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comment
Readmore
2007-04-11T18:49:24
null
I believe that the Wii should be in that first Unlimited Demand/Limited Supply box. ;)
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acheung
2007-04-11T18:50:22
who's leaving a PhD program for a startup? how did you come to your decision?
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5
[ 12068, 12126, 12002 ]
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mukund
2007-04-11T18:52:56
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A wise guy will go for things that sounds right to him. If your interests are at building a startup and getting a feel or experience, then pursuing it is a good decision.
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c1sc0
2007-04-11T18:54:04
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Ummm, I'm also developing a news site in Belgium. Maybe we should talk instead of crashing head-on? ;-)<p>I'll show you mine if you show me yours ...<p>Hey, I'm from Ghent. If there's a German-speaking guy we'll have all of our Belgian communities united ...
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youngnh
2007-04-11T18:56:22
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F=ma
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itsandrew
2007-04-11T18:56:56
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Since when was Facebook a "dating site for college kids" - it's amazing to me how out of touch mainstream media can be with the web.
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omouse
2007-04-11T19:01:47
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This is an easy problem to correct. Have a link that POSTs the demo login (or whatever) and tosses the user in directly instead of requiring the user to type in demo twice.<p>Or is that what you did?
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mattculbreth
2007-04-11T19:02:28
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I'll have two other cofounders interested, and I know a few other folks who'd be interested in starting a group. Let's have the first meeting (somewhere near Tech for sure) and then see where it leads us.<p>Thanks for doing this!
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prafulmathur
2007-04-11T19:10:47
If you were accepted where are you coming from?
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[ 12009, 12036, 12020, 12041 ]
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prafulmathur
2007-04-11T19:11:48
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I was wondering where people are coming from to go to the startup meeting, because I've been having trouble getting decent tickets so I wanted to know where are people looking for tickets/accommodations.
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story
ACSparks
2007-04-11T19:11:57
What is the best credit card processing setup for startups?
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[ 12049, 12013, 12051, 12035, 12082, 12038, 12093, 12184, 12028, 12053, 12074, 12012, 12052, 12015, 12043, 12056, 12439 ]
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rokhayakebe
2007-04-11T19:13:27
null
No Matt, Thank you, as well as everyone else, for participating. Anyone could have said "forget this guys". I think that if we get it done right, we will all benefit from it. I am not sure if one can find a missing element of their startup, but I know that being around people who have a similar goal cannot hurt.
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ACSparks
2007-04-11T19:13:37
null
I have been researching this for a while, and have been mostly confused. The obvious answers I have seen are authorize.net or paypal's services. But what is the ideal setup for a new company with not too much money in the bank?
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zaidf
2007-04-11T19:21:24
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PayPal is good if you don't want the hassle of dealing with credit card numbers and the real meat of the credit card processing business because PayPal does it for you. All you have to worry about is giving a link to your customers to pay you via PayPal and you have the cash. The big disadvantage of PayPal is lack of control; they can hold your cash at anytime and big as they are it can be a while before you get it sorted out. Additionally you are very limited as far as how much you can customize the payment page. Now with the paypal api I think you have more control than when I used em.<p>Now lets talk about the real cc processing setup. It involves three parties: merchant, gateway, signing bank. Usually, when you signup with a merchant they will set you up with the bank they have a deal with so you can accept credit cards. The gateway is authorize.net. Authorize.net will be the interface between your customer's CC info and the bank that actually does the transaction.<p>Ideally for long-term you'd want to use a real merchant. But for starters, paypal should be a good option for you.
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brianculler
2007-04-11T19:22:45
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I really think Atlanta could be primed to become the next hot spot ala the bay area. The east coast needs a central magnet for stuff like this, and I think the ATL should be it :)<p>There's actually a pretty large population of angels and VC's in atlanta already, but they've traditionally invested in normal startups ... just need to get enough steam going to grab their attention.
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yaacovtp
2007-04-11T19:23:54
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Go with a merchant account if you're going to be doing any regular commerce/membership, but don't neglect paypal/google checkout as some people may prefer them.
