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YC’s 2016 Holiday Gift Guide

ycgiftideas.com

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Re: YC’s 2016 Holiday Gift Guide

#91

Post by FireBeyond »

ikeboy wrote: post #69
rjvir wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think gift cards are a big conspiracy from the retail industry that primarily perpetuated the idea that cash is a bad gift. It seems more likely that cash became unpopular independently. And for good reason! Trading cash during holidays really ruins the fun! Perhaps the retail industry was just responding to demand - the market may just want gift cards!

http://nytimes.com/2007/01/07/magazine/07wwln_freak.t.html >As for gift cards — well, let’s just say there is good reason that they are known within the retail industry as a stored-value product: they store their value very well, and often permanently. The financial-services research firm TowerGroup estimates that of the $80 billion spent on gift cards in 2006, roughly $8 billion will never be redeemed — “a bigger im…

Not to mention expiry dates (which Washington state has outlawed), some ridiculously short (before this, I'd see cards from some merchants that were 'valid for 90 days' only).

Re: YC’s 2016 Holiday Gift Guide

#92

Post by sarcher »

xiaoma wrote: post #54
bhalp1 wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Your point is true, but it's also likely that the model for a lot of these companies is to start with premium so they can focus on a profitable model and get the supply chain and execution worked out while there is still wiggle room, and then move down market. This is what Uber and Tesla did, and I wouldn't be surprised if that is the most fashionable approach these days. There are probably plenty of exceptions, as w…

I seriously hope that happens with Acre. They could be amazing.

I agree, I hope Acre does well. I wouldn't say they are in a crowded market - but they are in a market where existing offerings (prefab or predesigned green homes marketed regionally/nationally) have struggled to make the numbers work.

There are savings associated with producing a uniform building package with standard modifications, but there are also new costs associated with that kind of work - namely, those associated with the fact that the ideal customer is thinly spread geographically (due to interest and budget). This generally leads to higher costs for local work, even if that only includes finishes (the standard business plan for most prefab green home companies).

That kind of business structure has been perfected by market builders, but market builders do a volume of business that is tough to match, and usually within a small geographic area (ie - a subdivision). This allows them to drive down local contracting costs better than one-off projects.

Currently Acre is looking for builders in four markets according to their 'work-with-us' page. They are also looking for an architectural project manager as opposed to a construction project manager, which probably indicates their chosen role in project delivery. Outsourcing all construction activity is a good way to reduce risk, but not a good way to reduce costs.

I work for custom home builders, and I've done work with a company that has a marketing plan/delivery plan similar to Acre albeit on the East Coast.

Re: YC’s 2016 Holiday Gift Guide

#93

Post by auganov »

gamache wrote: post #11

Aside from the Donations section (YC's nonprofits), having much of the YC portfolio collected like this really deflates a lot of the cachet about YC, its companies, and its place at the Silicon Valley cool-kids table. I look at this list and I see problems that never needed solving, middlemen -- sorry, curators -- reselling cheap Chinese crap, and a cult of jamming Bluetooth and USB into just about anything that hold…

The non-gimmicky hardware is usually outside of the holiday-gift price point. Like say YC's http://www.doublerobotics.com/ , I actually eyed it for a holiday gift, but 3000$ is a bit too much.

I spent a large chunk of today looking for gifts and trust me almost everything under 1xxx$ is like what you've described. And quite honestly, I'd guess many of the companies on that list might actually my struggling to be at the "Silicon Valley cool-kids table" because of what they're doing :P

Re: YC’s 2016 Holiday Gift Guide

#94

Post by arikr »

Jun8 wrote: post #51

What, no STEM toys!? Have you visited the toy gadget section of your typical store, e.g. Target, BestBuy lately? It's full of crappy stuff marketed under the buzzword "STEM" for unknowing parents. Examples: Construction kits from Vex Robotics, WowWee's CHIP Robotic Dog, etc. etc. Problem with these "STEM revolutionary" toys is that they are not open ended, even with the so-called programmable ones kids get tired afte…

Your comment inspired this: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13057791

Re: YC’s 2016 Holiday Gift Guide

#95

Post by FireBeyond »

VLM wrote: post #47
thaddeusmt wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Yoshi brings the gas station to your gift recipient, refueling their car regularly wherever it's parked. Any commuters on your list will thank you for removing the hassle of the gas station from their lives forever." I get it, filling up your car is a chore, if your time is super valuable... whatever. It's hard to fill the YC portfolio every year with only companies working on "big problems", I'm sure. But it really…

Ironically the most obvious pivot for the company is anti-EV range anxiety-as-a-service where they'll do something like triple A specifically for EVs by rolling up in a truck with a 500 HP giant diesel generator and fast charge your EV anywhere in a service area, eliminating range anxiety. Honestly you could probably run something like that without any capital expense at all by just collecting monthly premiums and ad…

What could be greener than having your EV filled by a diesel generator?

