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YC Demo Day Session 4: Shoptiques, Pair, Daily Muse, Per Vices, iCracked

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Re: YC Demo Day Session 4: Shoptiques, Pair, Daily Muse, Per Vices, iCracked

#11

Post by frisco »

rdl wrote: post #9
psycho wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I guess, it's good business but I never noticed YC backing such "trivial" kind of business.

You're right that they don't solve any open problem in computer science or mathematics, but neither did Facebook, Amazon, Apple, Google (I think), etc., and they seem to have done ok. :)

Not to take away from your main point, but Google did need to solve a fundamental computer science problem: how to compute eigenvector centrality efficiently. It would have been impossible to calculate PageRank at web scale without the Power Method (and applying EC to the link structure of the web in the first place involves lots of nontrivial math).

Re: YC Demo Day Session 4: Shoptiques, Pair, Daily Muse, Per Vices, iCracked

#12

Post by frisco »

psycho wrote: post #4

And what's so cool about AnyVivo?

Maybe nothing. But they're out there selling $150k in jellyfish a month on 50% margins, and probably having a blast doing it. Their potential market isn't exactly small. Not sure what else you're looking for.

Re: YC Demo Day Session 4: Shoptiques, Pair, Daily Muse, Per Vices, iCracked

#13

Post by gibybo »

psycho wrote: post #8
rdl wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

People buy a lot of pets, Amazon won't touch them (one of the few legal areas of commerce which Amazon can't dominate; guns are another...). They've been making a lot of money (and 50-60% margin) in the past few weeks selling jellyfish, which I didn't realize was even possible to keep as a pet. Presumably as they move into other more interesting pets, they will make more money.

I guess, it's good business but I never noticed YC backing such "trivial" kind of business.

What makes selling live animals trivial?

Re: YC Demo Day Session 4: Shoptiques, Pair, Daily Muse, Per Vices, iCracked

#14

Post by [deleted] »

psycho wrote: post #8
rdl wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

People buy a lot of pets, Amazon won't touch them (one of the few legal areas of commerce which Amazon can't dominate; guns are another...). They've been making a lot of money (and 50-60% margin) in the past few weeks selling jellyfish, which I didn't realize was even possible to keep as a pet. Presumably as they move into other more interesting pets, they will make more money.

I guess, it's good business but I never noticed YC backing such "trivial" kind of business.

[deleted]

Re: YC Demo Day Session 4: Shoptiques, Pair, Daily Muse, Per Vices, iCracked

#18

Post by hackinthebochs »

gibybo wrote: post #13
psycho wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I guess, it's good business but I never noticed YC backing such "trivial" kind of business.

What makes selling live animals trivial?

I think he means the "change the world" vibe we get from a lot of startups. I think its great YC is broadening its scope into more traditional businesses.

Re: YC Demo Day Session 4: Shoptiques, Pair, Daily Muse, Per Vices, iCracked

#19

Post by Alex3917 »

I am curious about Pair's user acquisition strategy, as the concept is (by definition) almost as anti-viral as possible. It seems like it would be much easier to create something similar for cliques, make it support up to 8 people, and market it to middle- and high school kids. And then enable anonymous inter-group (as opposed to intra-group) messaging, so that way there is a vector of virality. Obviously a smaller market though.

Re: YC Demo Day Session 4: Shoptiques, Pair, Daily Muse, Per Vices, iCracked

#20

Post by karamazov »

Alex3917 wrote: post #19

I am curious about Pair's user acquisition strategy, as the concept is (by definition) almost as anti-viral as possible. It seems like it would be much easier to create something similar for cliques, make it support up to 8 people, and market it to middle- and high school kids. And then enable anonymous inter-group (as opposed to intra-group) messaging, so that way there is a vector of virality. Obviously a smaller m…

It's not anti-viral; I tried it out with my significant other to see how it worked, and I'll recommend it to people who travel frequently or are in long-distance relationships. Obviously, I won't be using it with them, but that's different.
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