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Readmore
2007-04-11T19:26:13
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I think it's an interesting position for the author to take. I didn't expect this article to be about the amount of memory that meebo takes up. Although I have noticed that it can get pretty sluggish.
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rokhayakebe
2007-04-11T19:32:34
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Update. On top of our team, we got Brian (and friends), Matt(and friends), Azromej, Nandan, and Jonesmc ( si on peut te joindre, sinon je ferrais une update avec la date et le lieu )
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dougw
2007-04-11T19:35:30
The Maturity of Web 2.0 and The HDTV is the PC
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http://www.blogmaverick.com/2007/04/11/the-maturity-of-web-2-0-and-the-hdtv-is-the-pc/
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comment
wyday
2007-04-11T19:41:27
null
"The 'ocr' in Ocropus stands for optimal character recognition."<p>Woops, it looks like they forgot to do a google search before they wrote the article.
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jsjenkins168
2007-04-11T19:46:03
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We are coming from Austin, TX. Rates are cheapest through Continental for us, around $380 per person.
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Zak
2007-04-11T19:49:09
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It's possible, and reasonably common to use templates with Lisp web apps. HTML-TEMPLATE and Tal (from Zope) are widely used.<p>HTML-TEMPLATE: <a href="http://weitz.de/html-template/">http://weitz.de/html-template/</a><p>Tal support in yaclml, part of Uncommonweb: <a href="http://common-lisp.net/project/bese/yaclml.html">http://common-lisp.net/project/bese/yaclml.html</a><p>CLSQL provides object/relational mapping; it's quite good: <a href="http://clsql.b9.com/">http://clsql.b9.com/</a>
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nandan
2007-04-11T19:52:42
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absolutely brian. :) "Atlanta could be primed to become the next hot spot..." - lets make that a self fulfilling prophecy ;) i have been lamenting over how there is not enough traction in atlanta on startups for a while now. i even found myself eagerly trying to find atlanta in most of the "top-ten cities for startups" lists, only to be continually disappointed. lets make all that change! :)
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rikard
2007-04-11T19:53:53
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No just write more, that's the promise of a new book. More more more:-) And I'd like to read your thoughts on other topics, the startup topic is getting a bit exhausted.
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abossy
2007-04-11T19:55:00
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Uhmm... that was an April Fool's joke. Not sure if you intended for there to be sarcasm in your post.
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mattculbreth
2007-04-11T20:00:30
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A little too dry I guess today. It was a good April Fool's joke though.
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nandan
2007-04-11T20:01:05
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I regret having waited until I m 26 before I took concrete/tangible steps towards my own start-up. A large part of the blame goes towards thinking that there will be a "right-time" for all this and a "right-idea". :) <p>But, now that I have taken the steps, I feel __liberated__. And I m not worried so much about failing. And that owes a great deal to the people behind this site, and the content posted here, and the interactions that happen here.
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phony_identity
2007-04-11T20:03:19
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lame
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patryn20
2007-04-11T20:03:29
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Paypal has a service called Website Payments Pro. I used it on a past venture and it was great. It was cheap to setup and maintain.<p>It is a transparent solution too, so you don't redirect users to the Paypal site unless they are paying by Paypal. Credit card payments are done from your site via a webservice.
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omouse
2007-04-11T20:04:24
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Another reason to become a libertarian! :P
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ts
2007-04-11T20:06:38
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Paul - I think you missed one point.<p>You really have to find the right technologies that motivate and enable you. For you, it was lisp. For me, it seems to be python right now. For years I worked with java, and it simply didn't seem to fit well with me. For some reason, python seems to be the perfect fit, and I have a new sense of desire to code.
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dougmartin
2007-04-11T20:06:50
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Short sighted. Although Linux is making significant rounds for servers in the corporate world Microsoft is still the office PC leader. web 2.0 will never break into this coporate niche just due to the flow of information out of the secure office. However this is not to say the application can not come IN house. This is how they must be sold to corporations. That and the price of training new hires on the linux based platform with web apps.<p>If enough companies train enough people then the "we use microsoft because everyone knows it" excuse will be out the window.
