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Launch YC S21: Meet the Batch, Thread #7

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Re: Launch YC S21: Meet the Batch, Thread #7

#101

Post by ilyausorov »

dhoe wrote: post #97
anadalakra wrote: post #3

We’re Anada and Ilya, the co-founders of BoldVoice ( https://www.boldvoice.com/ ). BoldVoice is an accent coaching app that helps non-native speakers learn and practice the standard American accent. As immigrants to the US, we’ve personally experienced that having a foreign accent can affect your confidence and job opportunities (by as much as 20%, according to studies). So we built this app to help non-native Englis…

I tried to build something like this a couple of years ago, just by using speech-to-text, and that worked really badly (but it was better than nothing). I've given BoldVoice a spin and am very impressed by how well it works on phoneme level - well done, congrats on launching!

Thanks for trying it out, glad to hear you liked the tech!

We're continuing to improve and expand both the technical capabilities of the pronunciation assessment, as well as add more varied & exciting content that a user can go through.

Re: Launch YC S21: Meet the Batch, Thread #7

#102

Post by LevoMX »

anizan wrote: post #36
Sriverop wrote: post #2

Hi, we are Salvador and Max from Levo ( https://www.levo.mx ) a high yield savings account for Mexico. We aggregate the savings accounts of our users and negotiate significantly better interest rates from other banks on their behalf. 65% of Mexican savers keep their savings in their checking or savings accounts, yet 97% of all bank accounts are non-interest bearing. This is partly due to a highly concentrated banking…

This idea looks good. Finance revolves on information asymmetry and keeping your customer uninformed on what's best for them. What does the final step on account opening and transfer of funds look like for the user? Surely banks can't be that cooperative in providing you an api to open accounts for them. Are there any money market funds or short term debt funds in Mexico? I am sure you would look into adding forex ca…

In terms of using the App, once we get approval from the regulators, users just have to download the app and do our onboarding process, then wire their respective funds via SPEI. And yes indeed, most Banks don't have APIs, however our onboarding process is compliant with official KYC requirements and that's how we will be able to operate.

Re: Launch YC S21: Meet the Batch, Thread #7

#103

Post by ilyausorov »

kriro wrote: post #99
anadalakra wrote: post #3

We’re Anada and Ilya, the co-founders of BoldVoice ( https://www.boldvoice.com/ ). BoldVoice is an accent coaching app that helps non-native speakers learn and practice the standard American accent. As immigrants to the US, we’ve personally experienced that having a foreign accent can affect your confidence and job opportunities (by as much as 20%, according to studies). So we built this app to help non-native Englis…

I have very mixed feelings on this. First of all, it feels like a patch for latent discrimination. I'd rather strive towards a world where accents matter less than fixing accents. Sure very thick accents can hinder communication but I feel like improving that a bit is enough. There's no need to perfectly emulate the native accent (and let's not forget about the differences between say Jersey, Oklahoma, Boston and L.A…

Hey, thanks for sharing your thoughts.

When it comes to striving for a world where accents don't matter, we feel the same way.

In fact, our dialect coach, Ron Carlos, slacked me earlier today: "We truly hope that one day accents won’t matter, but until then we have folks who feel embarrassed about their accent which keeps them from showing up with their full selves. We’re here to help those folks feel more confident with their speech."

What we're trying to help users with is learning the physical skills that make up their account: pronunciation, speech rhythm, intonation, stress -- ultimately, how to speak the way they want, with the ultimate goal of helping the user become more confident and clear in their speech. If the way they want to sound is exactly like someone from Jersey, Boston, L.A. or anywhere else, we're happy to support them!

Re: Launch YC S21: Meet the Batch, Thread #7

#104

Post by Mikeb85 »

kriro wrote: post #99
anadalakra wrote: post #3

We’re Anada and Ilya, the co-founders of BoldVoice ( https://www.boldvoice.com/ ). BoldVoice is an accent coaching app that helps non-native speakers learn and practice the standard American accent. As immigrants to the US, we’ve personally experienced that having a foreign accent can affect your confidence and job opportunities (by as much as 20%, according to studies). So we built this app to help non-native Englis…

I have very mixed feelings on this. First of all, it feels like a patch for latent discrimination. I'd rather strive towards a world where accents matter less than fixing accents. Sure very thick accents can hinder communication but I feel like improving that a bit is enough. There's no need to perfectly emulate the native accent (and let's not forget about the differences between say Jersey, Oklahoma, Boston and L.A…

> First of all, it feels like a patch for latent discrimination.

Try learning a language that's not English. You're definitely judged on your accent, ie. your ability to properly pronounce words. If you want to fully assimilate to the environment you choose to exist in, speaking with less of an accent helps with being understood. Also, the 'standard' American accent (ie. Hollywood/West Coast accent) is understood by absolutely anyone; even those who are new to speaking English.

Heck, even English speakers from regions such as the Caribbean, England, Australia, etc..., turn their accent 'off' in business environments to be better understood. Many native English speakers can't even understand creole from the Caribbean for example.

Accents can definitely also hamper communication. I'm a native English speaker who's interacted with many immigrants so I can definitely understand almost every accent. But two immigrants both speaking English as their second language and from different parts of the world will often have trouble, I've seen it plenty. Even my girlfriend, who speaks English at quite a high level but isn't native, has a difficult time if I speak too quickly using local slang and pronunciation (and our accent barely deviates from standard American English).

