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Launch YC S21: Meet the Batch, Thread #8

news.ycombinator.com

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Re: Launch YC S21: Meet the Batch, Thread #8

#61

Post by ecf »

EMM_386 wrote: post #52
VrindaGupta wrote: post #6

Hi, I'm Vrinda Gupta. I worked at Visa Inc. for years, launching popular credit cards. But when I applied for the Chase Sapphire Reserve (the credit card I helped develop), I was rejected! I'm now the CEO and Co-Founder of Sequin, a debit card that builds credit for women risk-free with no credit history required. My co-founder, Mark Thomas, spent over a decade at PayPal leading ACH products in various EM roles. I wa…

> Our first product, the Sequin Card is the first debit card that builds credit for women Serious question ... why only women? I know you list reasons such as "women were disproportionately being rejected by credit cards", but at the end of the day isn't this something that can help out anyone? I'm curious why you are throwing out 50% of your potential customer base. I don't fully understand what a "credit card for w…

Because this product doesn’t seem to be doing anything different and the only way they can get buyers it is to try to proclaim that the service is made specifically for “insert underserved group here”.

It’s a common trend with startups being accepted into YC nowadays.

Re: Launch YC S21: Meet the Batch, Thread #8

#62

Post by sillysaurusx »

EMM_386 wrote: post #52
VrindaGupta wrote: post #6

Hi, I'm Vrinda Gupta. I worked at Visa Inc. for years, launching popular credit cards. But when I applied for the Chase Sapphire Reserve (the credit card I helped develop), I was rejected! I'm now the CEO and Co-Founder of Sequin, a debit card that builds credit for women risk-free with no credit history required. My co-founder, Mark Thomas, spent over a decade at PayPal leading ACH products in various EM roles. I wa…

> Our first product, the Sequin Card is the first debit card that builds credit for women Serious question ... why only women? I know you list reasons such as "women were disproportionately being rejected by credit cards", but at the end of the day isn't this something that can help out anyone? I'm curious why you are throwing out 50% of your potential customer base. I don't fully understand what a "credit card for w…

I had the same thought, but (a) it’s open to everyone, (b) no one minds when Axe makes a deodorant specifically for men, and (c) it’s better to focus on a small group of customers that love you than a large group that might mildly like you.

Re: Launch YC S21: Meet the Batch, Thread #8

#63

Post by sillysaurusx »

ecf wrote: post #61
EMM_386 wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Our first product, the Sequin Card is the first debit card that builds credit for women Serious question ... why only women? I know you list reasons such as "women were disproportionately being rejected by credit cards", but at the end of the day isn't this something that can help out anyone? I'm curious why you are throwing out 50% of your potential customer base. I don't fully understand what a "credit card for w…

Because this product doesn’t seem to be doing anything different and the only way they can get buyers it is to try to proclaim that the service is made specifically for “insert underserved group here”. It’s a common trend with startups being accepted into YC nowadays.

I don’t usually downvote comments, but this one is a combination of hubris (what are the chances you know better than YC plus the founders?) and snark (“common trend with YC startups…”).

The trouble is, you might be right! Maybe it is a trend. But if you phrase it as a question, it has a higher chance of being a substantive observation rather than a middlebrow dismissal.

I used to do the same thing. Habits can change; I found it worthwhile to try.

All that matters is whether the startup can grow. If these tactics lead to growth, can they be called mistaken?

Re: Launch YC S21: Meet the Batch, Thread #8

#64

Post by giantg2 »

MustafaAlAdhami wrote: post #3

Hi HN. My name is Mustafa Al-Adhami. I am the founder and CEO of Astek Diagnositcs Inc. ( https://astekdx.com ). We have a platform to determine antibiotic sensitivity in one hour. Every year, 1.7 million Americans are evaluated for sepsis - and too many die while waiting days for the correct antibiotic. Imagine a one-day-old baby having to wait twice as long as they have been alive to receive accurate treatment. Or…

Wow, very cool.