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mojuba
2007-04-11T20:10:47
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PayPal accepts credit cards from a very limited number of countries. It is West-centric, in other words.
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ulfstein
2007-04-11T20:12:19
null
I use Adobe InDesign - it allows you to put together a library of symbols and shapes that you can re-use to build your mockup very quickly. Once you've put in a little bit of work getting these elements together you're good to go. It also allows you to add additional pages, auto page number, import images... you name it. Probably not what Adobe had in mind, nor is it a cheap option but it's certainly versatile.
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floozyspeak
2007-04-11T20:15:37
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Step 0, actually write them.. i dunno how many people i know that don't even think about writing personal thank you's. Plus make them inventive. If yer gonna make an impression of thanks, have fun with it.
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ryantmulligan
2007-04-11T20:18:07
null
Google checkout currently has a deal where all credit card processing is FREE for the rest of the year!<p>https://checkout.google.com/sell
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zaidf
2007-04-11T20:19:05
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Chapel Hill, NC. Fares shot up 100 bucks in last two days. Sucks. Where are you guys planning to stay in CA?
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wammin
2007-04-11T20:19:10
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I am totally in. I'm in the buckhead area, but meeting location doesn't matter. [email protected]
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unfoldedorigami
2007-04-11T20:20:49
null
PaySimple is another good one for Startups. They have a great API, can handle recurring billing, stores the CC info and are good about letting you take the data with you if you wanted to go to another service. Wufoo is probably going to move over to them from Authorize.net (which is also a decent service that just implemented recurring billing).
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Goladus
2007-04-11T20:20:55
null
What about "31. Read too many blogs and essays by smart, inspiring people"
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yako
2007-04-11T20:21:01
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If Paul ever tried new Yahoo mail, he would found Gmail pretty lame. As far as Ajax utilization goes at least.
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prafulmathur
2007-04-11T20:21:09
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I'm not sure where I'm going to be staying but coming from Boston really sucks. It's $600+/person.
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cwilbur
2007-04-11T20:21:31
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Sometimes I really regret the computer science major. The things I learned were right, but the credential was wrong -- it basically certified me as sufficiently trained to work in IT cubicle hell. (It was really a math degree at its core, and it made me a problem-solving generalist, which is not what Industry wants.) I considered dropping it, but it was so easy to do what I needed for the additional credential -- it was a matter of two classes I wouldn't otherwise have taken.<p>I regret not recognizing the intensely political nature of my masters' degree program before it was too late to do anything about it. I've thought about going back to a different school, getting the PhD, and trying to scale the ivory tower, but I don't think the payoff I can realistically expect is worth the investment. It's not like a PhD in Renaissance music theory makes you any more employable in the "real world," and academic positions are few and far between, and there is so much of a surplus of good professors that some of the best are eking out a living teaching as adjuncts at community college.
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Mistone
2007-04-11T20:24:01
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I'm using authorize.net at the recommendation of board member/successful business owner.<p>PayPal can be great as well because it is so easy.
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Laurentvw
2007-04-11T20:24:11
null
Well yes maybe :) I'm still thinking. But I'm a little bit confused, what audience will you target? Seems like you're going to make a Belgian news site? I plan to make it international (with national versions as well though..). Anyway, I'm off, so I won't respond until tomorrow. Nice meeting you, both :)
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Stuzo
2007-04-11T20:24:16
null
I worked (by this I mean marketing the product) on the textbook site for over a year before changing course about six months ago to our new direction. We have not started to market our current site. Send me some more info about yourself or contact me via IM if you would like to continue this.
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jkush
2007-04-11T20:25:36
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hey - try portland, maine to san jose - tickets were in the 300 range. You can alternatively try Manchester, NH. Both airports aren't that far away. Let me know if that helps.
