abilities. Try and stay in the middle ground emotionally. Startups are a rollercoaster of emotions. Everyone will warn you of this, and it is next to impossible to avoid, so just know it is going to happen. One day you might think you are going to be a multibillion dollar company, the next you might think you are going fail miserably. The truth is probably somewhere in the middle - statistics say probably closer to the fail side. But don't let fears of failure stop you. I would challenge you to find an entrepreneur that has "failed", however you define it, and ask if they would have changed the experience for anything. I looked and never found one. It's your company - you know best. Although this is a true statement, you should always listen to people. If people are telling you that something isn't right in the product - they are probably right. Use the opportunity to really understand why they are saying that and brainstorm and see if you can come up with a better solution. It's the cheapest and best usability testing you can get. Keep your physical health in check. It's easy to not eat right and not exercise when doing a startup. Don't let it happen. The days that we ate poorly or didn't exercise were noticeably less productive than others. We quickly realized this and scheduled a daily tennis match to get us out of the apartment and moving around. Try and find a sport where you and your co-founder(s) are evenly matched. A little friendly competition is really healthy and it's a great way to settle decisions that don't really matter. Build something people want. Paul Graham would be disappointed if I didn't include this one. This is the mantra of Y Combinator. It sounds obvious, but most startups don't do it. Spend time really thinking about of your product. Is it something you yourself would use? Is it so much better than existing solutions that you would make the change to use it? If it is, you're on the right path. Think virally. Mark Fletcher had a great definition for this when he spoke at Y Combinator, "A viral product is one where users experience benefits created by others that use the product that would not otherwise exist." This is really powerful. When this works, your users become your marketing department. Think of your product in this way - do users have a reason to tell other users to try your product? If not, I'm not going to say your product is doomed, but it's an uphill battle. Get a mentor. Find someone who recommends good books to read, someone who can give sound advice on product vision, someone who can help navigate raising money, someone who has done a startup in the past year or two, and someone who is working on a complementary product to yours. These roles don't need to be, and really shouldn't be, filled by one person. I have several mentors and all have been the difference between success and failure at different stages of my career. Don't rely too heavily on existing libraries for your differentiators. This is always a delicate point with engineers. I'm not suggesting reinventing the wheel every time you start a new project. However, the features that are going to differentiate you, by definition, need to be yours alone. For example, Zenter relies heavily on JavaScript to provide a rich end user experience. We looked at several libraries (Dojo, jQuery, Prototype, etc.) and in the end developed a meta-language on top of JavaScript to meet our needs, using a tiny part of Prototype. That decision has enabled us to do things that would not have been possible if we just relied on existing libraries. You don't have to start a startup to be a part of one. There are a lot of great startups out there that are looking for people with the entrepreneurial spirit. It's a great way to test the waters and see if it is for you. (Shameless plug: Zenter is hiring! If you have crazy JavaScript or Java skills we want you. Email us at "jobs at zenter.com").JR: I'm Java 1.0 Sun Certified, can I apply? Seriously, can you talk about what's next in your future?WC: In the short term, we are focused entirely on getting Zenter out of private beta. We have several media events that are scheduled for next month, so more heads down coding until then. After that, the focus is going to be on building Zenter into a $100m company with growth (piece of cake?). Also, my son is due on May 22, 2007, so it's a delicate balance between getting ready for the new Crosby and getting Zenter launched. It's a great problem to have. Longer term, I feel I have found my calling as an entrepreneur. The startup environment is very addicting, and Zenter will not be my last. We have compiled a list with dozens of ideas just waiting for some spare cycles to get going. Hopefully they won't sit idle for too long. JR: Congrats again on your upcoming child - all I can say is don't miss the birth or you'll be writing songs like Harry Chapin (as a father that song always brings tears to my eyes and definitely focuses me on the right things in life). As always, thank you Wayne for your time. Of course I wish you the best of luck in your future endeavors, more so if they involve me :) UPDATE - Zenter bought by Google
| 2024-11-08T00:29:53 | en | train |
11,596 | domp | 2007-04-10T23:05:36 | Anyone from Boston interested in being a part of a music startup? | null | 1 | 1 | [
11598
] | null | null | invalid_url | null | null | null | null | 2024-11-08T16:37:59 | null | train |
|
11,601 | mattjaynes | 2007-04-10T23:37:33 | Entrepreneurial Thought Leaders Podcast (Stanford) | null | http://www.stanford.edu/group/edcorner/uploads/podcast/EducatorsCorner.xml | 3 | 0 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | train |
11,605 | mattjaynes | 2007-04-10T23:45:18 | The Future of Web Apps 2007 Podcasts | null | http://www.futureofwebapps.com/FOWA-London-2007.xml | 3 | 0 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | train |
11,607 | bootload | 2007-04-10T23:47:40 | Google Eyeing Maxthon | null | http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/google_eyeing_maxthon.php | 1 | 0 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | train |
11,608 | bootload | 2007-04-10T23:49:04 | OpenYou: The Limits of Privacy on the Social Web | null | http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/openyou_the_limits_of_privacy.php | 1 | 0 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | train |
11,610 | bootload | 2007-04-10T23:54:54 | Microsoft helping open source (Frontier OPML editor)? | null | http://www.scripting.com/stories/2007/04/10/opmlEditorAndIe7Status.html | 2 | 0 | null | null | null | no_error | OPML Editor and IE7 status (Scripting News) | null | null |
Tuesday, April 10, 2007 by Dave Winer.
