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Y Combinator presents 26 new startups

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Re: Y Combinator presents 26 new startups

#141

Post by [deleted] »

fnid2 wrote: post #136
pg wrote: post #114

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You flatter yourself by saying your expectations are high. Actually you're just not a good judge of very early stage startups. If you saw Google when they were Backrub, or Microsoft when they were making Basic for the Altair, you would have said the same thing. Minor, derivative products.

What's with the ad hominem? I was stating an opinion. You don't know when I came to know Google or Microsoft and you don't know what my opinion of them was. You also don't know how good a judge I am of very early stage startups, which is largely irrelevant, because hardly anyone is a good judge of startups at this stage. Almost everyone knows that. In fact, I asked how to predict startup viability right here and well…

[deleted]

Re: Y Combinator presents 26 new startups

#142

Post by rdamico »

maxklein wrote: post #24

My picks for the ones that will be successful from the idea only, without looking at the bios of the founders or the websites: - Notifo - Zencoder (If they drop their prices. Those prices are horrendous for the REAL market they are targeting) - Nowmov (with name change) - Crocodoc (will sell, but will not have too many users) - Gamador - Cardpool - Chromaom - Answerly - Zenedy - Data Marketplace - 140Bets

I'm a co-founder at crocodoc, and would be interested to hear your reasoning behind your "will sell, but will not have too many users" comment. It sounds like you have a specific niche market in mind that you think crocodoc will gain traction in to the exclusion of others?

Re: Y Combinator presents 26 new startups

#143

Post by fnid2 »

pg wrote: post #137
fnid2 wrote: post #136

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What's with the ad hominem? I was stating an opinion. You don't know when I came to know Google or Microsoft and you don't know what my opinion of them was. You also don't know how good a judge I am of very early stage startups, which is largely irrelevant, because hardly anyone is a good judge of startups at this stage. Almost everyone knows that. In fact, I asked how to predict startup viability right here and well…

You're just digging yourself in deeper by trying to poke holes in these companies based on such incomplete information. You really would be wiser to reserve judgment on them. Startups are so volatile, and good startup ideas so often seem bad at first. You're setting yourself up to look foolish by dismissing them so quickly. What's the rush? Why don't you learn more about these companies before deciding about them?

If I was putting my time and money into them and had the same information on them that you do and had interviewed the candidates, it very well may be that I would pick the same companies you did -- who knows. Some of them I can't imagine picking, because the market doesn't interest me.

I'm not digging myself into a hole, I'm making an assessment based on incomplete information, which is all that can be expected of me here and now.

Why don't you stop using all the logical fallacies and insults?

Re: Y Combinator presents 26 new startups

#144

Post by pg »

fnid2 wrote: post #143
pg wrote: post #137

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You're just digging yourself in deeper by trying to poke holes in these companies based on such incomplete information. You really would be wiser to reserve judgment on them. Startups are so volatile, and good startup ideas so often seem bad at first. You're setting yourself up to look foolish by dismissing them so quickly. What's the rush? Why don't you learn more about these companies before deciding about them?

If I was putting my time and money into them and had the same information on them that you do and had interviewed the candidates, it very well may be that I would pick the same companies you did -- who knows. Some of them I can't imagine picking, because the market doesn't interest me. I'm not digging myself into a hole, I'm making an assessment based on incomplete information, which is all that can be expected of me…

When you have incomplete information, there is another option besides saying things that are, as a result, probably mistaken: to wait till you know more before you express an opinion.

Re: Y Combinator presents 26 new startups

#145

Post by aepstein »

fnid2 wrote: post #140
aepstein wrote: post #139

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Perhaps the "really hard problems" that were submitted & accepted into YC (which PG has knowledge of and you do not) could not be fully solved in 3 months? I'll bet when Bump came out you thought "Who needs a new way to transfer contact info?" Now they have a partnership with PayPal, and it's clear that their vision is to build the platform for information transfer. Think bigger. You're judging these companies by the…

Actually, I was looking for a list of other YC companies to find some that do impress me and Bump, specifically, was one I was planning on mentioning.

Sure, Bump impresses you now, but you would've had the same dismissive comments about them on their demo day.

Revisit this list in a year or so and I'm sure you'll have some different opinions and wish you hadn't been so short-sighted.

Re: Y Combinator presents 26 new startups

#146

Post by fnid2 »

aepstein wrote: post #145
fnid2 wrote: post #140

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Actually, I was looking for a list of other YC companies to find some that do impress me and Bump, specifically, was one I was planning on mentioning.

Sure, Bump impresses you now , but you would've had the same dismissive comments about them on their demo day. Revisit this list in a year or so and I'm sure you'll have some different opinions and wish you hadn't been so short-sighted.

Seriously, you are assuming you know what is in my head and accusing me of being short-sighted -- talking without knowing what I'm talking about... I mean... You do see the absurdity of that don't you?

And for the record, I've built electronic circuits with push buttons and had to accommodate the bounce of the button on the switch, so I do know just a little bit about the difficultly. Compound that with countless phones bumping into each other, perhaps at the same time and the problem is hard.

That's why I am impressed by Bump. It has nothing to do with their potential success then or their current success now. It's an innovative and simple idea. It makes you think, "Wow, why didn't I think of that."

In 2 or three sentences about Bump, it's obvious how difficult the problem is and that someone solved it is impressive.

Re: Y Combinator presents 26 new startups

#149

Post by parasctr »

fnid2 wrote: post #136
pg wrote: post #114

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You flatter yourself by saying your expectations are high. Actually you're just not a good judge of very early stage startups. If you saw Google when they were Backrub, or Microsoft when they were making Basic for the Altair, you would have said the same thing. Minor, derivative products.

What's with the ad hominem? I was stating an opinion. You don't know when I came to know Google or Microsoft and you don't know what my opinion of them was. You also don't know how good a judge I am of very early stage startups, which is largely irrelevant, because hardly anyone is a good judge of startups at this stage. Almost everyone knows that. In fact, I asked how to predict startup viability right here and well…

It is easy to trivialize almost any company. E.g if sports is a waste to time so is facebook don't you think? So I guess facebook is a no go in your book? Apple - why even bother with apple product its just eye candy.

I could go on but I hope you get the idea. Word of advice - stop being so negative about stuff in life.

Re: Y Combinator presents 26 new startups

#150

Post by ericd »

nhebb wrote: post #42
fnid2 wrote: post #2

I'll take the contrarian stance and say I'm not really impressed with the list. There are some that may be good, but there's not much new. Mostly me too products. Perhaps my expectations are too high.

I think Card Pool could make some money, but it also got me thinking about the retailers. Don't many of them operate on thin margins? If they offered card holders 90% cash back on the card amount, they might actually make more money from partial reimbursements than they would from the merchandise sales.

They make quite a bit from unused and expiring gift cards, so I think they'd very much prefer to limit the options there.
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