Focusing on a standard pronunciation, especially in a job or school environment, helps a lot.

Re: Launch YC S21: Meet the Batch, Thread #7

#105

Post by mwcampbell »

brunovcosta wrote: post #6

I'm Bruno, founder of Abstra ( https://abstra.app/ ). Abstra is a no-code tool that allows designers to build web apps. Imagine Figma, but we export a functional web application. Here's a timelapsed demo showing it in action: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5fObVcHcd_w . As opposed to most famous no-code tools, we don't do any nested-based editing (e.g. tree structure like Webflow - which is an amazing tool, but is b…

Congrats on the launch. Have you tested the generated UI for accessibility, particularly with a screen reader? If I can try a finished demo app without going through the design process myself, I'd be happy to provide feedback.

Re: Launch YC S21: Meet the Batch, Thread #7

#106

Post by jbpnoy6fifty »

alexvilhena wrote: post #5

Hi - we’re Alex, Thiago, and Marcel, founders of Plug ( https://www.plugpagamentos.com/ ). We are live in Brazil, and currently onboarding our first beta customers in the US and LatAm. Plug is an API to manage multiple payments providers. Through a single integration, businesses can connect to multiple providers and route transactions between them. It’s hard to know who the right payments provider for your business i…

This space is very red ocean. What makes your product unique than other more mature offerings?

Re: Launch YC S21: Meet the Batch, Thread #7

#107

Post by dang »

eldaisfish wrote: post #45
ilyausorov wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thanks for sharing your thoughts. I invite you to watch one of our dialect coaches, Ron Carlos, share a bit about both the values and process that he brings to the table at BoldVoice (1:43 mins) - https://vimeo.com/572809188 As our name implies, we want to help non-native English speakers feel bolder and more confident when speaking English. To feel more confident, indeed, one may need to more deeply learn the rules…

You have not addressed the fundamental point of my comment - why are you selling a north american accent in particular? Clear speech is not predicated on acquiring a certain accent and i feel you are feeding into the stereotype of an accent determining the quality of the speaker, not the content of speech. Edit - you ignore the fact that a native speaker of English may have an accent that is not North American. Think…

Sorry for veering offtopic, but can you please stop posting in the flamewar style to HN? You've unfortunately been doing it a lot, in many threads. It degrades discussion and, as https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html explains, we're trying for something different than that here. Note this one, for example: "Have curious conversation; don't cross-examine."

The main thing that would fix this is if you edit the swipes out of your comments, e.g. commenting on how bad the other person's point is, how they are nitpicking, how they are failing to argue properly. If you simply make your substantive points directly, without negative 'you' statements, your comments will be much better.

Also, please omit flamebait like the bit at the end of your comment here. It breaks the site guidelines too, and leads nowhere good.

Re: Launch YC S21: Meet the Batch, Thread #7

#108

Post by ggregoire »

Zababa wrote: post #66
anadalakra wrote: post #3

We’re Anada and Ilya, the co-founders of BoldVoice ( https://www.boldvoice.com/ ). BoldVoice is an accent coaching app that helps non-native speakers learn and practice the standard American accent. As immigrants to the US, we’ve personally experienced that having a foreign accent can affect your confidence and job opportunities (by as much as 20%, according to studies). So we built this app to help non-native Englis…

That sounds like a very nice idea! I'm French and not confident at all in my oral English because of my pronunciation. I did a bit of job hunting recently, and I was afraid that the topic of English would come up precisely because of that.

Hey we are in the same boat, like many French people I guess! I’m confident speaking English but it feels so frustrating sometimes to not be understood by my interlocutors. Especially by other non native English speakers who usually have a hard time understanding my accent.

I’m definitely going to check this product out, I always wanted something like it.

Re: Launch YC S21: Meet the Batch, Thread #7

#109

Post by alabamacadabra »

anadalakra wrote: post #3

We’re Anada and Ilya, the co-founders of BoldVoice ( https://www.boldvoice.com/ ). BoldVoice is an accent coaching app that helps non-native speakers learn and practice the standard American accent. As immigrants to the US, we’ve personally experienced that having a foreign accent can affect your confidence and job opportunities (by as much as 20%, according to studies). So we built this app to help non-native Englis…

Accents/linguistic aspects of neurology tend to be associated closely with intelligence. I think that it’s likely none of your investors have the requisite amount required to see that this is non-functional. Also Americans will adapt their speech to be more foreign if others are using linguistic patterns that are domestic. This is truly a stupid undertaking.

Re: Launch YC S21: Meet the Batch, Thread #7

#110

Post by anadalakra »

yorwba wrote: post #93
anadalakra wrote: post #3

We’re Anada and Ilya, the co-founders of BoldVoice ( https://www.boldvoice.com/ ). BoldVoice is an accent coaching app that helps non-native speakers learn and practice the standard American accent. As immigrants to the US, we’ve personally experienced that having a foreign accent can affect your confidence and job opportunities (by as much as 20%, according to studies). So we built this app to help non-native Englis…

Have you considered adapting your app for deaf people? A friend of mine developed a pronunciation practice app for deaf speakers of Korean as a student, which won them an innovation award. But according to my friend, the pronunciation score (which was based on comparing spectrograms or something) didn't work all that well, and the award was mostly due to the non-technical team members making up a heart-warming story…

That's an interesting use case that we could potentially explore down the line, thanks for sharing!

Right now, we're focusing on non-native English speakers, as it's a problem that we personally understand best -- as well as a very large market.

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