The point of developing Frontier was to create the perfect development environment for me to spend the rest of my career in. It worked. I am very happy with my object database and outline script editor, multi-threaded runtime, HTTP server, etc etc. I program at a very high level and I'm very happy about it.
But now we have a problem with the OPML Editor on Windows, and since I haven't programmed in C for many years, it's not realistic for me to solve the problem. We need help and we're getting it from a surprising place -- Microsoft! Let me say that again. We're getting help from a surprising place -- Microsoft!
Wow. Microsoft helping with an open source project. Now I think it makes sense for the platform vendor to help make sure open source stuff works on their platform, maybe even help make it run well on their platform, but I've never seen one offer to help. It's a very good thing.
Here's the status report from Joshua Allen.
Anyway, I already said thanks on the mail list, and I wanted to echo it here. Thanks!
| 2024-11-08T07:53:41 | en | train |
11,612 | far33d | 2007-04-10T23:57:09 | MuniFi a Bust? | null | http://gigaom.com/2007/04/10/munifi-build-it-and-they-still-dont-come/ | 2 | 0 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | train |
11,613 | bootload | 2007-04-10T23:58:44 | Big Picture on Microformats | null | http://www.digital-web.com/articles/the_big_picture_on_microformats/ | 2 | 0 | null | null | null | fetch failed | null | null | null | null | 2024-11-08T04:49:43 | null | train |
11,615 | far33d | 2007-04-11T00:00:31 | 30 Apparent Reasons You Launched Your Startup | null | http://www.valleywag.com/tech/why/30-apparent-reasons-you-launched-your-startup-251240.php | 3 | 0 | null | null | null | fetch failed | null | null | null | null | 2024-11-08T15:57:40 | null | train |
11,617 | kyro | 2007-04-11T00:10:45 | Looking for additional 'hacker' cofounder - LA/OC/SD | null | 2 | 3 | [
11619
] | null | null | invalid_url | null | null | null | null | 2024-11-08T16:37:59 | null | train |
|
11,621 | pg | 2007-04-11T00:14:20 | Baby steps for Dexter the robot | null | http://news.com.com/Baby+steps+for+Dexter+the+robot/2100-11394_3-6174922.html?tag=nefd.lede | 8 | 1 | [
11720
] | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | train |
11,622 | jamiequint | 2007-04-11T00:15:21 | Who Got Accepted For Interviews? - Post here if you did | null | 6 | 15 | [
11626,
11752,
11740
] | null | null | invalid_url | null | null | null | null | 2024-11-08T16:37:59 | null | train |
|
11,630 | theoutlander | 2007-04-11T00:51:21 | Rejected because my cofounder wouldn't move! | null | 1 | 3 | [
11635
] | null | null | invalid_url | null | null | null | null | 2024-11-08T16:37:59 | null | train |
|
11,647 | amichail | 2007-04-11T01:52:48 | Could we have an option to have a link to our prototype alongside our names? This would encourage continued contributions to YC Startup News. | null | 9 | 22 | [
11718,
11669,
11818,
12886,
11652,
11657,
11666,
11678,
12256,
11648
] | null | null | invalid_url | null | null | null | null | 2024-11-08T16:37:59 | null | train |
|
11,662 | mattjaynes | 2007-04-11T02:54:14 | "Reject the idea of being almost good enough" | null | http://www.zaid360.com/?p=125 | 5 | 13 | [
11677
] | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | train |
11,665 | Mistone | 2007-04-11T03:11:33 | Don't do it alone! Lets connect co-founders. Post quick descript of your idea, location, and needs | null | 10 | 29 | [
12233,
11816,
11988,
11668,
11913,
11968,
11746,
12214,
11676,
12109,
11812,
11709,
11910,
11667,
11835
] | null | null | invalid_url | null | null | null | null | 2024-11-08T16:37:59 | null | train |
|
11,674 | tapcapital | 2007-04-11T03:29:56 | Announcing formation of new angel network....The Angel Project | null | http://www.scoopswap.com | 2 | 4 | [
