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Startups that launched at Y Combinator S16 Demo Day 2

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Re: Startups that launched at Y Combinator S16 Demo Day 2

#91

Post by will_brown »

somenomadicguy wrote: post #90
will_brown wrote: post #88

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, at any point "Hogan" could have settled his case instead of take it to trial. Thiel did not have any influence over litigation decisions (accept settlement vs go to trial), just as Legalist would have zero influence over litigation decisions. Alternatively, besides speculation Thiel had influence, in the face of Rules of Professional Responsibility that would result in the disbarrment of "Hogan's" lawyers, explai…

Quite simply, a bank would have done a risk analysis and quickly pushed for a settlement, whereas Thiel was motivate by hatred, and the kind of entitlement which comes from power and wealth. He was to happy to carry all the risk and let Hogan reap the rewards give the reward to Hulk out of pure hatred for Nick Denton. Decision makers at banks always report to somebody. Thiel knows that being a billionaire means that…

>a bank would have done a risk analysis and quickly pushed for a settlement

That is exactly what is wrong with this whole line of thinking. Whether an unbiased bank or likely biased Thiel (in that case) neither would legally be allowed to dictate any of this, it is all between the litigant (Hogan) and his lawyer. Further, there would be no incentive to listen to either Thiel or a bank before ones own lawyer, $10M financing or not, one will not cut their nose of despite their face. In fact this is a fine example, if Hogan were to have accepted a quick settlement, instead of listening to his lawyers, it would have been the wrong choice as he received more at trial.

Re: Startups that launched at Y Combinator S16 Demo Day 2

#92

Post by run4yourlives2 »

ryandamm wrote: post #17
dimdimdim wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

At the very same time it is trivial to update the drones of today to use a secure mutual authentication mechanism which the "drone defender" cannot break into. So, even if there is a spectrum DoS (which might be illegal to do for anyone apart from law enforcement) its not that the defender will take over the drone. This is a cat n mouse game where the drone creator always has an advantage.

Yeah, but GPS isn't a handshake, and most commodity drones rely on it. You can't take it over, but you can probably blind it.

Do you really need GPS to tell the drone, "Remember your flight control inputs and reverse them on loss of signal?"

I'm sure it's not trivial, but drone defence based completely on signal interception seems straightforward to defeat.

Re: Startups that launched at Y Combinator S16 Demo Day 2

#93

Post by canonicalcoder »

I think UtilityScore has a promising business model in offering free residential energy guidance that is supported by the promotion of energy efficient products. I've been hoping to see something like this for a while.

I'd like to share that the Department of Energy supports a suite of open source software tools that are useful in making these kinds of whole building energy predictions. Some of this may be applicable to the UtilityScore team in making more detailed and accurate predictions.

At the core is a simulation engine called EnergyPlus https://energyplus.net, and around that DOE also supports a middleware called OpenStudio https://www.openstudio.net that aids in assembling detailed and complex energy models more easily.

For commercial buildings there is an Asset Score tool very similar to UtilityScore built on top of OpenStudio. The asset score tool even has a web API. This tool stops short of making specific product recommendations as that is outside the domain of a publicly funded project like this.

EnergyPlus accessed through the conveniences of OpenStudio is becoming a shared platform for many different use cases beyond asset scoring. The large HVAC manufactures are using these tools as the foundation for their next generation equipment sizing tools, energy audit tools are leveraging OpenStudio for simulation http://www.simuwatt.com, utilities are beginning to coalesce around the platform for quantifying utility incentives http://aceee.org/files/proceedings/2014/data/papers/5-603.pd..., and the state of California embedded this framework into the commercial energy code known as Title 24 http://bees.archenergy.com/software.html.

Full disclosure I am a National Renewable Energy Lab employee and principle developer of OpenStudio with a vested interest in the platform. That said I think there could be some synergy in leveraging OpenStudio models in the UtilityScore process. Our charter is to support commercial tools exactly like this while not directly competing.

