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Ask HN: 3 Ideas (with slides) for YC W10 - What do you think?

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Re: Ask HN: 3 Ideas (with slides) for YC W10 - What do you think?

#21

Post by patio11 »

aaronblohowiak wrote: post #14
patio11 wrote: post #10

I am going to pull this out because I feel it might not get seen otherwise: http://www.slideshare.net/YCW10/cutbots-presentation-1946585 Read this presentation. It is, far and away, the best pitch I have ever seen. I have sold to, approximately, these customers for the last 3 years. Once a little blog none of you have ever heard of got the notion "Hey, gals, lets have a scrapbooking competition with a bingo theme, he…

I know your bingo card creator is your baby.. but.. have you considered applying with him? When all is said and done, the upside seems larger in the physical goods space.

The upside you speak of can't offer me anything that I value which I don't already possess, but the changes in my life I would have to make to have a shot at it would cost me dearly.

Re: Ask HN: 3 Ideas (with slides) for YC W10 - What do you think?

#22

Post by YCW10 »

callmeed wrote: post #18

Here's the deal: I really like your ideas ... what bothers me, however, is that I can't tell much about you from this blog. It's curious that you're hiding your name (I guess if you're worried about losing your current job, that's understandable). A little more personal data (maybe even a picture) would be nice. If I was going to get in bed with a co-founder (figuratively speaking), I would need to know more than tho…

Callmeed, I completely agree. The quality of the cofounder is paramount. My goal is to find people who are interested in the concepts and then share more info about myself. As I mentioned on the site, my current job is awesome and I'm trying to fly under the radar a bit. Great point though.

Re: Ask HN: 3 Ideas (with slides) for YC W10 - What do you think?

#23

Post by YCW10 »

terpua wrote: post #16

I love your Joolme idea (great name, too). Teenage girls are an underserved market (online, at least) and I can see its potential. I have 2 sisters that used to buy costume jewelry all the time. Even as adults, they still do. The potential problem I see is the social aspect of trying on the jewelry physically and "chatting / giggling / discussing" it. You alluded to some aspect of social design but will it be enough?…

Good call, I doubt many people would go to the trouble of checking that out, but better safe than sorry.

Re: Ask HN: 3 Ideas (with slides) for YC W10 - What do you think?

#24

Post by joez »

terpua wrote: post #15
YCW10 wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

http://www.Syllabee.com looks pretty cool btw.

Nice homepage but all the links are 404s.

Thanks! Yeah, we are working on launching. Site is less than a week old and is just an inside joke. I'll be sure to post here when we are alpha. (Of course with some invites for anyone from HN)

Re: Ask HN: 3 Ideas (with slides) for YC W10 - What do you think?

#25

Post by joez »

YCW10 wrote: post #6
joez wrote: post #5

I like your ideas. The back of the napkin math is a little excessive sometimes: I can do the math that if your averaging the same amount per user and your users increase by 10x, then your revenue does as well. I don't need to see what 100x would mean, or 500x. The excessive use of the handle YCW10 loses credibility in my book and adds an air of pretentiousness.

joez, re: back of envelope math, I concur, but I showed it to some people who were fairly bright and they commented that the rev potential wasn't called out, when it actually was more modestly. People tend to flip though these quickly so its spelled out a bit pedantically. re: name - just wanted something generic that also referenced the goal. Happy to change it if pg or anyone else has a problem. No pretensions inte…

Just got home, took a deeper look and had a few more thoughts.

I think the greatest part about these products is the "viral" (for lack of a better word) ability. Someone with a new necklace will have all their friends asking about it... show their 10 BFFs. Same goes for cutbot and name tags. (See: http://blog.businessofsoftware.org/2009/07/seth-godins-talk-...) This is something that will be worth noting to people.

I noticed you were pretty specific with what you wanted in a co-founder on cutbots. Did you ever consider that you'd want someone with negotiation/supply chain management skills who has done deals [possibly in China] before? Or if you have before personally, even better. Just throwing that out there.

Lastly, a good way to get some attention and hype when your more finalized would be via http://www.kickstarter.com/. These seem like projects people would want to fund (in return for something... maybe first dibs?).

Good luck!

Re: Ask HN: 3 Ideas (with slides) for YC W10 - What do you think?

#26

Post by Radix »

terpua wrote: post #16

I love your Joolme idea (great name, too). Teenage girls are an underserved market (online, at least) and I can see its potential. I have 2 sisters that used to buy costume jewelry all the time. Even as adults, they still do. The potential problem I see is the social aspect of trying on the jewelry physically and "chatting / giggling / discussing" it. You alluded to some aspect of social design but will it be enough?…

Ever heard of candy? My cousin has a big zip lock completely filled with brightly colored beads. She and my brother would sit and make herself, him, or their friends bracelets. This can be time consuming, but she clearly enjoyed it.

My point is that making can be more social than shopping.

ps: That paper cutting slide show it great. I'm sure I'll imitate the style next time I need to create one.

Re: Ask HN: 3 Ideas (with slides) for YC W10 - What do you think?

#27

Post by terpua »

Radix wrote: post #26
terpua wrote: post #16

I love your Joolme idea (great name, too). Teenage girls are an underserved market (online, at least) and I can see its potential. I have 2 sisters that used to buy costume jewelry all the time. Even as adults, they still do. The potential problem I see is the social aspect of trying on the jewelry physically and "chatting / giggling / discussing" it. You alluded to some aspect of social design but will it be enough?…

Ever heard of candy? My cousin has a big zip lock completely filled with brightly colored beads. She and my brother would sit and make herself, him, or their friends bracelets. This can be time consuming, but she clearly enjoyed it. My point is that making can be more social than shopping. ps: That paper cutting slide show it great. I'm sure I'll imitate the style next time I need to create one.

Making something together physically is fun but online? Not so sure.

Re: Ask HN: 3 Ideas (with slides) for YC W10 - What do you think?

#29

Post by ricree »

darien wrote: post #19

Your cut-boxes idea is best. I would suggest removing the other two slideshows/presentations because I feel they weaken your overall pitch. Investors want to know you're focused, confident and dedicated to your idea. They wont necessarily get that impression if you're offering a download of your brain. But good luck!

The YC application does specifically have an entry for alternate ideas, so at least in this case it's probably a plus if anything. Plus, pg makes a big point of the way startup ideas change over time, so I doubt that being focused on one idea is too much of a point for him.

Re: Ask HN: 3 Ideas (with slides) for YC W10 - What do you think?

#30

Post by aaronblohowiak »

patio11 wrote: post #21
aaronblohowiak wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I know your bingo card creator is your baby.. but.. have you considered applying with him? When all is said and done, the upside seems larger in the physical goods space.

The upside you speak of can't offer me anything that I value which I don't already possess, but the changes in my life I would have to make to have a shot at it would cost me dearly.

I appreciate your self-awareness and frankness. Thanks.
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