Startups that launched at Y Combinator’s S18 Demo Day 2 • Hacker News Board

Re: Startups that launched at Y Combinator’s S18 Demo Day 2

#31

Post by snood » Wed, Aug 22, 2018, 9:12 AM UTC

ttoinou wrote: post #27

According to Ixora, major film studios produce 100 blockbuster films each year that feature than 1,000 CGI shots — each costing them roughly $10,000 a pop English is not my mother tongue, does "a pop" mean each second ? Anyway USD/(second of VFX) is a bad metric. Curious about the startup though, looks like they are putting the idea out there to see if people are interested because there's no information online about…

In this context 'a pop' would mean 'for each'

So each shot is $10k

Re: Startups that launched at Y Combinator’s S18 Demo Day 2

#32

Post by [deleted] » Wed, Aug 22, 2018, 9:14 AM UTC

ttoinou wrote: post #27

According to Ixora, major film studios produce 100 blockbuster films each year that feature than 1,000 CGI shots — each costing them roughly $10,000 a pop English is not my mother tongue, does "a pop" mean each second ? Anyway USD/(second of VFX) is a bad metric. Curious about the startup though, looks like they are putting the idea out there to see if people are interested because there's no information online about…

[deleted]

Re: Startups that launched at Y Combinator’s S18 Demo Day 2

#33

Post by fsloth » Wed, Aug 22, 2018, 9:14 AM UTC

statictype wrote: post #3

In depth analysis here: https://twitter.com/pinboard/status/1031952446795522048

It's funny because it's true.

However, I think YCombinator has more often than not stated that they invest in the team and not the specific product they are making at the time. The invested product is generally just a learning vehicle for the team. The selected team is expected to plausibly have the insight and technical capability to pivot and retarget as new data is gathered.

Nigeria is the most interesting country in Africa at the moment and Lagos is projected to be the largest city on the planet in 2100. It's totally credible to try sounding the local market at this point. Funding a couple of small startups with a talented team sounds like a great way to do that.

Re: Startups that launched at Y Combinator’s S18 Demo Day 2

#34

Post by soneca » Wed, Aug 22, 2018, 9:32 AM UTC

thisisit wrote: post #5

I have been reading YC lists for so many years. And this list has set a record for number of facepalms. Companies like Papa are stuff of nightmares. While others like AnchorUSD, SparkSwap etc seem like an attempt to ride a wave which was been gone for long.

I think Papa (from this pitch) is an awesome idea/company. What's your issue with it?

Re: Startups that launched at Y Combinator’s S18 Demo Day 2

#35

Post by igravious » Wed, Aug 22, 2018, 9:40 AM UTC

ttoinou wrote: post #27

According to Ixora, major film studios produce 100 blockbuster films each year that feature than 1,000 CGI shots — each costing them roughly $10,000 a pop English is not my mother tongue, does "a pop" mean each second ? Anyway USD/(second of VFX) is a bad metric. Curious about the startup though, looks like they are putting the idea out there to see if people are interested because there's no information online about…

a pop = apiece

Re: Startups that launched at Y Combinator’s S18 Demo Day 2

#36

Post by soneca » Wed, Aug 22, 2018, 9:45 AM UTC

toomanybeersies wrote: post #12

I'm not in SV, and very much outside the startup community in the rest of the world these days, especially since I no longer work in a coworking space. I have to say, some of these legitimately look like parodies, like something out of the Silicon Valley TV show. Emojer cannot be a legitimate company with real funding. It just can't.

It seems like you made an effort to find those companies to mock.

On my first reading I was very impressed by how many health care startups are in the list, solving hard and important problems of society.

Re: Startups that launched at Y Combinator’s S18 Demo Day 2

#37

Post by eaenki » Wed, Aug 22, 2018, 10:05 AM UTC

I can't help but wonder what would happen if YC and all its influence was to be focused on only a bunch of startups per year doing truly far fetched things - namely space, biotech, finance, robotics, computing and VR. Is focusing on social networks for grandkids, instant food, the 50th sticker app and countless B2B products truly worth it when it could be directed towards the former? Who could possibly, genuinely want to work at such places by the way (I mean, for anything else but money)?

As for this year, I'm extremely pleased to see so many startup trying to replace meat and dairy. Ditto for aerospace.

Re: Startups that launched at Y Combinator’s S18 Demo Day 2

#38

Post by 88 » Wed, Aug 22, 2018, 10:20 AM UTC

gtbcb wrote: post #26

thisisit wrote: post #5

I have been reading YC lists for so many years. And this list has set a record for number of facepalms. Companies like Papa are stuff of nightmares. While others like AnchorUSD, SparkSwap etc seem like an attempt to ride a wave which was been gone for long.

I think Papa solves a legit need. By the time we (ie millennials) are old, we'll be so damn connected, hopefully loneliness will be low. But between now and 30 years from now, there are millions of seniors suffering from loneliness, and I think Papa could help with the problem. I've definitely thought about this exact idea before.

Some would say millennials are the loneliest of all; overwhelmed by superficial interactions but lacking in meaningful relationships.

Re: Startups that launched at Y Combinator’s S18 Demo Day 2

#39

Post by beaconstudios » Wed, Aug 22, 2018, 10:32 AM UTC

gtbcb wrote: post #26

thisisit wrote: post #5

I have been reading YC lists for so many years. And this list has set a record for number of facepalms. Companies like Papa are stuff of nightmares. While others like AnchorUSD, SparkSwap etc seem like an attempt to ride a wave which was been gone for long.

I think Papa solves a legit need. By the time we (ie millennials) are old, we'll be so damn connected, hopefully loneliness will be low. But between now and 30 years from now, there are millions of seniors suffering from loneliness, and I think Papa could help with the problem. I've definitely thought about this exact idea before.

it's attempting to use technology to solve a social problem - that we don't value family or community any more. The root problem is that people just shove their parents in a home as soon as they get old, and don't bother to visit them.

Re: Startups that launched at Y Combinator’s S18 Demo Day 2

#40

Post by Quarrelsome » Wed, Aug 22, 2018, 10:35 AM UTC

onion2k wrote: post #14

toomanybeersies wrote: post #12

I'm not in SV, and very much outside the startup community in the rest of the world these days, especially since I no longer work in a coworking space. I have to say, some of these legitimately look like parodies, like something out of the Silicon Valley TV show. Emojer cannot be a legitimate company with real funding. It just can't.

Emojer cannot be a legitimate company with real funding. There's a very clear exit route to selling to a phone manufacturer that wants to add more "fun" functionality to its camera app..

> There's a very clear exit route to selling to a phone manufacturer

I'm not sure if that counts as "very clear". If you have no means of keeping the dream alive through revenue then you're just treading water in the hope that someone will buy you. That sounds horrible. Its bearable in the window of something "game changing" or where you have a strong position in the market (e.g. YouTube) but this is neither.