11691,
11707,
12069,
11675
] | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | train |
11,679 | amichail | 2007-04-11T03:44:15 | Justin's imaginary friends -- why not create some? | null | 1 | 2 | [
11680
] | null | null | invalid_url | null | null | null | null | 2024-11-08T16:37:59 | null | train |
|
11,687 | rami | 2007-04-11T03:51:46 | What webhost do you use for your startup? | null | 11 | 24 | [
11751,
11736,
11813,
11786,
11921,
12277,
11793,
11742,
11693,
11894,
11728
] | null | null | invalid_url | null | null | null | null | 2024-11-08T16:37:59 | null | train |
|
11,697 | gibsonf1 | 2007-04-11T04:14:57 | How many teams who live in the SF Bay Area opted to wait until the winter round? | null | 1 | 3 | [
11702,
11879,
11706
] | null | null | invalid_url | null | null | null | null | 2024-11-08T16:37:59 | null | train |
|
11,711 | jcwentz | 2007-04-11T04:43:48 | Basecamp extras and integrations via the API | null | http://www.basecamphq.com/extras | 1 | 0 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | train |
11,713 | jcwentz | 2007-04-11T04:46:16 | 7 Things you don't see in Web 2.0 from Web 1.0 | null | http://www.everybodygoto.com/2007/04/09/7-things-you-dont-see-in-web-20-from-web-10/ | 2 | 0 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | train |
11,732 | ivan | 2007-04-11T05:44:05 | So many disappointments today. Don't give up! You are living in the country of great opportunities. | null | 1 | 0 | null | null | null | invalid_url | null | null | null | null | 2024-11-08T16:37:59 | null | train |
|
11,738 | whacked_new | 2007-04-11T05:59:37 | Anyone thought about merging/cross-mixing projects/products? | null | 3 | 1 | [
11739
] | null | null | invalid_url | null | null | null | null | 2024-11-08T16:37:59 | null | train |
|
11,744 | bar | 2007-04-11T06:11:35 | Justin is having sex NOW on justin.tv | null | http://justin.tv | 11 | 16 | [
12130,
11759,
12470,
11929,
11763,
11772,
11748,
12060
] | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | train |
11,764 | sudhirc | 2007-04-11T07:21:45 | PhotoBucket Videos Blocked on MySpace | null | http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/04/10/photobucket-videos-blocked-on-myspace/ | 3 | 0 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | train |
11,794 | danielha | 2007-04-11T09:39:06 | A Call for Manners in the World of Nasty Blogs | null | http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/09/technology/09blog.html?_r=2&ref=technology&oref=slogin&oref=slogin | 1 | 0 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | train |
11,808 | startupstarter | 2007-04-11T10:29:50 | Followup on SF Bay Area Startup hub, vote up if interested! | null | 8 | 8 | [
12089,
15789,
11809,
12061
] | null | null | invalid_url | null | null | null | null | 2024-11-08T16:37:59 | null | train |
|
11,814 | bootload | 2007-04-11T10:58:31 | What is outline of new pg 'Startup' book? | null | 6 | 9 | [
11815,
11828
] | null | null | invalid_url | null | null | null | null | 2024-11-08T16:37:59 | null | train |
|
11,819 | BrandonM | 2007-04-11T12:14:07 | Vote up if you think topics like this are just a way for people to get cheap karma | null | 1 | 4 | [
11826,
11820,
11842
] | null | true | invalid_url | null | null | null | null | 2024-11-08T16:37:59 | null | train |
|
11,825 | rokhayakebe | 2007-04-11T12:39:54 | The morning after a rejection. Now what's next? | null | null | 4 | 9 | [
11838,
12097,
11827,
12087,
11900,
11858
] | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | train |
11,849 | jkopelman | 2007-04-11T13:45:08 | Kodak embraces transparency and viral video... | null | http://redeye.firstround.com/2007/04/brilliant_viral.html | 2 | 0 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | train |
