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Quora collects $80 million in funding

cnet.com

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Re: Quora collects $80 million in funding

#81

Post by pbreit »

fidotron wrote: post #21
hitchhiker999 wrote: post #16

I have a q&a site with 4 million visitors a month - an ESL learning site. We have 2 employees, total cost https://siteanalytics.compete.com/quora.com/ they have only a million visitors a month??? - I'm guessing that must be wrong. My question: What in pickled f*s are these people doing with 80 million on a Q&A site? How far out of the reach of reality is this industry?

I've wondered along these lines too. There is clearly something else going on in the VC business beyond strictly evaluating company value based on ability to generate it directly. One factor I'll project (since I can't tell where you're based) is that companies with proven engineering staff in the Bay Area get a boost in inherent value just from acquihire potential. Bonus points for famous and connected founders, as…

Not sure how you define value but Quora is creating quite a lot of it.

Re: Quora collects $80 million in funding

#82

Post by mbesto »

taybin wrote: post #80
mbesto wrote: post #78

My thoughts on the success of Quora are consistent with that of Joel Spolsky's take on cultural anthropology: http://vimeo.com/37309773 Watch from 9:30 on. "The idea of Stack Overflow is to attract anyone who is an expert programmer and repel anyone who's not" My prediction - Google/Facebook (someone in that arena) will buy Quora.

Isn't Stack Overflow the opposite of that though?

That's my point. Sorry I was actually making two distinct points that probably got intertwined. One - that Quora will not succeed like SO has. Two - Someone will buy Quora. Reason? Because, Silicon Valley.

Re: Quora collects $80 million in funding

#83

Post by pbreit »

hitchhiker999 wrote: post #28
fidotron wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've wondered along these lines too. There is clearly something else going on in the VC business beyond strictly evaluating company value based on ability to generate it directly. One factor I'll project (since I can't tell where you're based) is that companies with proven engineering staff in the Bay Area get a boost in inherent value just from acquihire potential. Bonus points for famous and connected founders, as…

I'm nowhere near the 'bay area' or any US state, nor even in Europe. I'm British, but living abroad, have never known anyone else in the IT industry. HN is my only contact :) When I hear and see the things people in SV say and do - I honestly wonder what the hell is going on out there. It seems people who can put a bit of html + css together are getting paid 10 million these days. -- good luck to them and everything…

That sentiment could not be further from the truth. You could prove it to yourself simply by doing what you describe and seeing how far you get. Breaking through the noise and building a large, attractive user base is incredibly difficult. Sure, just building the web site isn't that hard (actually it is).

Re: Quora collects $80 million in funding

#84

Post by hadoukenio »

taybin wrote: post #80
mbesto wrote: post #78

My thoughts on the success of Quora are consistent with that of Joel Spolsky's take on cultural anthropology: http://vimeo.com/37309773 Watch from 9:30 on. "The idea of Stack Overflow is to attract anyone who is an expert programmer and repel anyone who's not" My prediction - Google/Facebook (someone in that arena) will buy Quora.

Isn't Stack Overflow the opposite of that though?

That's the problem with gamifying something. Eventually you'll get people who are only there for karma. The other day I found an incorrect answer that was chosen, but directly below it was the correct answer. The kicker? The OP commented on the correct answer saying that his was correct but the guy other guy had less karma than him and "needed it". WTF.

These days, you really have to take Stack Overflow answers with a grain of salt.

Re: Quora collects $80 million in funding

#85

Post by shitgoose »

webwright wrote: post #43
hitchhiker999 wrote: post #16

I have a q&a site with 4 million visitors a month - an ESL learning site. We have 2 employees, total cost https://siteanalytics.compete.com/quora.com/ they have only a million visitors a month??? - I'm guessing that must be wrong. My question: What in pickled f*s are these people doing with 80 million on a Q&A site? How far out of the reach of reality is this industry?

First off, Compete.com is a JOKE (I've regularly seen it off by 10-100x). Second, investors care about growth more than traffic-- do we have any data on Quora's growth? Third, Quora's founder/team is pretty bankable-- a failure scenario for them is an $80M acqui-hire. Assuming preferred shares or liquidation prefs by the new investors, that almost entirely de-risks this investment. That coupled with their long term a…

"How to boil water?" [http://www.quora.com/How-do-you-boil-water] - supplant Wikipedia???

Re: Quora collects $80 million in funding

#86

Post by ulfw »

rezistik wrote: post #57
ulfw wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just make it 9 Billion. Seems the way the valley goes these days.

I just want to take everyone in the Valley aside and sit them down, look into the crowd and calmly say "Hey guys, if we could please stop overvaluing every company that manages to set up a simple CRUD site with no revenue model, that would be great. Let's do ourselves a favor and not re-do the DotCom bubble. Thanks all and have a good night."

I think it's too late for that. We obviously are redoing said bubble. Just hope it won't burst as violently again. 2001 sucked.

Re: Quora collects $80 million in funding

#87

Post by hack_edu »

hitchhiker999 wrote: post #28
fidotron wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've wondered along these lines too. There is clearly something else going on in the VC business beyond strictly evaluating company value based on ability to generate it directly. One factor I'll project (since I can't tell where you're based) is that companies with proven engineering staff in the Bay Area get a boost in inherent value just from acquihire potential. Bonus points for famous and connected founders, as…

I'm nowhere near the 'bay area' or any US state, nor even in Europe. I'm British, but living abroad, have never known anyone else in the IT industry. HN is my only contact :) When I hear and see the things people in SV say and do - I honestly wonder what the hell is going on out there. It seems people who can put a bit of html + css together are getting paid 10 million these days. -- good luck to them and everything…

Software is made by teams, and teams that can ship quality products and code consistently are invaluable. Few companies actually know how to ship product or complete projects, let alone succeed.

Early-stage companies are purchased/funded because their teams and not the checklist of experience on the team-members resumes. Successful, or even good products often take second-seat to this. Surprisingly enough, people pay boatloads for functional teams.

Re: Quora collects $80 million in funding

#88

Post by wmeredith »

return0 wrote: post #73
wpietri wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It is a really good Q&A site. I was a Quora Top Writer in 2012 and 2013, and I've also built a lot of web stuff and spent a lot of time studying web communities. Purely from a craftsmanship perspective, they've done an incredible job. The visual design, the interaction design, the writing and reading experiences, the social incentives, the notification system: all of it is top notch. That said, I have never understoo…

Am I the only one who sees none of this "top notch system"? Last time i used it it felt clunky* , now every time i get a search result to them on a random computer, they ask me to login to read the answer, experts-exchange-style. Thanks, but no thanks. PS. I guess the people who find this useful live in San Francisco, and enjoy the "insider" feel. *: Right now, while viewing any question while logged out, the "Contin…

Seriously. They are the new experts exchange to me. I consider their presence in my search results a nuisance.

Re: Quora collects $80 million in funding

#89

Post by shitgoose »

kumarski wrote: post #70
dang wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Please don't post comments like this to Hacker News. They violate the two most important values of the site: substance and civility.

How you stay so aggressively on top of all comments amazes me.

He's got a filter on "Americans fucking idiots". Never fails.

Re: Quora collects $80 million in funding

#90

Post by pbreit »

balladeer wrote: post #47
smackfu wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Consider that Quora basically forces mobile users to access the site via their app.

And it's like a parasite. It's takes everything from users for free but it never lets the outside world see the content without a Quora account.

...without a [free] Quora account.
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