Poll: Apply HN Runoff – Which two startups should YCF fund? • Hacker News Board

Re: Poll: Apply HN Runoff – Which two startups should YCF fund?

#261

Post by danieltillett » Tue, May 03, 2016, 8:22 PM UTC

ig1 wrote: post #252

ig1 wrote: post #228

I didn't get a chance to read all of them but this was my reasoning on the ones I read: (note I'm excluding founder background from evaluation as almost none of the posts mention it; but it's generally considered a key factor for angels) WedWell: Large market, hacking it with initial customers, however no unique insight, no clear customer acquisition strategy in an expensive market, lots of dead startups in this spac…

And on a few more: Jury Board: SaaS note taking to enrichment (third-party api) to ML; solid long term strategy. Real user interest. With a large unique dataset you could essentially build a monopoly business. Founder seems to understand the space, but perhaps not commercial/sales side. Selling to legal firms will probably mean a salesforce which results in a much higher per-unit cost but that’s potentially sustainab…

On Trusert I am curious why you think the market is employers? A few people have raised this exact same point yet I am unsure why as I explicitly said they are not - there must have been something I said that makes you think this.

Re: Poll: Apply HN Runoff – Which two startups should YCF fund?

#262

Post by dang » Tue, May 03, 2016, 8:43 PM UTC

vishalkgupta wrote: post #238

shanacarp wrote: post #177

I knew very quickly that Feynman Nano was an in for me. I read through the comments, and when they mentioned they could coat grout, it became a definite in. While it is really obvious to coat medical implants, iv leads, ect - I know that pending material review, I'd be happy to buy a cutting board coated with the stuff for chicken and meat. I even think they would be smart to figure out how to coat woods, granite/sto…

RE WedWell: Thanks for the comment. Funny enough we're moving slightly from "WedWell: Vendors bid for your wedding" more towards "WedWell: A more efficient way to plan your wedding". (Dang- Depending on how long the voting is going, we'd love to change our title!) It's really less about cost savings (which may happen anyway with scale/competition among vendors), but more about efficiencies in the process. Less face t…

Ok, sure, we changed the title for you.

Re: Poll: Apply HN Runoff – Which two startups should YCF fund?

#263

Post by samstave » Tue, May 03, 2016, 8:51 PM UTC

baron816 wrote: post #68

samstave wrote: post #56

This comment is directed @Baron816: Uh.. not sure how old you are. I live in Alameda california... I have a very traditional neighborhood. Flat, ~100 yeah old victorain houses, beautiful area. I've been a member of "nextdoor" for some time.... My neighbors are nosey, gossipy people and I dont WANT to connect with them in most senses - my kids shall go to school with their kids - I will say hi and be happy... I do not…

There are 76,000 people in Alameda. Are you saying there aren't at least a handful among them that you couldn't get along with? You have a few anecdotal examples of bad experiences getting to know people in your neighborhood, but I doubt that would be the case for most people. People generally move to areas where they think they will fit in. Yet they rarely have a good way to comfortably meet people in their new neig…

No, I am just talking about the people on my block. Alameda is the gem of the bay area in my opinion.

Re: Poll: Apply HN Runoff – Which two startups should YCF fund?

#264

Post by argonaut » Tue, May 03, 2016, 9:38 PM UTC

ismiseted wrote: post #240

argonaut wrote: post #79

A lot of people are evaluating too much based on the ideas, rather than the background of the founders and whether that background gives them the experience to execute the idea. For example, I liked the Cadwolf idea because the founder has worked as an engineer in the kinds of organizations he wants to sell to. Many of these applications had no info about the founders that I could find. All in all, the vast majority…

Natural disasters are terrible. Voting for Pinboard is not terrible. I am certain that Pinboard sincerely wants to make full use of YC's resources, possibly in ways that will amaze and astound them. And I don't think that an unthinking cheerleader attitude to YC is a requisite here. If you like Cadwolf, vote for Cadwolf but - please - spare me the lecture on how I should vote.

The founder of Pinboard himself called voting for him a "protest vote:" https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11441720. I can't believe someone is sincerely going to make good use of the YC fellowship if they say something like that.

Also, this is an online forum. I don't think HN is the right place to be if you want to avoid feeling like you're being lectured (not that I believe I'm lecturing anyone on anything - I'm just offering my argument and opinion).

Re: Poll: Apply HN Runoff – Which two startups should YCF fund?

#265

Post by snowwrestler » Tue, May 03, 2016, 9:57 PM UTC

argonaut wrote: post #264

ismiseted wrote: post #240

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Natural disasters are terrible. Voting for Pinboard is not terrible. I am certain that Pinboard sincerely wants to make full use of YC's resources, possibly in ways that will amaze and astound them. And I don't think that an unthinking cheerleader attitude to YC is a requisite here. If you like Cadwolf, vote for Cadwolf but - please - spare me the lecture on how I should vote.