11,859 | yaacovtp | 2007-04-11T14:25:02 | Manhattan Startup Meeting This Saturday | null | 3 | 4 | [
11867,
11861
] | null | null | invalid_url | null | null | null | null | 2024-11-08T16:37:59 | null | train |
|
11,863 | gibsonf1 | 2007-04-11T14:29:48 | San Francisco (SOMA) Weekly Startup Lunches | null | 1 | 1 | [
11865
] | null | null | invalid_url | null | null | null | null | 2024-11-08T16:37:59 | null | train |
|
11,864 | Readmore | 2007-04-11T14:30:11 | What I Learned From Friendster: Jonathan Abrams' New Startup | null | http://news.ycombinator.com/comments?id=11814 | 1 | -1 | null | null | true | no_title | null | null | null | null | 2024-11-08T20:45:56 | null | train |
11,882 | bob1120 | 2007-04-11T15:03:21 | Public Relations -- A catalyst for success | null | http://www.centernetworks.com/public-relations-a-catalyst-for-success | 2 | 0 | null | null | null | timeout | null | null | null | null | 2024-11-08T05:34:59 | null | train |
11,883 | newbiedude | 2007-04-11T15:06:45 | Are there any other places like YCombinator that do rounds of funding? | null | 1 | 1 | [
11893
] | null | null | invalid_url | null | null | null | null | 2024-11-08T16:37:59 | null | train |
|
11,889 | Elfan | 2007-04-11T15:25:59 | Generation of Greatness: The Idea of a University in an Age of Science | null | http://www-swiss.ai.mit.edu/~hal/misc/generation-of-greatness.html | 1 | 0 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | train |
11,896 | Mistone | 2007-04-11T15:34:17 | Eric Schmidts 70/20/10 Model - Startup Edition | null | http://www.promoterforce.com/2007/04/11/schmidts-702010-model-startup-edition/ | 1 | 0 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | train |
11,898 | rokhayakebe | 2007-04-11T15:39:04 | YC News. Users IM plugin | null | 1 | 1 | [
11902
] | null | null | invalid_url | null | null | null | null | 2024-11-08T16:37:59 | null | train |
|
11,901 | blader | 2007-04-11T15:41:48 | How to be a Good Product Manager | null | http://www.goodproductmanager.com/ | 1 | 1 | [
11912
] | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | train |
11,903 | pg | 2007-04-11T15:43:25 | Spock's New People Engine | null | http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/04/11/exclusive-screenshots-spocks-new-people-engine/ | 2 | 0 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | train |
11,904 | divia | 2007-04-11T15:43:42 | 30 Apparent Reasons You Launched Your Startup | null | http://valleywag.com/tech/why/30-apparent-reasons-you-launched-your-startup-251240.php | 19 | 2 | [
11925,
12039
] | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | train |
11,905 | entrepreneur | 2007-04-11T15:44:33 | Master Sex Energy, Find Your Long Tail, And Meet Other Entrepreneurs | null | http://mindfulentrepreneur.com/blog/2007/04/11/master-sex-energy-find-your-long-tail-and-meet-other-entrepreneurs/ | 2 | 0 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | train |
11,915 | jamongkad | 2007-04-11T15:59:58 | Host your own app or have it hosted remotely? | null | 4 | 8 | [
11927,
11917,
11997,
13710
] | null | null | invalid_url | null | null | null | null | 2024-11-08T16:37:59 | null | train |
|
11,916 | usablecontent | 2007-04-11T16:00:37 | PBWiki Partners With YackPack To Offer Messaging Widget | null | http://startupmeme.com/2007/04/11/pbwiki-partners-with-yackpack-to-offer-messaging-widget/ | 1 | 0 | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | train |
11,919 | brett | 2007-04-11T16:04:21 | PhotoBucket Videos Blocked on MySpace | null | http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/04/10/photobucket-videos-blocked-on-myspace/ | 1 | 2 | [
11920
] | null | true | null | null | null | null | null | null | null | train |
Subsets and Splits
No community queries yet
The top public SQL queries from the community will appear here once available.