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41,000,006 reasons why I think we're in a bubble

jacquesmattheij.com

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Re: 41,000,006 reasons why I think we're in a bubble

#181

Post by theklub »

patio11 wrote: post #125
edw519 wrote: post #30

I don't know about the rest of the world, but we sure are in a bubble here at Hacker News. There seems to be a real disconnect between what people want to build/invest in and what people in the real world actually need and want to pay for. Just as sample of what I've witnessed in the past few years: Ask HN: How do you like my file sharing app? Ask HN: How do you like my social app for niche ? Ask HN: How do you like…

To add, approximately one half of people in the real world share a common demographic category with a sliver of HN users and a fraction of a sliver of what we create. Women have money. Go take it. Nobody else wants it in tech. (Well, aside from Groupon, Zynga, and a few other companies that missed the opportunity to make an iPhone app that you could wiggle to share photos.)

You may not be aware but there are a lot of other websites taking money from women. IE. shoe website innovations. I recall there was also some fashion site at TC Disrupt that reminded me of Swoopo. I wonder what happened to it.

Re: 41,000,006 reasons why I think we're in a bubble

#182

Post by dgabriel »

theklub wrote: post #181
patio11 wrote: post #125

Earlier quoted context omitted.

To add, approximately one half of people in the real world share a common demographic category with a sliver of HN users and a fraction of a sliver of what we create. Women have money. Go take it. Nobody else wants it in tech. (Well, aside from Groupon, Zynga, and a few other companies that missed the opportunity to make an iPhone app that you could wiggle to share photos.)

You may not be aware but there are a lot of other websites taking money from women. IE. shoe website innovations. I recall there was also some fashion site at TC Disrupt that reminded me of Swoopo. I wonder what happened to it.

Women are interested in much more than fashion and shoes (and there are many men who are interested in fashion and shoes). The market seems pretty poorly understood by tech innovators.

Re: 41,000,006 reasons why I think we're in a bubble

#183

Post by elai »

patio11 wrote: post #125
edw519 wrote: post #30

I don't know about the rest of the world, but we sure are in a bubble here at Hacker News. There seems to be a real disconnect between what people want to build/invest in and what people in the real world actually need and want to pay for. Just as sample of what I've witnessed in the past few years: Ask HN: How do you like my file sharing app? Ask HN: How do you like my social app for niche ? Ask HN: How do you like…

To add, approximately one half of people in the real world share a common demographic category with a sliver of HN users and a fraction of a sliver of what we create. Women have money. Go take it. Nobody else wants it in tech. (Well, aside from Groupon, Zynga, and a few other companies that missed the opportunity to make an iPhone app that you could wiggle to share photos.)

I know what you mean. When I've suggested targeting a female demographic with things that are somewhat silly, but most women just go crazy over (seen by how many women get into similar thing in several businesses) I was dismissed out of hand.

Re: 41,000,006 reasons why I think we're in a bubble

#184

Post by Uhhrrr »

dmarinoc wrote: post #174
patio11 wrote: post #125

Earlier quoted context omitted.

To add, approximately one half of people in the real world share a common demographic category with a sliver of HN users and a fraction of a sliver of what we create. Women have money. Go take it. Nobody else wants it in tech. (Well, aside from Groupon, Zynga, and a few other companies that missed the opportunity to make an iPhone app that you could wiggle to share photos.)

They do not only have money. They have a strong influence (and almost always the last word) in most of end-consumer buying decisions. It's strange so little companies focus on them

People are taught to focus on a market they understand, specifically themselves if nothing else. Women, on the other hand, are hard to understand, even to other women.

Re: 41,000,006 reasons why I think we're in a bubble

#185

Post by T-hawk »

yummyfajitas wrote: post #176
cpeterso wrote: post #163

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Good, gradual inflation" is how The Man keeps the proletariat busy working. They can't afford to stop.

Inflation helps the proletariat, you know. Most of them are net debtors, so inflation makes it easier to pay off their debts.

Only if their wages also get inflated, which does not always follow with price inflation of goods. And apparently would not happen on the free market, or else the government would not have to force it with minimum wage legislation.