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farmer
2007-04-11T20:29:36
Five Ways to Mark Up the Web
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http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/04/10/5-ways-to-mark-up-the-web/
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melhorn
2007-04-11T20:30:24
null
Well, it turned out their mails got caught in the spam filter and we managed to overlook them :-( What a shame...<p>
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elialfordj
2007-04-11T20:31:37
null
I've researched both paypal and authorize.net pretty thoroughly. For starters, I ended up with authorize.net. To first compare features though: Paypal offers what I believe they call the "paylink" feature. This is where the user is redirected to a paypal site (off of your own website) to make their purchase. The good thing about this for retail driven commerce is that it will interface well with a shopping cart system. I believe it either has no monthly charge or a very minimal one (also you won't need your own SSL). Above this, both companies have an API (or an application programming interface). To use Paypal's API you need to subscribe to their "payflow pro" program. This is about $40-50 mo. Authorize.net has API integration for about $30 I think. But then you need a merchant bank account which you can get through them for another $10. For those who aren't familiar, through an API you can set up a payment system that is built into your own site, which relays the data to the payment gateway. This is obviously the best option for serious merchants of any kind.<p>When accepting credit cards you'll also need a SSL (Secure Socket Layer) or in other words a secure connection (https://). I think they will actually allow you to use their api without that but it's definitely a horrible idea. There are a few major providers of this service, and they range in price significantly. www.InstantSSL.com or "Comodo" as they call themselves, has a pretty decent mid range SSL encryption package for about $100 a year. Godaddy.com has one that's like 19.99 or something ridiculous. The issue with SSL providers is simple. You can bet that they are all perfectly secure. The issue is really in browser recognition. The worst thing ever for an online merchant is to loose credibility, and what's the fastest way to appear disreputable - ""this site may not be secure, internet explorer recommends that you leave it immediately" or what ever that error says. This happens when a browser doesn't recognize the security certificate. To be safe, go with a provider that you can guarantee is trusted by all the major browsers (even old versions).<p>Also - one last piece of advice. When subscribing for a SSL certificate make SURE to turn your domain anonymity off temporairly while you subscribe. Otherwise they'll put you through an endless "verification" process that involves multiple faxes and endless bureaucracy!!!
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Mistone
2007-04-11T20:36:06
null
does this group invest in US businesses?
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Stuzo
2007-04-11T20:42:45
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PayPal or Google Checkout are both good ways to start out with. But depending on the volume of transactions and the amount of control you want you may want to go with your own merchant account. They are not hard at all to set up. Talk to your current bank to see if they have an arm that deals with merchant accounts. Most banks that offer business accounts either have their own or partner with a third party to provide the services to customers. Note that you will need an SSL certificate if you go with a merchant account. I’d recommend VeriSign ( they will also most likely end up being your Payment Gateway if you do decide to set up your own merchant account). Their SSL certificates are a bit pricy, but the most trusted name in the business. You want to make sure you get a low processing fee (percent of the transaction that the bank ends up taking – shoot for under 2% and a low per transaction fee (shoot for 20 cents or lower – hard to find). After a lot of shopping around, we ended up going with Bank of America. Best of luck!
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jmtame
2007-04-11T20:43:17
null
For my summer startup, I'm going with Google Checkout. My alternative was PayPal Payments Pro, but the documentation is horrible which makes integrating difficult.
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dhouston
2007-04-11T20:44:48
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what do people recommend for handling subscriptions/automatic recurring billing that can change over time?
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dmgreer
2007-04-11T21:01:29
null
Of course, my thing is already started, the YC thing was just a last minute deal, I only found out about it a couple of weeks before the deadline. People are interested in what I'm doing, interest is building, and I have a lot of ideas to continue improving it.<p>I'll still be looking for some cash, though, because development would go a lot faster if I didn't have to work to pay the bills, and it would help me compete against anybody who might be out there to compete against me.