Re: Startups that launched at Y Combinator S16 Demo Day 2

#94

Post by tim333 »

losteverything wrote: post #69

Vetcove - my own knowledge says this is just another attempt to centralize. Vet care is too expensive and this doesn't address the cost Robby is directly in what I do. Although I can't see how it will work yet I believe certain things. Towns need to declare whether robotic driverless "Vehicles" can exist on their taxpayers' roadways. Like cell towers, towns need to make rules before Robby or similar non-human machine…

Re Robby, I'm not sure towns can make very sensible rules until the things are tried out a bit to see if they cause problems.

I don't know much about Robby but listened to a talk by their competitor Starship and they seem to be doing ok. "Starship has been testing its six-wheeled bots across 40 cities since the end of last year, clocking up about 5,000 miles so far without incident"

Apparently dogs ignore them but kids can be an issue. They are mostly autonomous but can revert to remote control by a guy in the office who can radio "Oi! put me down!" etc. https://www.theengineer.co.uk/autonomous-delivery-robots-hit...

Kids chasing one https://www.facebook.com/starshiptech/videos/211423149213444...

Re: Startups that launched at Y Combinator S16 Demo Day 2

#95

Post by michaelheinrich »

ones_and_zeros wrote: post #79
michaelheinrich wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hey guys, I founded ohmygreen and here are my reasons for attending: 1) community of other high quality founders which leads to helpful friendships and discoveries of new ways of thought 2) yc is a forcing function, e.g., experimentation with new business models, focus on growth, etc 3) it makes everything easier (hiring, fundraising, etc) => every little edge helps 4) long term investment: who knows, I might start a…

I think it is a no brainer given your reasoning but I think it is fair to say you would have done it without the cash investment. I think this is just a testament to how far yc has come from an incubator taking 7% and giving 20k (or was it even less?) to some unknown hacker types with a paper napkin prototype. YC is more of a "business club" than an incubator from some points of view, I don't blame either side and is…

I can say that it wasn't an easy decision, I had to mull it over a few times and talk to various advisors, alumni, and friends about it. In the end it was very worth it!

Re: Startups that launched at Y Combinator S16 Demo Day 2

#96

Post by michaelheinrich »

zaguios wrote: post #78
michaelheinrich wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hey guys, I founded ohmygreen and here are my reasons for attending: 1) community of other high quality founders which leads to helpful friendships and discoveries of new ways of thought 2) yc is a forcing function, e.g., experimentation with new business models, focus on growth, etc 3) it makes everything easier (hiring, fundraising, etc) => every little edge helps 4) long term investment: who knows, I might start a…

I think it's clear why you joined YC as it can be very beneficial to any company. The comment is questioning whether YC still remains to be a company focusing on the seed stage of investment. Nowadays it appears that a lot companies that go in have a business already in place and a significant amount of traction. This contrasts with YC's earlier companies in which many of them had only an idea or a prototype with no…

I agree that there is a trend to accept some more later stage companies. While there are a few post seed companies, there are many in the batch that just started their company right before yc or a few months before, so that is still a theme. With a 100 companies every batch it is easier to have many more diverse companies represented.

Re: Startups that launched at Y Combinator S16 Demo Day 2

#97

Post by endswapper »

somenomadicguy wrote: post #82
3pt14159 wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You think their parasites because you don't trust the American judicial system. That is fair, but the fundamental nature of what Legalist does is actually quite good. Justice shouldn't be denied to someone just because they can't afford to afford the legal fees. Sure, lawyers can take clients on contingency, but they are often cash-poor because law school is expensive, so the rate of return needs to be much higher to…

Perhaps I'm just too cynical in my old age, this feels like at best it is about turning the legal system into a market opportunity, not seeking justice. At worst it can be a tool, as with the Thiel case, to profit off of exacting revenge. There is no market opportunity for investors to join in on a defense. The timing seems to be an opportunistic response to the Gawker lawsuit. Thiel has validated this sort of a mark…

Unless we decouple the market-based economy from society, in general, everything is a market opportunity, and technology (not Theil) is currently the best test of this point.

