141–150 of 229 posts
I feel like I'm looking at a Sharper Image catalog. Lots of neat, expensive, completely useless things (for the everyday person) that I'm surprised anybody buys.
I feel like I'm looking at a Sharper Image catalog. Lots of neat, expensive, completely useless things (for the everyday person) that I'm surprised anybody buys.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
As someone who has perpetual trouble finding well fitting dress shirts off the shelf - the MTailor thing seems interesting. You do raise something valid - I suspect they're selling affluent customers, because they're easier to reach, and are willing to try something novel.
You can just buy a shirt and get it tailored by someone who can actually see you and try pinning it in different places.
Made-to-measure mail-order dress shirts are an idea from the 1990s AFAIK. A while back I collected some promotional offers from in-flight magazines and online and ordered a big stockpile of white made-to-measure dress shirts. With the promotional pricing it came out to less than $20 a shirt.
As with any menswear business, the main problem is customer education. Men in the US dress like slobs, do not care that they dress like slobs, and do not want to spend money on clothes (85% of apparel revenue comes from womenswear).
"A monthly subscription to The Flex Company will make a relieving gift for any ladies on your gift list who suffer from menstrual bloating, cramping, or leaking." I couldn't make this up.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
To your point, Airbnb bucks the trend you identified by making travel more affordable and accessible. It's also far and away the most successful company listed.
More accessible, maybe (unless you're black [0]) More affordable, no. In my recent travels to NYC and SF, I was always able to get a hotel room via HotelTonight or Hotwire cheaper than an AirBnB unit. I know its not always an apples-to-apples comparison but even for just a private room (not an entire home), an AirBnB in SF is $100+/night.[1] All that to say, I think you're wrong. [0] https://medium.com/stay-woke/i-re…
For your suggested dates of Dec 18-20 I found literally dozens of AirBnBs for trivially easier to find AirBnBs which are cheaper than hotels.
[0] https://www.airbnb.com/s/San-Francisco--CA--United-States?gu...
I feel like I'm looking at a Sharper Image catalog. Lots of neat, expensive, completely useless things (for the everyday person) that I'm surprised anybody buys.
And the few things here that seem legitimately useful (the sous-vide circulator, for instance) are competing with proven, solid, reliable products (e.g., the Anova precision cooker: 4.5 stars on Amazon with 1100+ reviews).
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…
"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…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
To your point, Airbnb bucks the trend you identified by making travel more affordable and accessible. It's also far and away the most successful company listed.
More accessible, maybe (unless you're black [0]) More affordable, no. In my recent travels to NYC and SF, I was always able to get a hotel room via HotelTonight or Hotwire cheaper than an AirBnB unit. I know its not always an apples-to-apples comparison but even for just a private room (not an entire home), an AirBnB in SF is $100+/night.[1] All that to say, I think you're wrong. [0] https://medium.com/stay-woke/i-re…
source: traveling for 1.5 years using airbnb, hotels, hostels.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
You can just buy a shirt and get it tailored by someone who can actually see you and try pinning it in different places.
If you have a sewing machine it takes less than 15 minutes to tailor a shirt down (just put it on inside-out, pin, and sew). Made-to-measure mail-order dress shirts are an idea from the 1990s AFAIK. A while back I collected some promotional offers from in-flight magazines and online and ordered a big stockpile of white made-to-measure dress shirts. With the promotional pricing it came out to less than $20 a shirt. As…
I would rather not dress like a slob, but barring me finding a place to make me something that actually fits (for a good price).. everything I buy will fit somewhat awkwardly, and make me look as if I'm wearing several flower sacks sewn together or somewhat awkwardly in fit in other ways.
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.