Ask HN: Why did YC fund two startups that do exactly the same thing?

#1

Post by araneae » Thu, Mar 22, 2012, 1:53 PM UTC

I thought perhaps they were imprints of the same things but it looks like they're entirely different start-ups since they are from two different YC seasons.

Both Picwing and Picplum send printed photos to recipients on a monthly or bimonthly basis.

http://www.picwing.com/

https://www.picplum.com/

Re: Ask HN: Why did YC fund two startups that do exactly the same thing?

#2

Post by c1sc0 » Thu, Mar 22, 2012, 2:01 PM UTC

Why not? Isn't competition supposed to be a good thing? Also: if you're convinced an idea is going to be big, why not bet on a few companies at the same time? This is not a horse -race.

Re: Ask HN: Why did YC fund two startups that do exactly the same thing?

#3

Post by itsprofitbaron » Thu, Mar 22, 2012, 2:07 PM UTC

They also funded competitors in the email CRM space as well.

They even say in their FAQ that they will - http://ycombinator.com/faq.html

Re: Ask HN: Why did YC fund two startups that do exactly the same thing?

#4

Post by corin_ » Thu, Mar 22, 2012, 2:11 PM UTC

c1sc0 wrote: post #2

Why not ? Isn't competition supposed to be a good thing? Also: if you're convinced an idea is going to be big, why not bet on a few companies at the same time? This is not a horse -race.

Off-topic point about horse racing - plenty of people place multiple conflicting bets on races!

Re: Ask HN: Why did YC fund two startups that do exactly the same thing?

#5

Post by Thunderdome » Thu, Mar 22, 2012, 2:14 PM UTC

Two startups enter, one startup leaves.

Re: Ask HN: Why did YC fund two startups that do exactly the same thing?

#6

Post by iheartmemcache » Thu, Mar 22, 2012, 2:14 PM UTC

c1sc0 wrote: post #2

Why not ? Isn't competition supposed to be a good thing? Also: if you're convinced an idea is going to be big, why not bet on a few companies at the same time? This is not a horse -race.

An alternative answer is that PG, et al have said time and time again that they invest in people not technology. The partners are probably expecting one (or both) of the start-ups to change dramatically down the road

Re: Ask HN: Why did YC fund two startups that do exactly the same thing?

#7

Post by tptacek » Thu, Mar 22, 2012, 2:14 PM UTC

Aren't these the same company, with two different branded services? Didn't Picplum acquire Picwing some ways back?

Also, Picwing didn't start as an online photo sharing service. It was, if I'm remembering right, a hardware product. The service there now was a fallback for them.

Re: Ask HN: Why did YC fund two startups that do exactly the same thing?

#8

Post by dazzla » Thu, Mar 22, 2012, 2:15 PM UTC

I think the same team runs both now. However maybe they are both abandoned now as I can't get any response to support emails.

Re: Ask HN: Why did YC fund two startups that do exactly the same thing?

#9

Post by cleverjake » Thu, Mar 22, 2012, 2:27 PM UTC

"PicPlum acquired the assets of a previous Y-Combinator company PicWing, and took over its printer relationship and initial user base."

(via http://techcrunch.com/2011/08/12/yc-funded-picplum-beautiful...)

Re: Ask HN: Why did YC fund two startups that do exactly the same thing?

#10

Post by joshu » Thu, Mar 22, 2012, 2:42 PM UTC

c1sc0 wrote: post #2

Why not ? Isn't competition supposed to be a good thing? Also: if you're convinced an idea is going to be big, why not bet on a few companies at the same time? This is not a horse -race.

Because it is considered sub-ethical by the rest of the industry.