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rokhayakebe
2007-04-11T21:09:07
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Hi everybody. I am sneaking this comment while on my boss time. Man I hope he truly the last one I ll have. We are getting a good response. Now meeting up is only a matter of making sure everyone make s it. So far most of you want to meet sometimes next week (frankly I am so exited that I would do it tonight, but it would not work for the rest of us). Most of us are suggesting midtown. That is fine. As soon as we know the best time and date for all we will email and put another post on yc news. PS. Everybody seems to have dbe some work with RoR. Well I hate to say it but I am not a coder(please don't be mad), although I like to learn about coding languages. Well maybe this group will throw in some help. LOL. Can't wait to meet you guys.
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ACSparks
2007-04-11T21:10:00
null
Are there any limitations with Google Checkout? Such as accepting credit cards only in US? Heard a rumor about that...
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cwilbur
2007-04-11T21:11:13
null
Right - that means that instead of having a camera in whatever room Sean Patrick is in, and long stretches of dead time when he's somewhere that can't be wired for filming, you see Justin's environment all the time no matter where he is. Bandwidth also means that it can be streaming video rather than a web cam that updates every 20 seconds or so.<p>I'm not sure why this is supposed to be compelling. The presentation has changed, but the content hasn't. Or is it that the time is right, and there are enough voyeuristic people and enough revenue to be made from Google ads to make it worth doing?
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rokhayakebe
2007-04-11T21:18:12
null
Update. Nate from Wamily is IN. That's what's up.
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brett
2007-04-11T21:18:22
Reining in the recruiters - DHH on getting bogus recruitment emails
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http://www.37signals.com/svn/posts/365-reigning-in-the-recruiters
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dongprop
2007-04-11T21:19:11
null
woah! he's hung like an asian!
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Sam_Odio
2007-04-11T21:21:15
null
At some point, I'll be definitely interested in this...
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bmck
2007-04-11T21:21:45
null
Wow! The last comment really resonated with me. I actually went the route of getting the PhD when I ended up in cubicle hxll. Only then, and with a good bit of consulting and time working for someone else, did it dawn on me to start my own gig.<p>To back up, I'm now almost 40; I finished my PhD when I was 30 after working on-and-off for several years. (I didn't get married until a few weeks ago, actually -- so I didn't have family issues holding me back.) When I did get into the ivory tower and started teaching, I became disgusted with the academic mentality and was fortunate enough to find my way out into my own startup with a "good" problem, and contacts to customers.<p>The CS/CmpE degrees taught me irreplaceable critical thinking skills. I regret not having even thought about the possibility of starting my own gig. I also regret not having developed or appreciated developing a network of contacts until I was in my 30s; I have found access to investors, entrepreneurs, etc. as not only wonderful from a pragmatic perspective, but also (and more importantly) for vetting out ideas.
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Tichy
2007-04-11T21:29:27
null
Just wanted to say that I really like the domain name and the idea. Perhaps you should not exclude the non-fat population, though? Also, I think you could edit the demo video and cut out the loading times.
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[ 12078 ]
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comment
mattculbreth
2007-04-11T21:35:55
null
NOT A CODER?! Ok, we're gonna fix that immediately.
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11,823
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[ 12067, 12076 ]
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12,065
comment
kul
2007-04-11T21:36:04
null
Not learning to code the moment I thought about starting an internet company.
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11,947
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12,066
comment
BitGeek
2007-04-11T21:41:58
null
And move to a city that favors capitalism, rather than socialism. <p>Oh, reason 13 not to live in San Francisco: Only the bad guys carry guns.
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11,744
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comment
rokhayakebe
2007-04-11T21:42:12
null
Please Help.
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comment
dfranke
2007-04-11T21:51:33
null
I'm not leaving one but I'm turning down an acceptance. I never really cared about the PhD credential; grad school is mostly an excuse to spend a few years working on cool stuff on someone else's dime. But if I work for or start a comparably interesting startup, then I still get that, plus I have a chance to come away rich rather than in debt.
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12,001
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comment
tapcapital
2007-04-11T21:52:56
null
Sorry for the lame seeming website....trust me we know who our audience is and we are going to change the way startup funding works.