So, we can work together with a diverse array of stakeholders (even the ones we deem less 'x') to effect societal change, or we can focus on myopic, circular debates that defend our comfort level. Our choice.

Shrkeli was defending the economic justification for the EpiPen price increase. He is probably the last person you want to align yourself with unless you concede to being nothing more than a market vulture - not sensible for the maker of the EpiPen. Yesterday/today, the maker is proposing greater efforts to ease the financial burden for those who can't afford it.

Greater access to resources within the legal system, i.e. SimpleCitizen.com, or Legalist, is better for society. If you think of society as an algorithm, it is beneficial to test the variety of available perspectives to determine which provides the greatest societal benefit (not just profit). I think this should be a priority as individuals and enterprises.

Re: Startups that launched at Y Combinator S16 Demo Day 2

#98

Post by 3pt14159 »

somenomadicguy wrote: post #82
3pt14159 wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You think their parasites because you don't trust the American judicial system. That is fair, but the fundamental nature of what Legalist does is actually quite good. Justice shouldn't be denied to someone just because they can't afford to afford the legal fees. Sure, lawyers can take clients on contingency, but they are often cash-poor because law school is expensive, so the rate of return needs to be much higher to…

Perhaps I'm just too cynical in my old age, this feels like at best it is about turning the legal system into a market opportunity, not seeking justice. At worst it can be a tool, as with the Thiel case, to profit off of exacting revenge. There is no market opportunity for investors to join in on a defense. The timing seems to be an opportunistic response to the Gawker lawsuit. Thiel has validated this sort of a mark…

This is fair, and I agree with your characterization of the American judicial system, but I don't think I'd have any of your concerns here in Canada. Justice needs an overhaul in the USA. As for Gawker, they should have suffered for what they did, but they shouldn't have gone completely bankrupt. The amount was way too high for what they did.

Re: Startups that launched at Y Combinator S16 Demo Day 2

#99

Post by somenomadicguy »

will_brown wrote: post #91
somenomadicguy wrote: post #90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Quite simply, a bank would have done a risk analysis and quickly pushed for a settlement, whereas Thiel was motivate by hatred, and the kind of entitlement which comes from power and wealth. He was to happy to carry all the risk and let Hogan reap the rewards give the reward to Hulk out of pure hatred for Nick Denton. Decision makers at banks always report to somebody. Thiel knows that being a billionaire means that…

>a bank would have done a risk analysis and quickly pushed for a settlement That is exactly what is wrong with this whole line of thinking. Whether an unbiased bank or likely biased Thiel (in that case) neither would legally be allowed to dictate any of this, it is all between the litigant (Hogan) and his lawyer. Further, there would be no incentive to listen to either Thiel or a bank before ones own lawyer, $10M fin…

Perhaps Thiel offered a minimum return on investment to Hogan? "If you win, you get 100% of a 9+ figure reward. If you lose, I give you $25m, either way we exact our revenge".

Re: Startups that launched at Y Combinator S16 Demo Day 2

#100

Post by somenomadicguy »

koolba wrote: post #60
kchoudhu wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"We're definitely not Peter Thiel and Hulk Hogan." You are. Why not own it? Not all businesses need to smell like a bed of roses.

> You are. Why not own it? Not all businesses need to smell like a bed of roses. Exactly. I know a guy that literally runs a business that smells like shit. They pump septic tanks and he's doing great. There's a natural apprehension for competitors to enter a market like that, must be similar for things that figuratively smell like shit too (like this).

Sanitation work like Septic is far more important than any cute software start-up, that's for sure. I think my last honest job was cleaning out chicken-stalls on a farm when I was 12.
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