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Track Hurricanes On Stormpulse

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Re: Track Hurricanes On Stormpulse

#21

Post by froo »

wensing wrote: post #16
froo wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You know, there's probably an idea in there. The stormpulse guys could perhaps build a widget that news & nedia sites could embed into their stories so there is instant tracking for each storm right there on the page.

We have that. That's actually how we 'got big' (although we're still very small compared to the NHC, CNN, etc.). http://stormpulse.wordpress.com/stormpulse-api/

awesome work guys, I admit I only had a very quick skim around the site and couldn't find it.

Re: Track Hurricanes On Stormpulse

#22

Post by delano »

dkokelley wrote: post #12
wensing wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I grew up in South Florida, so I figured it would be popular down here. But we are blown away lately by the amount of nation-wide and international interest. TV stations in Washington state have hurricane coverage. Who'd have thought that?

People love emergencies (meaning that everyone wants to watch and see if this will be another Katrina). It's kinda sad, but national emergencies get great ratings - everyone wants to know what's happening, especially considering Katrina and the recent devastation.

The hurricanes are covered quite thoroughly in Canada too (including live coverage). I don't think it's sad though since it's something that can directly affect millions of people and can indirectly affect 10s of millions more (fuel prices, travel, relatives). Events on that scale deserve wide-spread coverage.

One aspect that could be considered sad is the relatively low amount of air time international emergencies receive, even ones that are much larger in scale.

Re: Track Hurricanes On Stormpulse

#23

Post by run4yourlives »

wensing wrote: post #3
run4yourlives wrote: post #2

Wow, that is crazy cool. Well done.

Thanks. My friend (who is joining the Stormpulse effort) submitted this article but the site was co-founded by myself and another fellow out of Chicago. Just as a bit of background, we started collecting data for this in 2004.

Wow, that's a lot of work. If you don't mind my asking, what's the exit strategy here? Sell/partner with a newscast? Charge for premium data?

Re: Track Hurricanes On Stormpulse

#24

Post by wensing »

froo wrote: post #21
wensing wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We have that. That's actually how we 'got big' (although we're still very small compared to the NHC, CNN, etc.). http://stormpulse.wordpress.com/stormpulse-api/

awesome work guys, I admit I only had a very quick skim around the site and couldn't find it.

Not to sound more successful than we are :-), but since it's the kind of thing folks on here might like to know ... if we made it any more visible it would probably not be a good thing at this point.

Re: Track Hurricanes On Stormpulse

#25

Post by wensing »

run4yourlives wrote: post #23
wensing wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thanks. My friend (who is joining the Stormpulse effort) submitted this article but the site was co-founded by myself and another fellow out of Chicago. Just as a bit of background, we started collecting data for this in 2004.

Wow, that's a lot of work. If you don't mind my asking, what's the exit strategy here? Sell/partner with a newscast? Charge for premium data?

All of the above (except selling) have presented themselves as opportunities in the last few weeks.

Re: Track Hurricanes On Stormpulse

#26

Post by ivankirigin »

wallflower wrote: post #10

TipJoy: "$1299.05 from 479 people" I think it's safe to say that perhaps this application might be breaking TipJoy into the mainstream (e.g. hurricane-news-hungry public).

Yeah, we're delighted by the community's response to Tipjoy. I think one reason they are doing well is the blog post about it: http://stormpulse.wordpress.com/2008/09/04/like-stormpulse-l...

But I should mentioned that you'd need to add at least 3 zeros to that total amount to consider Tipjoy close to mainstream.

Re: Track Hurricanes On Stormpulse

#27

Post by scott_s »

wensing wrote: post #6
sanj wrote: post #5

Any comments on why you think you weren't accepted?

I don't know for sure. I imagine there were a number of things not working in our favor. I don't want to suggest anything unfounded, but what I can say for sure is that I wasn't willing to move to Boston/SF (I am happily married with two wonderful children and settled in West Palm Beach, FL). Also, we did apply late, and rumor has it that late applications aren't treated as thoroughly.

Not relocating makes sense, in your case. Not many people in silicon valley care about hurricanes.

Re: Track Hurricanes On Stormpulse

#28

Post by wensing »

scott_s wrote: post #27
wensing wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't know for sure. I imagine there were a number of things not working in our favor. I don't want to suggest anything unfounded, but what I can say for sure is that I wasn't willing to move to Boston/SF (I am happily married with two wonderful children and settled in West Palm Beach, FL). Also, we did apply late, and rumor has it that late applications aren't treated as thoroughly.

Not relocating makes sense, in your case. Not many people in silicon valley care about hurricanes.

Makes me wonder what it would be like for an earthquake startup if NYC were the Valley.

Re: Track Hurricanes On Stormpulse

#29

Post by r7000 »

delano wrote: post #22
dkokelley wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

People love emergencies (meaning that everyone wants to watch and see if this will be another Katrina). It's kinda sad, but national emergencies get great ratings - everyone wants to know what's happening, especially considering Katrina and the recent devastation.

The hurricanes are covered quite thoroughly in Canada too (including live coverage). I don't think it's sad though since it's something that can directly affect millions of people and can indirectly affect 10s of millions more (fuel prices, travel, relatives). Events on that scale deserve wide-spread coverage. One aspect that could be considered sad is the relatively low amount of air time international emergencies r…

..travel plans. The Caribbean and SW U.S. are huge tourist destinations of course.

Re: Track Hurricanes On Stormpulse

#30

Post by SwellJoe »

davidw wrote: post #13
wensing wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't know for sure. I imagine there were a number of things not working in our favor. I don't want to suggest anything unfounded, but what I can say for sure is that I wasn't willing to move to Boston/SF (I am happily married with two wonderful children and settled in West Palm Beach, FL). Also, we did apply late, and rumor has it that late applications aren't treated as thoroughly.

"Not willing to relocate for 3 months" seems to be pretty critical, even more so than single founders.

I would also add that if you aren't re-locating, then you're missing at least 50% of the value of YC (probably more). They'd be doing someone a favor to pass on their company over this question...because the company wouldn't be getting a very good deal. Good investors don't invest when they know they can't provide good value to the company, and YC is a good investor.
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