Re: YC’s 2016 Holiday Gift Guide

#96

Post by outworlder »

VLM wrote: post #47
thaddeusmt wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Yoshi brings the gas station to your gift recipient, refueling their car regularly wherever it's parked. Any commuters on your list will thank you for removing the hassle of the gas station from their lives forever." I get it, filling up your car is a chore, if your time is super valuable... whatever. It's hard to fill the YC portfolio every year with only companies working on "big problems", I'm sure. But it really…

Ironically the most obvious pivot for the company is anti-EV range anxiety-as-a-service where they'll do something like triple A specifically for EVs by rolling up in a truck with a 500 HP giant diesel generator and fast charge your EV anywhere in a service area, eliminating range anxiety. Honestly you could probably run something like that without any capital expense at all by just collecting monthly premiums and ad…

Well, that's exactly what I thought when I read about that service. Since I drive a Leaf, a gas fill-up would be useless to me.

Many EV owners would object to having their car being charged by a dirty diesel generator. Plus, if we are hauling a giant generator, what about a giant battery pack? Someone will have to do the math on that.

As well as a "rescue" vehicle, it could be very useful as a temporary "mobile quick charger" when traveling to underserved spots (say, you want to cross Nevada on EV). Schedule a time and place, meet your "tanker", refuel and keep going.

Re: YC’s 2016 Holiday Gift Guide

#97

Post by zzleeper »

+1 for MTailor. Not affiliated at all, but I ordered several shirts and a suit in the last year and it fits amazingly (and it's quite convenient to order from the app). Do be aware though, that it will take ~ 4 weeks (slower than buying from a store, but as fast as getting it tailor-made)

Re: YC’s 2016 Holiday Gift Guide

#98

Post by eggbrain »

fpgaminer wrote: post #36

Somewhat related: "Gift guides" is one service that I considered unsolved. Every holiday (Christmas, birthday, father's day, mother's day, etc) I struggle to come up with gifts for the people I care about. In many ways it's demoralizing. If I care so much about someone, why can't I think of a good gift for them? There are lots of factors here, but I think it basically boils down to, as adults we generally get what we…

I think the main reason it's unsolved is that there's a lot of personalization that needs to happen. If you (as a son, let's say), can't figure out what to give your dad, how can a site? The reason why a lot of holiday guides give common or useless stuff is because they have to generalize across age ranges, ethnicities, locations, and preferences.

The best gift guide would also probably be one that gets to the core of what you are lacking -- you might want a specific book, for example, but what you're looking for is how to learn a language, and that specific book didn't really matter (unless it was the best one to help you learn). This is really hard to do though, unless you are Santa.

Re: YC’s 2016 Holiday Gift Guide

#99

Post by Shivetya »

xiaoma wrote: post #30

The thing that really strikes me about this list is how nearly everything on it is offered at a premium price. One thing I loved about the tech world while I was growing up was that it was consistently doing more with less. Wikipedia displaced Encyclopaedia Brittanica by being both better and free. Hotmail was a clear win over AOL and Yahoo's offerings and then Gmail was faster and handled spam better while giving mo…

Its for the trendy pretentious crowd and many who came up with a different viewpoint or even from another income level don't understand the desire behind some of these purchases. This is no different than the Macbook Starbuck crowd.

If anything I use it as a list of things I am best without. Karma be damned but I just LOL at that page

Re: YC’s 2016 Holiday Gift Guide

#100

Post by frakkingcylons »

VLM wrote: post #47
thaddeusmt wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Yoshi brings the gas station to your gift recipient, refueling their car regularly wherever it's parked. Any commuters on your list will thank you for removing the hassle of the gas station from their lives forever." I get it, filling up your car is a chore, if your time is super valuable... whatever. It's hard to fill the YC portfolio every year with only companies working on "big problems", I'm sure. But it really…

Ironically the most obvious pivot for the company is anti-EV range anxiety-as-a-service where they'll do something like triple A specifically for EVs by rolling up in a truck with a 500 HP giant diesel generator and fast charge your EV anywhere in a service area, eliminating range anxiety. Honestly you could probably run something like that without any capital expense at all by just collecting monthly premiums and ad…

> I wonder what a 500 HP generator at full battery charging blast sounds like in a residential neighborhood at 2am.

I think you had a good idea with the on-demand EV charging, but I would imagine they'd have a truck with a high-capacity battery (like Tesla's Powerwall) which could be charged via solar panels.

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