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Show HN: Founderkit – Startup tool recommendations from 1,000 YC founders

founderkit.com

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Re: Show HN: Founderkit – Startup tool recommendations from 1,000 YC founders

#21

Post by minimaxir »

ed wrote: post #16
minimaxir wrote: post #5

This is obviously modeled after Product Hunt with similar rating/review systems, and suffers from the same issues regarding rating/review quality. Despite the emphasis on "unbiased" reviews, the reviews/comments (example: https://founderkit.com/biz/slack ) boil down to "I used it and it's good" which doesn't help anyone , and is essentially a manifestation of confirmation bias and makes the entire thing a popularity…

I mean, no one is forcing you to use this product :) but I actually find the ratings to be really directionally accurate, which considers them in aggregate, and use this site all the freaking time. Yesterday I needed a decent conference calling tool, I went with the first one I found and the reliability was terrible - I know there are a million sites out there for this but good luck googling "best free conference cal…

> I actually find the ratings to be really directionally accurate

That is the definition of confirmation bias.

> I know there are a million sites out there for this but good luck googling "best free conference call."

OK. https://imgur.com/a/f9JQ4

(Which more or less further supports my point of this being a popularity contest)

Re: Show HN: Founderkit – Startup tool recommendations from 1,000 YC founders

#22

Post by ryanmickle »

sixQuarks wrote: post #12

Once again, a tool recommendation site that doesn't do anything different or unique than what's been done or what's out there now. This is just like BestVendor.com (site was sold a few years ago, but more of an acquihire). There are tons of these types of review sites. http://www.stacklist.com/ https://startupresources.io/ https://stackshare.io/ And they're all pretty much the same. They're mostly just a list of tool…

Hi sixQuarks, genuinely appreciate the feedback, and the additional comments that came in here while I was writing.

In our experience, actionable feedback comes from founders who have used a product, not those who just spend a lot of time researching. That's precisely the problem with Gartner, Forrester (who basically get paid by both vendors AND buyers to make decisions for companies, with zero interest in the best tool for the job). If you want to throw darts at a product, theirs are world class targets.

While it's easy to throw darts at a handful of short reviews from founders who are so busy they can barely keep up with email, we hear from Founderkit users daily that they find tools and are able to make decisions immediately. Don't read too much into the short reviews. There's a lot more going on here.

Re: Show HN: Founderkit – Startup tool recommendations from 1,000 YC founders

#23

Post by sixQuarks »

ihunter wrote: post #18
sixQuarks wrote: post #12

Once again, a tool recommendation site that doesn't do anything different or unique than what's been done or what's out there now. This is just like BestVendor.com (site was sold a few years ago, but more of an acquihire). There are tons of these types of review sites. http://www.stacklist.com/ https://startupresources.io/ https://stackshare.io/ And they're all pretty much the same. They're mostly just a list of tool…

I hear you - there's a lot. Seems people are motivated to build tools for founders, which is great. When we built this, we were tired of the curated lists too. 1) They don't change as the community's barometer on what they're using changes. 2) It's one person's view, not the founder community. The goal of founderkit is to be more than just reviews, but this was the logical place to start since nobody seems to have do…

Look, I'm not saying the site isn't useful or bad per se, you guys have obviously put a lot of hard work and thought into it.

It's just that I really want to see something different being done in this space, and I'm always hopeful when I see a new site tackling this, only to then be disappointed with the same old same old.

Take what I'm saying as constructive criticism. I know it's hard when you've worked so hard at something, and the first thing you see is criticism (trust me, I've been there).

But to your point, you say those other sites don't change as the community's barometer on what they're using changes, and it's one person's view, not the founder community. But this is exactly what BestVendor was doing. Their tagline was "Learn About The Best Tools From The Best Entrepreneurs"

Check out the internet archive: http://web.archive.org/web/20130412003037/http://www.bestven...

Re: Show HN: Founderkit – Startup tool recommendations from 1,000 YC founders

#25

Post by StuieK »

sixQuarks wrote: post #12

Once again, a tool recommendation site that doesn't do anything different or unique than what's been done or what's out there now. This is just like BestVendor.com (site was sold a few years ago, but more of an acquihire). There are tons of these types of review sites. http://www.stacklist.com/ https://startupresources.io/ https://stackshare.io/ And they're all pretty much the same. They're mostly just a list of tool…

I'm biased but we found that it's so incredibly rare that a single person has extensive experience with all the options, esp when it comes to electronics. We went in a different direction than reviews, slightly more collaborative:

https://www.slant.co/topics/341/~2d-game-engines

edit: another problem with a single person owning the comparison is keeping it up to date.

Re: Show HN: Founderkit – Startup tool recommendations from 1,000 YC founders

#26

Post by swah »

The recommendation site I wanted to have was http://stackparts.com/ (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2993371) but nothing became of it...

Maybe there are just too many options nowadays for a visualization of possible stacks to be useful.

cc @joshu

Re: Show HN: Founderkit – Startup tool recommendations from 1,000 YC founders

#28

Post by ryanmickle »

ares2012 wrote: post #27

Shockingly, YC companies are always at the top of the lists in the categories they service. Smells like a growth hack to me.

It's no secret that YC services are commonly used by YC founders, especially since founders of the big startups are often super generous with credits, to help founders just starting out. Nothing weird happening here, there are several categories where the commonly assumed best YC solution isn't #1, or even close. That made us realize we had something.

Re: Show HN: Founderkit – Startup tool recommendations from 1,000 YC founders

#30

Post by ihunter »

sixQuarks wrote: post #23
ihunter wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I hear you - there's a lot. Seems people are motivated to build tools for founders, which is great. When we built this, we were tired of the curated lists too. 1) They don't change as the community's barometer on what they're using changes. 2) It's one person's view, not the founder community. The goal of founderkit is to be more than just reviews, but this was the logical place to start since nobody seems to have do…

Look, I'm not saying the site isn't useful or bad per se, you guys have obviously put a lot of hard work and thought into it. It's just that I really want to see something different being done in this space, and I'm always hopeful when I see a new site tackling this, only to then be disappointed with the same old same old. Take what I'm saying as constructive criticism. I know it's hard when you've worked so hard at…

I was saying that all the examples you provided were of curated lists from one person/org. I personally would rather listen to a community of peers than of a single person's opinion.

Not sure what happened to bestvendor but they're clearly offline now. Another reason why we need a community driven product.

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