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story
far33d
2007-04-11T21:56:15
Traits of the Best Entrepreneurs
null
http://www.venturebeat.com/contributors/2007/04/10/traits-of-the-best-entrepreneurs/
4
null
12,070
1
[ 12083 ]
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story
nurall
2007-04-11T22:09:09
Tag Cloud Vs Category tree for social content
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5
null
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4
[ 12073, 12084, 12246 ]
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comment
ryantmulligan
2007-04-11T22:13:42
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12,035
12,010
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null
true
12,073
comment
nurall
2007-04-11T22:17:18
null
What is a better model for using tags on social content websites? <p>Tag Cloud? - Since this caters to the long tail of users looking for 'interesting' content? eg: flickr<p>Category tree? - Since this gives more targeted/specific information to users 'looking' for specific information. The categories again could be designed through user generated tags. eg: subreddits, digg<p>Combination? - Is the 'best of both' a good model? <p>Or, will a tag-search based model suffice?<p>Or, does it depend on how domain specific the social content platform is?
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[ 12100 ]
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comment
dawie
2007-04-11T22:18:02
null
I decided to use RightCart. Its not a perfect solution, but its cheap and easy and I am going with it for now. I have disccussed it here before <a href="http://news.ycombinator.com/comments?id=8060">http://news.ycombinator.com/comments?id=8060</a>
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comment
ryantmulligan
2007-04-11T22:19:56
null
Would it be good experience to learn Mz. Scheme as a primer before ARC is released?
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11,924
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[ 12174 ]
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comment
nandan
2007-04-11T22:27:58
null
LOL :)
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[ 12085 ]
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comment
far33d
2007-04-11T22:30:13
null
I think there are a few reasons why this is compelling from a content standpoint: first, reality television has accustomed people to watching non-actors as entertainment. However, reality television has lost its appeal, as the contrived game-show aspects have worn on people. <p>Also, internet video has gone mainstream. YouTube + blogging + other user-generated content has just grown the appetite for watching everyday people do and say outrageous things. Add into this the presentation aspects (live, all day, wireless) and it becomes something different, unique, and compelling that, apparently, has a huge audience.
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aantix
2007-04-11T22:32:44
null
Thanks for the suggestions Tichy. Yeah, a couple of people have said that I sound high in the demo video but it was more of an issue that I was recording it at 4am. I need to find someone to redo it with a professional sounding voice. <p>Tichy, are you interested in joining funky-fresh-bleeding-edge project that is trying to simplify the getting-fit process? Write me an email. :-)
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story
Elfan
2007-04-11T22:34:32
Things you Should Stop Doing
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http://www.productivity501.com/2007/04/17_things_you_s.html
1
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12,079
2
[ 12102 ]
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12,080
story
Elfan
2007-04-11T22:34:53
Essential Freelancing Resources
null
http://freelanceswitch.com/general/101-essential-freelancing-resources/
2
null
12,080
0
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12,081
comment
aston
2007-04-11T22:35:29
null
I think Facebook feels just as much like a database as it did before. I'm not sure any of my friends were ever looking at what I was looking at...
