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The Death of Couchsurfing?

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Re: The Death of Couchsurfing?

#51

Post by ashtonkem »

MattGaiser wrote: post #44
ashtonkem wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

I did not think it was universally beloved, but just never read any negative viewpoint about them so was curious.

Keep in mind that YC is very visible. As a result, complaints about VC behavior in general will accumulate to YC, since they’re often the public face of startups and startup culture. That might not be fair or ever correct, but it’s how people work.

Personally, YC’s involvement in AirBnB is my biggest complaint with the company. I’m not sure how it looked from the inside before hand, but in retrospect AirBnB is one of the poster children of VC backed companies extracting profits at the cost of society, and I suspect that they probably should’ve known better.

Re: The Death of Couchsurfing?

#52

Post by solveit »

ashtonkem wrote: post #36
MattGaiser wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Sure, but the criticisms mostly don't apply to companies in the seed stage. YC is somewhat removed from the mainstream critiques of startups mostly by sitting at the part of the process where startups are most startup-like, ironically enough.

Re: The Death of Couchsurfing?

#53

Post by _8j50 »

ashtonkem wrote: post #36
MattGaiser wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

HN makes no secret out of that. Reddir has Tencent's influence crippling them.

The fact that YC doesn't need to monetize HN , and others mentioned how so much talented is sourced here is what makes it a good and comfortable place for technologists and tech enthusiasts.

Although, I am still a wee bit dissappointed at the lack of discussion about actual hacking.

Re: The Death of Couchsurfing?

#54

Post by alexashka »

tdeck wrote: post #40

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 enj…

If you're looking for people who are still having silly fun, have a look at Twitch and the folks over at 'just chatting' or I think there's a section specifically for programming? Those channels very much have that informal vibe.

Regarding making money or doing it wrong - says who? The barrier to entry for podcasting has never been lower. It's all in people's heads :)

Re: The Death of Couchsurfing?

#56

Post by morganherlocker »

owenversteeg wrote: post #45

So I imagine there's a lot of people here that don't know Couchsurfing or what the big deal is. Couchsurfing has been one of the most important things in my life, so I'll do my best to explain why it's so special. The basic idea is you stay at a stranger's place, or you host a stranger at yours - completely for free, no money involved. Everyone does it differently. Some people plan their trip meticulously months in a…

I had a similar experience with the couchsurfing community 6 or 7 years ago. Beyond the basic hosting concept, there was also a large group of people who would meet up regularly in my city, which made it really easy to find activities for the guests you had in town. I really hope they find a way to keep going.

Re: The Death of Couchsurfing?

#57

Post by alexashka »

owenversteeg wrote: post #45

So I imagine there's a lot of people here that don't know Couchsurfing or what the big deal is. Couchsurfing has been one of the most important things in my life, so I'll do my best to explain why it's so special. The basic idea is you stay at a stranger's place, or you host a stranger at yours - completely for free, no money involved. Everyone does it differently. Some people plan their trip meticulously months in a…

Thanks for sharing.

Couchsurfing is so interesting. Its success relies on it never becoming mainstream.

It's like those word-of-mouth-only parties that are so great but if enough people hear about them, they are no longer any good.

I had a similar experience with drum circles in Toronto, Canada. They were this hippie heaven of people coming together in a park and playing drums once a week in the summertime. Other people would come by and picnic, sit around, dance, hula hoop, whatever.

Once it got popular enough, the park would be littered by the end of the day, so local residents complained and got drum circles banned, so we don't have drum circles anymore, because they were too good and a complete non-profit :)

Re: The Death of Couchsurfing?

#58

Post by DanielleMolloy »

vvpan wrote: post #48

An aside: Why does Medium add a login wall to some articles? Creating an account on a website to read somebody's blog post to me sounds... excessive.

We’ve been considering moving our labs‘ blog there (because less maintenance, higher visibility in tech academic communities) and have been wondering about this too. Can someone comment? Are they aiming towards raising a login wall for the whole platform?

Re: The Death of Couchsurfing?

#59

Post by joshfraser »

owenversteeg wrote: post #45

So I imagine there's a lot of people here that don't know Couchsurfing or what the big deal is. Couchsurfing has been one of the most important things in my life, so I'll do my best to explain why it's so special. The basic idea is you stay at a stranger's place, or you host a stranger at yours - completely for free, no money involved. Everyone does it differently. Some people plan their trip meticulously months in a…

Couchsurfing has had an incredibly positive impact on my life as well. I've made a lot of lifelong friends and learned a lot about the world and different cultures through the people I've met. The app is atrocious and barely usable, but the community is terrific.

More than anything, Couchsurfing taught me wonderful things can happen when you embrace serendipity. Couchsurfing is an important antidote to a world that seems increasingly fearful of strangers.

I hope they manage to survive.

Re: The Death of Couchsurfing?

#60

Post by dredmorbius »

Stratoscope wrote: post #43
mschuster91 wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

HN is run as a side gig, modded by iirc 2 or 3 staffers. Simple tech stack with next to zero new features, so not too capital intensive. Plus: there are a shitload of people from all over the world here, ranging from broke devs in "third world countries" over German journalists to US VC CEOs. HN is essentially a gateway to a lot of influential people... a "soft power" in politics terms. And one with real monetary val…

> HN is run as a side gig, modded by iirc 2 or 3 staffers. I think it may be just one now - sctb's last comment here was 8 months ago.

Yes: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21930336
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