Launch HN: Yotta Savings (YC S20) – Behavioral psychology to help people save

Post by adammoelis » Thu, Jul 09, 2020, 4:46 PM UTC

lyrrad wrote: post #91

doyleb wrote: post #84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We only use first names and last initials along with cities for social proof to show that people are winning, and we only show when a ticket has won a notable amount so there's a fair amount of randomness to who shows up (currently >$10) We also allow you to be completely anonymous from the privacy settings within the app.

Thanks. Can the information about the prize cutoff be added to the official rules or the FAQ? Based on this, I think someone with $10000 deposited would appear in the winners list about 4 times a year, assuming those that win the $15 prize appear on the list of winners.

Post by CJefferson » Thu, Jul 09, 2020, 5:01 PM UTC

adammoelis wrote: post #24

CJefferson wrote: post #12

The grand prize of $10,000,000 will be paid out as... $5,800,000? I don't understand how you justify saying (as far as I can tell) "The grand prize is $10,000,000. We reckon you could invest $5,800,000 and make $10,000,000 in 40 years, so we will give you $5,800,000 instead".

A fair point for sure. The rationale is the $10 million headline is the annuity value of the jackpot, and it's standard practice for sweepstakes or the PowerBall/MegaMillions contests to use the annuity value for promotion in marketing materials and on the website.

Post by RhysU » Thu, Jul 09, 2020, 5:02 PM UTC

adammoelis wrote: post #102

RhysU wrote: post #80

How does your payout structure look vs the alternative of saving and buying lottery tickets with equivalent payout odds? That is, relative to a two-legged financial equivalent how expensive is Yotta?

Is the alternative you're referring to here saving money and using the interest generated to buy traditional lottery tickets?

Post by jedberg » Thu, Jul 09, 2020, 5:13 PM UTC

Post by adammoelis » Thu, Jul 09, 2020, 5:25 PM UTC

RhysU wrote: post #105

adammoelis wrote: post #102

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is the alternative you're referring to here saving money and using the interest generated to buy traditional lottery tickets?

Yes, presumably it should be more efficient because this company is not taking a cut. Saving less and using the remainder to buy tickets is another possibility. No need to wait until the tickets are interest financed.