Re: Launch YC S21: Meet the Batch, Thread #8

#65

Post by bnj »

robdigibuild wrote: post #5

Hi, we’re Rob, April and Ivan, cofounders of DigiBuild ( https://digibuild.com/ ). We build construction software powered by blockchain. Our tools help large companies, like VCC Construction, improve the schedule and budget on projects and save over a million dollars annually. I grew up in construction with my dad and saw first hand the issues companies face everyday. The building process involves 50-100 stakeholders…

O

Re: Launch YC S21: Meet the Batch, Thread #8

#66

Post by VrindaGupta »

EMM_386 wrote: post #52
VrindaGupta wrote: post #6

Hi, I'm Vrinda Gupta. I worked at Visa Inc. for years, launching popular credit cards. But when I applied for the Chase Sapphire Reserve (the credit card I helped develop), I was rejected! I'm now the CEO and Co-Founder of Sequin, a debit card that builds credit for women risk-free with no credit history required. My co-founder, Mark Thomas, spent over a decade at PayPal leading ACH products in various EM roles. I wa…

> Our first product, the Sequin Card is the first debit card that builds credit for women Serious question ... why only women? I know you list reasons such as "women were disproportionately being rejected by credit cards", but at the end of the day isn't this something that can help out anyone? I'm curious why you are throwing out 50% of your potential customer base. I don't fully understand what a "credit card for w…

I'll answer here. :)

Banks spend 13x more advertising to men than women. Young women have the largest spending power of any demographic ever - this is a seismic shift in the market.

Credit card rewards target where men are spending 60% more of the time, versus where women are spending 60% more (and control 85% of GDP).

Re: Launch YC S21: Meet the Batch, Thread #8

#67

Post by debarshri »

sunil_loanmeet wrote: post #7

Hi HN! We are a rather unusual team of six founders (Pei, Amit, Sunil, Jack, Bo, and Kartik) spread across India and China, building Karbon Cards ( https://www.karboncard.com/ ). We help companies in India get instant access to a corporate card. We came across this problem separately while Amit was doing VC and Sunil was running his own fintech. We saw that a startup with $1M in the bank was facing mind-numbing issue…

One of things I noticed that you guys have 6 founders. Could you elaborate a bit on that, how do you manage the role, segregate responsibilities and manage conflicts if any. I am asking just out of curiosity. I have noticed that in Indian start up you generally find alot of founder for eg. Housing.com

Re: Launch YC S21: Meet the Batch, Thread #8

#68

Post by ravi_b »

uranium wrote: post #36
ravi_b wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You mean another start-up by another professor in another university on another battery chemistry :). we get that a lot. You are spot on. Almost 96% of 2M e-rickshaws in India still run on lead acid battery (because of lower upfront cost). The only way to switch them to better tech (lithium-ion) is by making it more affordable for them.

Yeah, everything here sounds great except for "We also have a patent-pending technology that reduces the cost of lithium-ion batteries by 50%." That's a huge claim, which would immediately be many times more valuable than your swapping business. Is this cost reduction perhaps just vs. small-volume retail prices, in India, for specific battery formats, or some other reasonable limitation?

Even with half cost, we are more expensive than lead acid batteries. Typically lithium ion batteries are three times in price compared to lead acid batteries. Erickshaw drivers are very cost sensitive to upfront battery cost. We wanted to give them the most affordable battery solution.

Re: Launch YC S21: Meet the Batch, Thread #8

#69

Post by ravi_b »

uranium wrote: post #43
ravi_b wrote: post #4

Hi HN, we're Ravi and Pratik of Enerjazz ( https://www.enerjazz.tech/ ). We make battery swapping stations (like gasoline stations) for electric vehicles, swapping discharged batteries with charged batteries in 2 minutes for light commercial EVs. Commercial EVs or electric rickshaws have 2 pain points. One high upfront cost of battery (can be up to 50% of the total cost of vehicle). Two, high charging downtime result…

$70 < [cost of lead-acid battery] < [cost of lithium-ion battery], so how often does a customer trade the deposit for a battery?

$70 is a refundable deposit they give us when they join us. They pay us per swap. We sometimes get customers who had their lead acid batteries stolen and who now have no money to buy a new battery. With us they pay as they earn.

Re: Launch YC S21: Meet the Batch, Thread #8

#70

Post by ravi_b »

sunil_loanmeet wrote: post #30
ravi_b wrote: post #4

Hi HN, we're Ravi and Pratik of Enerjazz ( https://www.enerjazz.tech/ ). We make battery swapping stations (like gasoline stations) for electric vehicles, swapping discharged batteries with charged batteries in 2 minutes for light commercial EVs. Commercial EVs or electric rickshaws have 2 pain points. One high upfront cost of battery (can be up to 50% of the total cost of vehicle). Two, high charging downtime result…

Congratulations guys !

Thanks so much, Sunil.
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