I don't think anyone can realistically expect to find a google-scale diamond in the rough at every single YC batch. "Frighteningly Ambitious Startup Ideas" I suppose is about a process of collective unconscious iteration that would yield such a diamond every 5 or 10 years.
Frighteningly Unambitious Startup Ideas
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Re: Frighteningly Unambitious Startup Ideas
#102Earlier quoted context omitted.
I have to disagree. For many Americans, car repair is one of the most expensive and opaque processes out there. Most people who drive have a critical need for that transportation, so when their car won't go, they pretty much have to suck it up and pay whatever fees the mechanic pulls out of his ass. My point being, this type of disruption would be a very big deal for your average joe.
I'm curious what it is about Your Mechanic that will make the process any less opaque for the end user? Ok, so they arrange for the "best" mechanics to come to you to fix your car. The coming to you is cool, and certainly improves convenience. But lessens opaqueness? Not seeing it. What guarantee is there that the whole thing won't just turn into something like the big car repair chains are now? "Looks like you got a…
1) They are probably going to try and address most or all of your questions.
2) If they are successful in one industry, they might be able to apply the model to many/all industries.
Re: Frighteningly Unambitious Startup Ideas
#103Cool article! I think a broader question raised is one I have thought about a lot: what is the optimum trade-off between narrow clarity of function/purpose and broad ambition/expansiveness/spread of features? On the one hand: we obviously admire and use things that are ambitious and full-featured (google, facebook, etc. etc. etc.) On the other hand though: HS points out that the narrowed "X for Y" model makes a better YC pitch... but more importantly, it might make a better consumer pitch. E.g. sometimes I wonder why I don't use wolfram alpha more often... and I think one of the answers is that I don't quite know what it does. It possibly covers TOO much area and I might- at a moment of quick snap judgement- pick the far more limited service with the easily comprehensible/memorable single feature claim... Thoughts?
Re: Frighteningly Unambitious Startup Ideas
#104"If I were Paul Graham, these types of companies simply would not satisfy me (despite what look to be very lucrative payoffs)." That's hilarious, because I'm the one who wrote all the summaries of the startups that she's judging them by. I deliberately express startup ideas as x for y whenever possible because that's the most efficient way to describe a startup in a few words. Airbnb, for example, was in its day "eBa…
Here's a few X for Y things which are likely to succeed:
X for the masses.
X for people who don't like computeres.
X for people who don't speak much English.
X in the cloud (way overplayed).
X for free (but good luck getting a low enough cost of customer acquisition!).
X for people who are locked into Y.
X for large businesses (requires connections).
X for businesses which aren't great at tech (X better be something they really really want).
Re: Frighteningly Unambitious Startup Ideas
#105The reason why I think that it is difficult to say a frighteningly ambitious startup idea is actually something that is expected to come through YC, is that the funding that YC provides is miniscule, and will cover hardly an annual salary for a single, accomplished person who has a lot of domain knowledge in a field they may want to disrupt. As someone in the medical space who is 37, married with 2 kids - My salary i…
1) Everyone seems to miss the last 4 paragraphs of pg's essay which discuss tactics for tackling a frighteningly ambitious startup idea: namely, tackle a less ambitious portion of it.
2) YC companies like DrChrono have very large ambitious in the healthcare industry. It can be done through YC.
Re: Frighteningly Unambitious Startup Ideas
#106FTA: I feel confident in assuming Steve Jobs didn’t pitch OS X by saying “It’s like Windows for Apple Computers.”
True, although Windows was originally pitched as "it's like the Macintosh OS for IBM PC-compatibles."