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11,906
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comment
SwellJoe
2007-04-11T22:42:13
null
Google Checkout and/or PayPal until you handle enough volume to justify the hassle of something else. Authorize.net makes you go through a reseller, and the resellers are less competent than a poorly trained chimp. It took me two months to get through the process:<p>"The merchant account provider needs to see your website." <p>"OK, here it is."<p>"No, they need to see the shopping cart."<p>"What!? We don't have merchant services yet. We're not going to put up a shopping cart that people can't order from!"<p>"They won't set it up until they see the shopping cart." <p>"OK, fine. Here's the link."<p>"They said they went to your site and didn't see a shopping cart."<p>"I sent you a link to the shopping cart. It isn't visible on the index page yet, because we can't take orders."<p>"Oh. It has to be the real website."<p>"Huh? It is the real website. I just haven't linked it from the front page...we already have users, I'm not going to confuse them with a shopping cart that doesn't work."<p>"It has to be a real website."<p>"You're kidding, right? Just send them to this link. I'm certain they'll be able to figure things out."<p>"OK. They said there is no terms of service or refund policy clearly linked from your front page."<p>"We don't sell anything yet. Why would we have those things on our front page? They're linked off of the store link I sent you." (This is the second time I've setup merchant services, and I knew they would need to see those things. It's not like they give a shit what they contain...they just insist they exist.)<p>"They have to be on the front page."<p>And so on. I won't bother to type in the exchange we had over the resellers first attempt to actually setup the username and password, or the fact that all payment information had to be faxed in. (Yes, you read that right. The reseller for Authorize.net that we went through would not accept payment online. And the form that was online was just a ruse...they made us fill out the exact same form again and fax it in.)<p>Next time I build a shopping cart, I'll spend that time writing a payment backend for a payment processor that isn't operated by the functionally retarded. Or maybe I'll just use Google Checkout instead, and let them worry about the banking industry monkeys.
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[ 12099 ]
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comment
nurall
2007-04-11T22:49:34
null
How important is domain expertise?
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comment
somethingorange
2007-04-11T22:53:46
null
I think the tag cloud is self explanatory in the sense, the font of the individual tags depends on the amount of content under a particular tag. It's a visual representation of the category system where the amount of content in each is represented by a number in brackets in front of each category. Both these techniques have their own pros and cons as one is more visual while the other asks the user to find out where he wants to go. I think a combination of both might be the optimum solution, where the content is provided under tags which are pretty broad and category and sub category takes the user deeper and is more useful for users who are looking for specific information.
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comment
rokhayakebe
2007-04-11T22:57:21
null
Thanks Nandan. That is a very nice way to start helping. (lol)
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comment
somethingorange
2007-04-11T23:02:28
null
I think it depends a lot on the phase the start up founders found themselves in. If the concept is concrete enough and the road map is more or less finalized, it might be a good idea to talk to your trusted friends and family members. It's true that the initial road map the founders decide, keeps on changing as the idea evolves into an application and the further development is done based on the feedback stream obtained. In my opinion the founders should keep themselves open to the idea of incorporating a few more people who love working in start up situations. These people can also be a part of the initial team once the start up gets funding, only if one is looking for.
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11,950
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comment
louisadekoya
2007-04-11T23:05:34
null
I recently posted on dealing with rejection in your startup venture. You may find some encouragement in my short story towards the end. The post is at: <a href="http://www.ideatagging.com/good-entrepreneurs-always-accept-no-for-an-answer/">http://www.ideatagging.com/good-entrepreneurs-always-accept-no-for-an-answer/</a>
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story
startupdaze
2007-04-11T23:08:26
I Witnessed a Murder Today
null
http://startupdaze.com/post/812296
2
null
12,088
7
[ 12096, 12265, 12135, 12092, 12153 ]
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12,089
comment
RyanGWU82
2007-04-11T23:09:51
null
Well, the photos of the place looks good, I can see potential for this to be really useful for many people. But I wonder if a Burlingame location is a symptom of trying to appeal to too many people. In the process I'm concerned that it won't appeal to anyone.<p>To me, convenience is still the most important aspect of this office space, since office space is optional for the startups and individuals you're targeting. My hunch is that Burlingame is too far from both San Francisco and Silicon Valley -- not convenient to people in either location. (Is it near the BART/Caltrain stop? That could help.)<p>I'd suggest you check with others near SF to gauge their "location elasticity." You might get a much better response with a location in the city, even at a higher price.<p>Hope this helps -- good luck!
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[ 12160 ]
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12,090
comment
RyanGWU82
2007-04-11T23:20:36
null
madmotive, could you drop me an email? I've got a question for you about this. My email address is on my user page. Thanks.
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comment
jonesmc
2007-04-11T23:21:06
null
I still think Perimeter or maybe Buckhead is the most central to where the majority of people in the Atlanta tech industry live and work but I'm up for any location at least once. If I have to sit in hours of traffic to get there though you guys better be really f'in interesting and visionary.