The founder of Pinboard himself called voting for him a "protest vote:" https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11441720 . I can't believe someone is sincerely going to make good use of the YC fellowship if they say something like that. Also, this is an online forum. I don't think HN is the right place to be if you want to avoid feeling like you're being lectured (not that I believe I'm lecturing anyone on anything - I'…

He told one of the YC folks directly that if he wins, he has ideas that need resources, and will work with them in good faith. Can't find the link right now but it was here on HN.

Re: Poll: Apply HN Runoff – Which two startups should YCF fund?

#266

Post by snowwrestler » Tue, May 03, 2016, 10:03 PM UTC

hoodoof wrote: post #171

argonaut wrote: post #79

A lot of people are evaluating too much based on the ideas, rather than the background of the founders and whether that background gives them the experience to execute the idea. For example, I liked the Cadwolf idea because the founder has worked as an engineer in the kinds of organizations he wants to sell to. Many of these applications had no info about the founders that I could find. All in all, the vast majority…

A great team won't make a bad idea a winner. You should choose a great idea primarily. As they say you can't polish a turd.

It's true that you can't polish a turd, but I'd suggest you're looking at the wrong thing.

A turd idea with a strong team won't succeed, but a strong team can abandon a turd idea and still be a strong team. There are plenty of great products that were built as the 2nd or 3rd ideas of a strong team.

A good idea with a turd team won't succeed. And when the idea fails, the team is still a turd.

Re: Poll: Apply HN Runoff – Which two startups should YCF fund?

#267

Post by bbcbasic » Tue, May 03, 2016, 11:20 PM UTC

Suncho wrote: post #259

argonaut wrote: post #79

A lot of people are evaluating too much based on the ideas, rather than the background of the founders and whether that background gives them the experience to execute the idea. For example, I liked the Cadwolf idea because the founder has worked as an engineer in the kinds of organizations he wants to sell to. Many of these applications had no info about the founders that I could find. All in all, the vast majority…

Hi, I'm Alex from Gresham Dollar (Now Greshm Dollar). I am pretty much the opposite of what you would want in a founder. My background is very shaky and I don't have a college degree. I barely graduated high school. I used to hack together CRUD apps until I got bored out of my mind and just stopped. I was the first Druid on my realm to level 60 when World of Warcraft came out though, so there's that. But I wasn't rea…

When I first read your idea I thought this is the dumbest thing ever. Then as I read your responses and saw that you had an absolutely well thought out answer for every objection I questioned my own sanity. I think your experiment is worth a go, and I think you would make a good founder. Inface the only problem I see is how YC will make any money from you other than investing in future dollars (which anyone else can do). Perhaps I need to read your thread again to see if that was answered. But my point is you sound like you could make a good founder and I don't think there is a magic formula but desire, drive, ambition and humility will be up there in my opinion.

Re: Poll: Apply HN Runoff – Which two startups should YCF fund?

#268

Post by Ye-Ha » Tue, May 03, 2016, 11:52 PM UTC

Sorry to see the thermal analysis software didn't make the list. I have worked in this area and it is challenging and expensive to do well.

Re: Poll: Apply HN Runoff – Which two startups should YCF fund?

#269

Post by Suncho » Wed, May 04, 2016, 1:35 AM UTC

bbcbasic wrote: post #267

Suncho wrote: post #259

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hi, I'm Alex from Gresham Dollar (Now Greshm Dollar). I am pretty much the opposite of what you would want in a founder. My background is very shaky and I don't have a college degree. I barely graduated high school. I used to hack together CRUD apps until I got bored out of my mind and just stopped. I was the first Druid on my realm to level 60 when World of Warcraft came out though, so there's that. But I wasn't rea…

When I first read your idea I thought this is the dumbest thing ever. Then as I read your responses and saw that you had an absolutely well thought out answer for every objection I questioned my own sanity. I think your experiment is worth a go, and I think you would make a good founder. Inface the only problem I see is how YC will make any money from you other than investing in future dollars (which anyone else can…

Wow. Thank you for the encouragement.

the only problem I see is how YC will make any money from you other than investing in future dollars (which anyone else can do). Perhaps I need to read your thread again to see if that was answered.

It wasn't answered. This is indeed a challenge. If we stick to the letter of the rules for YC Fellowship, I'm not sure how much YC stands to gain by taking 1.5% equity in Greshm Dollar.

One thing that might work is that we could underprice Future Greshm Dollars for YC. Or maybe we could issue call options on FGD that YC could exercise after the FGD price has risen.

I'm confident we can arrange something with YC.

Re: Poll: Apply HN Runoff – Which two startups should YCF fund?

#270

Post by zeckalpha » Wed, May 04, 2016, 2:28 AM UTC

dang wrote: post #176

zeckalpha wrote: post #167

This is only six hours old, but voting is closed. Is that intentional? Seems like an odd time frame.

We closed it because the rankings hadn't changed in a while and I was hoping to wrap it up in time for the YCF virtual kickoff meeting tomorrow. That was the original plan. But the people complaining about that being too little time are obviously right. The solution would have been to have this ready earlier, and normally we would have, but some unrelated things happened to prevent me from being able to work on it so…

Thank you!