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Quora in the next YC batch

blog.ycombinator.com

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Re: Quora in the next YC batch

#111

Post by benwilber0 »

rokhayakebe wrote: post #109
meritt wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Direction probably. Quora has floundered for nearly 5 years, burned millions of dollars and still has a questionable product. Meanwhile Stack Exchange has been around only a year longer, a fraction of the funding, and pretty well owns the entire question-answer niche.

There are 20 million programmers in the world, that is the maximum S.O. can get. There are billions of people looking for just the type of answers you find on Quora. Also you go to S.O. to find a specific answer than move on, on Q you stick around and read other stuff, go back for discovery. I am not saying which one is more valuable, perhaps S.O. is more monetizable.

I've followed many links to Quora but bounced every single time because of the stupid signup wall. Subsequently, I've banned them from my Google search results, same as Experts Exchange. SO and Reddit are sharing the Q&A lunch.

Re: Quora in the next YC batch

#112

Post by tyang »

namenotrequired wrote: post #95
codinghorror wrote: post #91

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sure -- you're right that the SE engine is definitely only good at specific things (namely, fact/data/science based questions), but it is arguably the best in the world at those particular things. What is the Quora engine the best in the world at? I'd look at growth, too. Even the less popular SE sites grow at very respectable rates. How much is Quora growing?

Since neither his comment nor his profile mention it, I'll mention here for those unaware that this guy is co-founder of Stack Exchange.

If true, thanks for disclosing. Amazed commenter failed to disclose. Transparency and conflicts, people!

Re: Quora in the next YC batch

#114

Post by benwilber0 »

gedrap wrote: post #92
meritt wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Direction probably. Quora has floundered for nearly 5 years, burned millions of dollars and still has a questionable product. Meanwhile Stack Exchange has been around only a year longer, a fraction of the funding, and pretty well owns the entire question-answer niche.

I think Quora is a totally different product, content wise. You don't go to Quora for programming help unless it's hello world in php. You go there for /r/iama type of questions. Or it's just my usage, largely influenced by the weekly email.

Reddit is devouring that use-case. I'm not sure where Quora fits in.

Re: Quora in the next YC batch

#115

Post by FajitaNachos »

tyang wrote: post #112
namenotrequired wrote: post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Since neither his comment nor his profile mention it, I'll mention here for those unaware that this guy is co-founder of Stack Exchange.

If true, thanks for disclosing. Amazed commenter failed to disclose. Transparency and conflicts, people!

I would imagine most people reading HN have read at least one blog post on his site, if not many more. It's not that amazing he didn't disclose it in my opinion. I agree it could be mentioned in his profile though, just for the curious.

Re: Quora in the next YC batch

#116

Post by bashinator »

gedrap wrote: post #92
meritt wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Direction probably. Quora has floundered for nearly 5 years, burned millions of dollars and still has a questionable product. Meanwhile Stack Exchange has been around only a year longer, a fraction of the funding, and pretty well owns the entire question-answer niche.

I think Quora is a totally different product, content wise. You don't go to Quora for programming help unless it's hello world in php. You go there for /r/iama type of questions. Or it's just my usage, largely influenced by the weekly email.

Reddit has semi-anonymous, unverified accounts. Quora requires FB. Kind of makes it a no-brainer for me.

Re: Quora in the next YC batch

#117

Post by gus_massa »

namenotrequired wrote: post #95
codinghorror wrote: post #91

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sure -- you're right that the SE engine is definitely only good at specific things (namely, fact/data/science based questions), but it is arguably the best in the world at those particular things. What is the Quora engine the best in the world at? I'd look at growth, too. Even the less popular SE sites grow at very respectable rates. How much is Quora growing?

Since neither his comment nor his profile mention it, I'll mention here for those unaware that this guy is co-founder of Stack Exchange.

Well, he resigned from S.O. two years ago (http://blog.codinghorror.com/farewell-stack-exchange/ ) and most of the users here know that the founders of S.O. were codinghorror and spolsky.

Re: Quora in the next YC batch

#118

Post by lyyons »

russell_h wrote: post #59
lmb wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've never signed up to the site, but find this quite interesting. Does that mean you only consume the content via email or do you click through? Sounds like a massive headache for Quora in the first case.

You really have to visit the site, the emails only contain snippets of conversation. That being said, the emails are brilliant. I don't know how the content is selected, but almost every time I open one I see something eye-catching enough that I click through.

Same here. 100% CTR, then end up spending ~30 minutes on the side. I would love to know how they put those emails together.

Re: Quora in the next YC batch

#119

Post by tonydiv »

Quora being valued at $900M? Heh, I'd believe it when there's some revenue, or at least some sign of revenue.

I'd have more faith in Quora long term if they were asking for donations like Wikipedia.

Re: Quora in the next YC batch

#120

Post by tyang »

mbesto wrote: post #101
ProAm wrote: post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ive not used Quora, what is their struture like? SE is fairly fragemented now, is Quora similiar?

I'm not sure if you were insinuating that SE's fragmentation was a bad thing. If you are, SE actively fragment's itself for a reason. Watch Spolsky talk about it here: http://vimeo.com/37309773 Quora's non-fragmentation is it's ultimate downfall. I'm all bull on SE and bear on Quora.

K. How do you express those views? Are you buying SE shares via MicroVentures, etc.? How do you go short Quora?
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