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The Death of Couchsurfing?

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Re: The Death of Couchsurfing?

#31

Post by bcassedy »

freddie_mercury wrote: post #21
MattGaiser wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hacker News is smaller than most major subreddits in terms of usage. 400 upvotes is considered a lot here. The site is extremely simple and something that could be replicated in a couple of days at most by most engineers. It doesn't process money or really require a lot of content moderation either.

That is all true but the real answer is that it is run as a charity project by billionaires. So it doesn't need to be monetized.

Ehh there's a really pro ycombinator slant and ever notice how any yc announcement, hiring notice, or article quickly hits the top? They're getting a lot of value out of that stuff that helps with the VC side of things.

Re: The Death of Couchsurfing?

#32

Post by peterburkimsher »

jeromegv wrote: post #24
aclimatt wrote: post #17

Like the article says and as applies to almost all failed startups / products, it can all be traced back to bad management. I've been a heavy CS user for over a decade, I've been to events at their (now defunct I suppose) office in SF, I met their CEO at the time (one of many) and even did a walk around the block chatting strategy with their VP of Product at the time. After building lifelong relationships through the…

It’s also possible that if the premise of your product is being free for broke people, there’s just no path to profitability or even subsistance. You always anger your base, whatever you do. And then your platform becomes irrelevant as it fails to adapt due to... lack of money.

I joined CS when I was broke, and such a site must stay free for newcomers.

Music can be obtained for free (whether recorded onto a cassette tape off MTV or downloaded). Despite that, I go out of my way to support my favourite bands. Sometimes quite literally flying to other countries to go to concerts. Now I have the money, I want to support those who showed kindness in the past by paying it forward.

BeWelcome's financial transparency is excellent, and I would happily buy a t-shirt from them, and I'm discussing with organisers of CS weekly meetups whether they'd be willing to rebrand to BW. If CS wants to save their platform, they can and should, but must act quickly.

Re: The Death of Couchsurfing?

#33

Post by MattGaiser »

bcassedy wrote: post #31
freddie_mercury wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That is all true but the real answer is that it is run as a charity project by billionaires. So it doesn't need to be monetized.

Ehh there's a really pro ycombinator slant and ever notice how any yc announcement, hiring notice, or article quickly hits the top? They're getting a lot of value out of that stuff that helps with the VC side of things.

Who would hate on YCombinator?

Re: The Death of Couchsurfing?

#34

Post by projektfu »

cmehdy wrote: post #12

Couchsurfing was fantastic in its early days, then came the era of using websites for just-a-little-bit-too-much-dating, then they went .com and tried to be "cool" with redesigns, eventually drowning the simplicity of their concept a little bit too much. That $25 yearly fee slapped onto everything, with no chance to even connect with previous contacts, is disappointing to say the least. No doubt that the meaning of "…

I still think it's pretty fantastic and I have had great experiences with it in the last 3 years. The design sucks but things like hangouts and meetups are worthwhile even for travelers who do not feel comfortable staying in someone's house.

Re: The Death of Couchsurfing?

#36

Post by ashtonkem »

MattGaiser wrote: post #33
bcassedy wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ehh there's a really pro ycombinator slant and ever notice how any yc announcement, hiring notice, or article quickly hits the top? They're getting a lot of value out of that stuff that helps with the VC side of things.

Who would hate on YCombinator?

There are some legitimate arguments about how VC backed startups have behaved as of late, and YC is part of that overall system.

I’m not sure where I personally sit, but I think it’s a bit silly to pretend that YC is universally beloved or beyond reproach.

Re: The Death of Couchsurfing?

#38

Post by qu83rt »

Mediterraneo10 wrote: post #19
dvtrn wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’ve never used couchsurfing. Can you elaborate a few more details for outsiders like myself who perhaps can’t read between the lines you’re drawing on the topic? It doesn’t seem that far disconnected from reality to posit that COVID has had some affect on this?

CS inititally grew through communities like hitchhikers, bicycle travelers, Rainbow Gathering hippies and other alternative demographics. For people driven by wanderlust and keen for a sense of community with other sympathetic people, government-enforced COVID travel restrictions may compel them to stay put for a while, but the virus itself won't put them off traveling and hosting for long. No one wants to give up on…

The person above claimed that hosts would be reluctant because visitors might have COVID, not that the travellers would be more reluctant.

Re: The Death of Couchsurfing?

#39

Post by soord51 »

teruakohatu wrote: post #35

Couch surfing is not dead. In the adventure motorcycling community, there are this concept "tent spaces". It is like crowd surfing but instead of a couch, you get access to a toilet and space to pitch a tent. https://advrider.com/f/threads/tent-space-map-v2.1215147/

Idk if you read the article but this is mostly about the couchsurfing website not the concept. They specify that even if the website is dead couchsurfing as an idea will move on in the article too.

Re: The Death of Couchsurfing?

#40

Post by tdeck »

This really reminds me of how podcasts have gone. It used to be that nine out of ten podcasts I listened to had no ads - they were about spreading a message or having fun, or getting some personal recognition. They didn't have major overhead because it's cheap to come on once every week or two and chat with your buddies. Now, not only are there many high-quality professional podcasts, but the old fashioned ones I enjoy have all one by one gotten in on the game. Eventually podcasting became something you either made money at or you were doing it wrong (see also: blogs). When even BackStory and The Skeptics Guide to the Universe are shilling for Blue Apron that transition is complete.
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