Show HN: Like Airbnb but for food • Hacker News Board

Re: Show HN: Like Airbnb but for food

#101

Post by negrit » Wed, May 22, 2013, 9:31 PM UTC

ngrandy wrote: post #78

This is an exciting concept that has been tackled by many teams, few of which have yet been able to reach significant scale. But I believe it will happen. Feastly ( http://eatfeastly.com/ ) is a similar approach that is active in the US. (I'm an advisor) The restaurant industry is massive (in the US, it's three times the size of the accommodations industry) so winning even a small slice is a win.

Thanks. I can't wait to see what Feastly will look like. I wish them the best of luck !

It's a tough battle out there but it's very interesting !

Re: Show HN: Like Airbnb but for food

#102

Post by negrit » Wed, May 22, 2013, 9:34 PM UTC

gregschlom wrote: post #82

Hehehe, the "Airbnb for food" tagline reminded me of the http://incubatorincubator.com : Specifically: "AirBnBForY. AirBnBforY specializes in incubating companies that are the "AirBnB" for their respective industries (e.g. "The AirBnB for pantry space" and "The AirBnB for condiments" (A lot of people aren't making full use of their mustard, ketchup, and other condiments. AirDiments creates a marketplace by which peop…

Haha, I didn't know this parody of ycombinator.com

So, "AirBnBForY" is the punchline for the HN post but we obviously don't pitch it like this :)

Re: Show HN: Like Airbnb but for food

#103

Post by Aga » Wed, May 22, 2013, 9:39 PM UTC

Very nice concept!

I hope this catches fire like Airbnb! At least here in Finland "Restaurant Day" [1] has already become somewhat of an institution, so I bet there's potential for Cookening too!

A minor detail: I'd appreciate the _full_ price to be displayed with a side note like "including Cookening service free 3€".

Or is the service fee per group? In that case it could be something like: "15€ per guest + 3€ Cookening service fee per group"

With the current layout the service fee feels almost hidden.

Best of luck with this!

[1] http://www.visitfinland.com/article/restaurant-day/

Re: Show HN: Like Airbnb but for food

#104

Post by negrit » Wed, May 22, 2013, 9:48 PM UTC

skue wrote: post #65

Very interesting idea, and great website! A question: I'm curious whether you put a lot of consideration into the review system? Asking hosts to invite strangers over and publicly rate their hospitality, cooking, and home is asking a lot. Yes, Airbnb does something similar, but renting a room feels like more of a business transaction. Having dinner guests share a meal is more personal and intimate - and it would be e…

This is a very good remark. That's the reason why we have this three notes : food, place and hospitality. As you see, we're asking guests to review the hospitality, not the person.

As always, it is very important to us that guest expectations before any booking are the right ones: hosts do not commit on serving food like in a restaurant, they commit it is home made, they commit on a meal structure (number of courses) and they'll respect food specifics mentionned by their guests.

Re: Show HN: Like Airbnb but for food

#105

Post by anonymous1983 » Wed, May 22, 2013, 9:48 PM UTC

There was another company that tried this concept. I forget the name, but they are not hosting dinners in restaurants for a group of random people and turning a profit. I remember they said something along the lines of burden on the host was too much.

Re: Show HN: Like Airbnb but for food

#106

Post by negrit » Wed, May 22, 2013, 9:50 PM UTC

SippinLean wrote: post #25

Cool idea. I wouldn't really want to eat food prepared by someone I didn't know if that food/kitchen isn't subject to health inspections. The answer to the "What about the hygiene?" FAQ doesn't do enough to assuage my fears in this regard. It says tables are "manually reviewed by the team". Reviewed with the stringent standards of the health dept?

Thanks for the feedback! It means we have to improve the FAQ on this part.

Hosts cook and eat with their guests, so it's a very good way to be sure about the quality: First because hosts eat it as well, second because they'll have a direct feedback, and it's not very pleasant to serve bad food to people when they're eating with you.

In fact, we think there's a fear of a risk more than a real risk. There's less risk to eat something that has been cooked at home, in smal quantities, than something in a big restaurant with food that has stayed in a fridge for several weeks...

Actually, have you often been sick when invited by friend or family?

Reviews we're doing are based on information provided by hosts (description, pictures), as well as email or phone contact if needed. And the review system will help. Risk averse foodies will eat with hosts with no reviews, less risk averse will go to hosts that already have a good reputation on the system.

Re: Show HN: Like Airbnb but for food

#107

Post by negrit » Wed, May 22, 2013, 9:54 PM UTC

k-mcgrady wrote: post #57

I love this idea and it seems like a great way to bring people together in real life through technology. Like others though I think this could have trouble with laws and probably to a greater extent than AirBnB. How liable is the host if there is an food poisoning incident for example? Is Cookening liable at all? Anyway, good luck, it's a great idea.

In the terms and conditions, we're explaining Cookening is the third party. That's also why we're using a payment system that makes the money go directly from user to user, even if payment is made on our website.

That said, our job is also to make sure everything goes well, and if something happens, we'll have to handle it.

Re: Show HN: Like Airbnb but for food

#108

Post by negrit » Wed, May 22, 2013, 10:00 PM UTC

Aga wrote: post #103

Very nice concept! I hope this catches fire like Airbnb! At least here in Finland "Restaurant Day" [1] has already become somewhat of an institution, so I bet there's potential for Cookening too! A minor detail: I'd appreciate the _full_ price to be displayed with a side note like "including Cookening service free 3€". Or is the service fee per group? In that case it could be something like: "15€ per guest + 3€ Cooke…

Thank you ! I'll forward the feedback to our UI/UX guy !

Re: Show HN: Like Airbnb but for food

#109

Post by wingerlang » Thu, May 23, 2013, 3:55 AM UTC

jnsaff2 wrote: post #88

mmahemoff wrote: post #31

Super Marmite, based in France, pitched this in 2010. I think it's still going. http://www.super-marmite.com/

I was a founder at http://eatwithme.net but have since left the team. Feel free to shoot me questions, should you have any.

Why did you leave?

Re: Show HN: Like Airbnb but for food

#110

Post by [deleted] » Thu, May 23, 2013, 9:13 AM UTC

negrit wrote: post #102

gregschlom wrote: post #82

Hehehe, the "Airbnb for food" tagline reminded me of the http://incubatorincubator.com : Specifically: "AirBnBForY. AirBnBforY specializes in incubating companies that are the "AirBnB" for their respective industries (e.g. "The AirBnB for pantry space" and "The AirBnB for condiments" (A lot of people aren't making full use of their mustard, ketchup, and other condiments. AirDiments creates a marketplace by which peop…

Haha, I didn't know this parody of ycombinator.com So, "AirBnBForY" is the punchline for the HN post but we obviously don't pitch it like this :)

[deleted]