Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

VCs are now selling their ideas to entrepreneurs

observer.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

11–20 of 22 posts

Re: VCs are now selling their ideas to entrepreneurs

#11

Post by trotsky »

phlux wrote: post #7
icebraining wrote: post #4

But Jordan Cooper, a venture partner at Lerer Ventures, recently offered funding and office space to anyone interested in working on an app he mostly wants for himself: a private social network where people can dish on their love lives. ”I want to be able to send a photo of a girl that I really like or one that I just went out with for the first time. I want to tell a story beneath the photo, or just a short note tha…

No, he is specifically looking to create a social network for Douchbags. FaceDouche.com The examples of "dishing" above seem innocuous enough in print - but the reality of such an 'app' would be far more harsh. "This dumb slut let me blah blah blah to her!" and other douchebaggery...

probably the idea originator has already been down this rabbit hole, for better or worse douchebaggery is a coveted ad demo. bling.

Re: VCs are now selling their ideas to entrepreneurs

#12

Post by rdl »

I had a meeting with a great investor from one of the seed funds, who also happens to be a domain expert in security. She mentioned a great idea she had in grad school, and something she really wanted to fund if someone would do it -- if I were an entrepreneur and without an idea, it would have been really tempting.

I think in that situation offering the investor the right to invest first is fair, but that's about all you have to do (although in this case they're a perfect fit, so it's kind of irrelevant).

Re: VCs are now selling their ideas to entrepreneurs

#13

Post by netmau5 »

Speaking of sharing ideas, I'd love to get some feedback from you guys on a recent side-project I developed at http://thesparkfoundry.com . The premise is that you sign up for various mailing lists for voting on ideas and entrepreneurs can access those lists by agreeing to build them (http://www.sparkmuse.com/foundry/howitworks). Highly voted ideas would then be attractive to a developer as you'd get a built-in pool of potential beta subscribers or people willing to give feedback. Unfortunately I never had the time to fully promote it, but it was fun to build.

Re: VCs are now selling their ideas to entrepreneurs

#16

Post by zem »

michaelpinto wrote: post #9

As much as I hate the idea of this model it's not too different than a Hollywood producer finding a director, cast and other creative talent to make their films. Personally I love the work of writer/directors but on the flip side there are quite a few great films that were put together by producers. Producers are interesting because they're good at fundraising and then coming up with the "bid idea" — and of course pu…

this is why i love the idea of the model. it will supplement all the other models out there, not displace them, in much the same way as not every producer wants to drive the film in a hands-on manner. why do you hate it?

Re: VCs are now selling their ideas to entrepreneurs

#17

Post by ww520 »

rdl wrote: post #12

I had a meeting with a great investor from one of the seed funds, who also happens to be a domain expert in security. She mentioned a great idea she had in grad school, and something she really wanted to fund if someone would do it -- if I were an entrepreneur and without an idea, it would have been really tempting. I think in that situation offering the investor the right to invest first is fair, but that's about al…

Please don't leave us hanging. :) What is her idea?

Re: VCs are now selling their ideas to entrepreneurs

#20

Post by michaelpinto »

zem wrote: post #16
michaelpinto wrote: post #9

As much as I hate the idea of this model it's not too different than a Hollywood producer finding a director, cast and other creative talent to make their films. Personally I love the work of writer/directors but on the flip side there are quite a few great films that were put together by producers. Producers are interesting because they're good at fundraising and then coming up with the "bid idea" — and of course pu…

this is why i love the idea of the model. it will supplement all the other models out there, not displace them, in much the same way as not every producer wants to drive the film in a hands-on manner. why do you hate it?

Well looking at Hollywood the mega-producers tend to gravitate to big films that are focused on box office rather than creating a great film. The producer has more insecurity than a writer/director so creativity is substituted for short cuts like a well known license or a big star in a safe film. The result is a film like Transformers -- cool eye candy, makes real money yet it's an average film.

I prefer a VC model where Weinstein brothers find a Tarantino and make a film that not only makes money but can be watched with admiration for years to come. This isn't to say that Hollywood producers in days of old weren't talented, but these days you get bland product.

The same thing will happen with tech. A VC as producer may be good at identifying a unique niche that needs a product (say medical billing software) but you won't get a gem like a Flickr or Facebook that way. And that's not to say that the producer model is wrong, but it's not as much fun.

Post reply on HN