The Pinboard Investment Co-Prosperity Cloud • Hacker News Board

Re: The Pinboard Investment Co-Prosperity Cloud

#31

Post by msbarnett » Fri, Dec 14, 2012, 9:41 PM UTC

nthitz wrote: post #21

> Is this a joke? It is not a joke. > I have no understanding of the concept of humor... So it is a joke.. Or at the very least tongue in cheek. (With some exceptions,) I doubt hosting is what most VC funding is spent on. Edit: as he said, "The biggest obstacle to creating something useful is finding the time to build it and attracting an initial pool of paying customers." If you have access to those you probably hav…

>If you have access to those you probably have $37. I get that he is trying to say technical costs can be negligible for startups. I fail to see how Investment Co-Prosperity Cloud helps anyone in anyway.

You've managed to recapitulate his point while simultaneously missing it.

As you say, costs are negligible. Time to build something is hard to find, but nobody can help you find it.

Attention is what's really valuable and really hard to get, as a startup. Maciej is highlighting this by making an offer to startups that puts what's really valuable for building a sustainable business (I'll drive attention your way) front-and-center, while mocking the valley's mentality of take-huge-wads-of-funding-cash-and-bet-it-all-on-winning-the-growth-lottery approach to business creation with his "I'll throw in $37" offer.

Re: The Pinboard Investment Co-Prosperity Cloud

#32

Post by bobfunk » Fri, Dec 14, 2012, 9:46 PM UTC

Great idea :)

From Webpop we'll offer a free project and a startup template (http://app.webpop.com/themes/startup) for anybody accepted into the program.

For some people this might be enough to completely skip the Linode and buy one more beer.

Re: The Pinboard Investment Co-Prosperity Cloud

#33

Post by toomuchtodo » Fri, Dec 14, 2012, 9:49 PM UTC

jspthrowaway2 wrote: post #22

toomuchtodo wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would like to take this moment to announce PICPC-VC-2, which is an automatic follow-on investment, structured as uncapped convertible notes, of $500 available to any founder accepted into the PICPC-VC program.

I like where this is going. The next step is $5,000, then we've entirely lost the plot.

Very Inception-ish. "We've got to go 3 funding rounds deep."

Re: The Pinboard Investment Co-Prosperity Cloud

#34

Post by toomuchtodo » Fri, Dec 14, 2012, 9:50 PM UTC

jfb wrote: post #19

toomuchtodo wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Instagram Clone: check

"It's Instagram for paper."

Pretty certain I'm going to drink too much Angry Orchard tonight and try to do this with the Camera app and Picplum on Android.

Re: The Pinboard Investment Co-Prosperity Cloud

#35

Post by aeden » Fri, Dec 14, 2012, 9:56 PM UTC

tptacek wrote: post #16

wilfra wrote: post #8

I applied. Anybody have tips for the interview??? Can any alumni put in a word for me??? What if I use my product to deliver a 6-pack to one of the pinboard founders, will that improve my chances??? Please help!!!

I recommend sending him oyster mushrooms instead of canned beer.

Would canned oyster mushrooms work?

Re: The Pinboard Investment Co-Prosperity Cloud

#36

Post by potench » Fri, Dec 14, 2012, 10:04 PM UTC

rtfeldman wrote: post #6

My application: "I'd use the $37 to buy $20 worth of stamps and envelopes, then $17 for a disposable camera and photo development costs. I'd photograph myself putting the stamps on the envelopes and get the photos developed. Then I'd put the photos in the envelopes and mail them to you."

If you manage to get a photo of yourself sealing the envelope with said photo of you sealing the envelope inside of the envelope... then we might have a winner. Could call it EscherGram

Re: The Pinboard Investment Co-Prosperity Cloud

#37

Post by lucisferre » Fri, Dec 14, 2012, 10:10 PM UTC

> How is this different from other incubators?

> Participants receive almost no money, and are expected to do everything themselves.

So not really all that different than many (most?) incubators.

Re: The Pinboard Investment Co-Prosperity Cloud

#38

Post by benatkin » Fri, Dec 14, 2012, 10:17 PM UTC

jspthrowaway2 wrote: post #22

toomuchtodo wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would like to take this moment to announce PICPC-VC-2, which is an automatic follow-on investment, structured as uncapped convertible notes, of $500 available to any founder accepted into the PICPC-VC program.

I like where this is going. The next step is $5,000, then we've entirely lost the plot.

We're only up to $87 so far in my book. Pinboard and tptacek are legit; toomuchtodo has yet to show us credentials.

Re: The Pinboard Investment Co-Prosperity Cloud

#39

Post by tibbon » Fri, Dec 14, 2012, 10:18 PM UTC

Someone should start a similar fund, but instead of just throwing large amounts of money at the companies like PICPC, they should help introduce them to their vast network of highly engaged people... perhaps on Twitter.

Re: The Pinboard Investment Co-Prosperity Cloud

#40

Post by danielpal » Fri, Dec 14, 2012, 10:20 PM UTC

It does seem like cost are negligible today, but on deeper analysis theres a lot of costs beyond simply hosting.

Just from memory for my startup (Authy.com), initial costs were:

Domain: $1000+

Design: $3000

Video: $3000

Hosting: $400

Depending on your skills this initial costs will vary. An although I agree you don't need external investment to cover them, you should at least plan to invest $10,000US to cover your initial costs.