Re: Frighteningly Unambitious Startup Ideas
#107The reason why I think that it is difficult to say a frighteningly ambitious startup idea is actually something that is expected to come through YC, is that the funding that YC provides is miniscule, and will cover hardly an annual salary for a single, accomplished person who has a lot of domain knowledge in a field they may want to disrupt. As someone in the medical space who is 37, married with 2 kids - My salary i…
I'm 41, married, and have 3 kids - my "cofounder" and I have just applied to YC for Summer 2012. I've been running in "start up" mode since around 2000, so my lifestyle has adjusted to a much lower level of pay than I would expect had I continued working in the fortune 500 as a developer, but I don't regret a single moment of it. Even though your idea is ambitious, you might consider nights/weekends to work on it - y…
Good on ya! I too often people saying - oh, I'm not in my 20s any more so I can't give up my job making $$$ and supporting my family. News flash!!! It's all about priorities and what's important to you. If your dream is to do a startup but you feel hemmed in by your house, car, etc, start thinking about what is important.
On the other hand, I'm working for a small non-startup software company as a salaried developer and love it. I get to focus on developing software and not running a company :)
Re: Frighteningly Unambitious Startup Ideas
#108"If I were Paul Graham, these types of companies simply would not satisfy me (despite what look to be very lucrative payoffs)." That's hilarious, because I'm the one who wrote all the summaries of the startups that she's judging them by. I deliberately express startup ideas as x for y whenever possible because that's the most efficient way to describe a startup in a few words. Airbnb, for example, was in its day "eBa…
I will explain what I think from the point of view of an engineer: none of the companies inspired me to apply for a job to work for them. Probably the problem is that I'm not smart enough to see the grand vision: the vision of these companies is just not clear for mortals like me.
For example, I was hoping to see something like Word Lens on iPhone: I can see how they can rule the world. That is something frighteningly ambitious.
Re: Frighteningly Unambitious Startup Ideas
#109Earlier quoted context omitted.
I am just baffled by the idea that people here think there isn't a huge dent to be made in the universe in auto repair. There are 723,400 auto mechanics in the US alone, making a median of $35k in an incredibly inefficient marketplace that fleeces and inflicts misery on millions of working class families (who get to work and their kids to school in cars, not fixies) every year .
Lets not go overboard - I'm sure some customers have their complaints but your making the car repair industry sound equivalent to today's Wall Street. I genuinely rarely hear people complain about car repair - now if we were back in 1970 or 1980 Id have a different opinion.
He's not going overboard. When you don't know anything about cars, it's really hard to find a mechanic or car repair shop you can trust. One reason I always try to help people who ask me any question about their computer is that I just think of how ignorant and defenseless I've felt when my car breaks. I do what they do: find the person in my life who knows the most about it and cling to them like a drowning man.
If the Your Mechanic guys can solve this problem, they'd be rewarded with fantastically loyal customers (including me) in a big market. Actually I'm a little bewildered why anyone would see this as an unambitious idea. It sounds hard to me.
Re: Frighteningly Unambitious Startup Ideas
#110Earlier quoted context omitted.
First, If I am zigzagging - I am thinking out loud here on HN - and am happy to hear how I am wrong. SO please forgive me if I do contradict myself as I am trying to find the best way to articulate my thoughts. I am fully open to being shown that I am flat wrong. With that said: Could you even imagine a seed funding model that would attract Elon Musk? What would it have to include? This is part of my point. I can't t…
I'm sounding snippier than I mean to. YC has a model that seems like it would have stood a credible shot at capturing Google in 1997. That there are companies more ambitious than Google that wouldn't even consider a "seed stage" is not, I don't think, particularly relevant. Also: the point of YC is to put fingerprints on the maximal number of successful startups. Ideas from people who aren't inclined to start compani…
the point of YC is to put fingerprints on the maximal number of successful startups
One thing about YC that doesn't get enough attention is that by coming up with a model and articulating it (and generally doing everything) in a way that makes sense to hackers, they have grown the total number of startups. That is, some people who wouldn't have otherwise have founded a company have been inspired to do so. YC have made the pie higher! http://politicalhumor.about.com/library/bljokebushpiehigher....
In my opinion all sorts of social and macroeconomic good may emerge from this.