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comment
rms
2007-04-11T23:23:39
null
That's the biggest change in tone in a blog post I've ever seen. Stressful situation, hope you're doing alright.
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rms
2007-04-11T23:26:01
null
Costco has very cheap rates, not sure how good they are as far as integrating with web services. ~$50 a year for the Costco membership, then 1.99% + $0.27 per transaction plus a $20 minimum monthly charge.<p><a href="http://www.novainfo.com/costco/index.asp">http://www.novainfo.com/costco/index.asp</a>
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[ 12110 ]
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comment
omouse
2007-04-11T23:27:34
null
"likebetter helps single mother plan her success...Today, a single mother was given a second chance. A second chance to rise up the corporate ladder. All thanks to likebetter. Betty, 32, was 23 when she had her child, 'I thought it was a blessing, but it was a curse. I couldn't get hired anywhere!' So Betty went to work as a coffee barista to make ends meet. She did this till last year when she discovered likebetter.com, 'it was so simple yet so addictive.'"<p>Etc. :D
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[ 12111 ]
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omouse
2007-04-11T23:30:41
null
Hackers and Painters has made many hours worth of public transport enjoyable. And each essay makes me question why the heck I'm spending two hours every day traveling to college.
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yaacovtp
2007-04-11T23:32:08
null
give me a break. <p>Now this is the story all about how My life got flipped, turned upside down And I'd like to take a minute just sit right there I'll tell you how I became the prince of a town called Bel-Air In West Philadelphia born and raised On the playground where I spent most of my days Chilling out, maxing, relaxing all cool And all shooting some b-ball outside of the school When a couple of guys said "we're up in no good" Started making trouble in my neighbourhood I got in one little fight and my mom got scared And said "you're moving with your aunt and uncle in Bel-Air"
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SwellJoe
2007-04-11T23:32:42
null
Depends on why you applied.<p>If you applied on a "Let's see if we can convince Paul to let us come to YC Summer Camp, and maybe we'll be rich this time next year" whim with not a lot of code written...maybe you go back to school and work on other ideas. Try again for Winter with a different idea or more code and a better presentation. Or apply for a job at an existing startup. Some of the WFP guys are hiring (Parakey, Zenter, and a few others) as are the Xobni guys from last years progem--all are wicked smart, have lined up some funding, and would be very helpful to you in your goal of becoming an entrepreneur.<p>If, on the other hand, you've already written mumble-thousand LoC, and you are within a couple of months of launching, and you really believe in your idea and product, contact some other angels and seed investors. They exist. They aren't as cool as YC, but they have money and they have connections, too. As a last resort, if you're in the wrong city for raising money (anything other than Silicon Valley or Boston), warm up your credit card and give it a go. You can live for three months on a credit card (I've done it several times...I'm on my second company, the first being self-funded and sometimes credit card funded). Obviously, if you've got a family to support the "warm up your credit card" method of funding is right out. Otherwise, just keep your health insurance current, pay your taxes, and live on nothing but ramen and buy nothing between now and launch day.<p>If your project is too big to launch in that short time, then that's why you were rejected by YC. Winnow it down to the smallest piece that has value and launch. Our project (Virtualmin) was huge (several hundred thousand lines of code, by the time you factor in Webmin and Usermin). But we were already selling product, and figured we were within a couple of months of "finishing" the beta period (we were off by a little bit, as we're still a couple of weeks away from wrapping it up six months later--partly because of the major strategy shifts we made during WFP2007).
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entrepreneur
2007-04-11T23:34:43
The Top Ten Hottest Moms in Search Engine Marketing
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http://www.emomsathome.com/blog/2007/04/11/the-top-ten-hottest-moms-in-search-engine-marketing/
3
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comment
zaidf
2007-04-11T23:36:28
null
You can't really complain about the fax. Getting a merchant account is a sensitive thing so I totally understand each time I have to fax my id with the application. Just part of the process.
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