Re: 41,000,006 reasons why I think we're in a bubble

#186

Post by cookiecaper »

patio11 wrote: post #125
edw519 wrote: post #30

I don't know about the rest of the world, but we sure are in a bubble here at Hacker News. There seems to be a real disconnect between what people want to build/invest in and what people in the real world actually need and want to pay for. Just as sample of what I've witnessed in the past few years: Ask HN: How do you like my file sharing app? Ask HN: How do you like my social app for niche ? Ask HN: How do you like…

To add, approximately one half of people in the real world share a common demographic category with a sliver of HN users and a fraction of a sliver of what we create. Women have money. Go take it. Nobody else wants it in tech. (Well, aside from Groupon, Zynga, and a few other companies that missed the opportunity to make an iPhone app that you could wiggle to share photos.)

The Palm Pre used this strategy. Not that it's necessarily bad, but I don't think it's necessarily an instant cash-in either. You have to do things correctly and carefully, and I think the difference between appealing primarily to women and appealing to men is fundamentally a stylistic one.

Re: 41,000,006 reasons why I think we're in a bubble

#187

Post by sdizdar »

Not sure if this particular investment can be called as a sign of a bubble. Social networks, locality, mobile, and things are still new and unknown. But there is a huge potential. There will be soon 2B people on the earth with constant (mobile) connection to the internet.

In order to make FourSquare clone, you don't need a lot of investment for development but you need a LOT of money to acquire users and become a player in that space.

However, the assumption is that there will be only few players and that is why there is a need for these kind of bold investment moves. I disagree. The system will become even more fragmented, democratized, and complex with many unknowns, so classical ways of getting market share will not work. In other words, even with 41M of investment, the company will not be able to fight against some weird and original apps / social network or even coupon buying system.

Re: 41,000,006 reasons why I think we're in a bubble

#188

Post by anamax »

yummyfajitas wrote: post #176
cpeterso wrote: post #163

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Good, gradual inflation" is how The Man keeps the proletariat busy working. They can't afford to stop.

Inflation helps the proletariat, you know. Most of them are net debtors, so inflation makes it easier to pay off their debts.

> Inflation helps the proletariat, you know. Most of them are net debtors, so inflation makes it easier to pay off their debts.

Not so fast. Lenders factor in expected inflation, so it's only unexpected inflation that benefits debtors.

And, making payments isn't the only way to handle debt - bankruptcy works too. You don't get any more "pay later" pizzas, but you get to keep the ones that you already ate.

However, inflation hurts folks whose income doesn't match inflation. After they stop paying their debts, they still need to buy food.

My cat's favorite food went up 25% last month. Since she was already on the cheap stuff....

Re: 41,000,006 reasons why I think we're in a bubble

#189

Post by umjames »

blhack wrote: post #180
edw519 wrote: post #30

I don't know about the rest of the world, but we sure are in a bubble here at Hacker News. There seems to be a real disconnect between what people want to build/invest in and what people in the real world actually need and want to pay for. Just as sample of what I've witnessed in the past few years: Ask HN: How do you like my file sharing app? Ask HN: How do you like my social app for niche ? Ask HN: How do you like…

You're missing the point. Most geeks that I know aren't trying to build apps that make money, they're trying to build apps that are fun, and that their friends think are fun. If you offered me two choices A) Make a million dollars a year doing something you hate that nobody will know about or care about B) Make no money doing something you love that your friends think is cool. I will almost always choose B, and I thi…

Can't you have both? Take option A for a few years. Save most of that money, then quit. Take option B for a lot longer than you could have if you didn't take option A first.

But seriously, I understand that option A almost never pays that well and is usually not guaranteed. For example, working for stock options that you'll most likely never see vest.

Also option B is not guaranteed to make no money either, and at least you like option B. So, I'd take B too.

Re: 41,000,006 reasons why I think we're in a bubble

#190

Post by elai »

ErrantX wrote: post #153
edw519 wrote: post #30

I don't know about the rest of the world, but we sure are in a bubble here at Hacker News. There seems to be a real disconnect between what people want to build/invest in and what people in the real world actually need and want to pay for. Just as sample of what I've witnessed in the past few years: Ask HN: How do you like my file sharing app? Ask HN: How do you like my social app for niche ? Ask HN: How do you like…

There is also a huge (multi-Billion dollar) "industry" for corporate level software that is under serviced in many areas (i.e. the software is churned out by large development houses and is below par). Yet very few startups seem to target these areas. We took a product into a badly serviced industry and were wildly profitable within about a year on minimal funding. I always worry that there is a growing amount of spe…

You guys are a security consulting firm from what I see. What products did you create for that?
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