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Hipmunk Says Goodbye

hipmunk.com

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Re: Hipmunk Says Goodbye

#291

Post by zamfi »

kick wrote: post #274
anonu wrote: post #272

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm sorry. It's relevant to hn beyond the fact that it's a YC alum that coufounded it...

Not really. It's a flight-booking company. If Kayak or something got closed, it'd be deemed off-topic for HN. Kayak and Hipmunk do virtually the same thing. The difference? One was by a YC founder, the other has T.V. commercials.

> If Kayak or something got closed, it'd be deemed off-topic for HN. Kayak and Hipmunk do virtually the same thing. The difference? One was by a YC founder, the other has T.V. commercials.

Um, what? https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4759841

Re: Hipmunk Says Goodbye

#292

Post by starky »

bradleyjg wrote: post #287

Did all the people at Hipmunk immediately quit? If not how come SAP Concur (TM) 's web interface still looks, works, and feels like something out of the IE6 era?

Exactly my question when I learned through this post that Hipmunk is owned by Concur. The Concur flight search is the worst I've ever used. It feels like you have a better chance at winning the lottery than Concur's search actually showing you the flight that you want to take (that I already found on another website (usually Hipmunk)).

Re: Hipmunk Says Goodbye

#293

Post by kick »

zamfi wrote: post #291
kick wrote: post #274

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not really. It's a flight-booking company. If Kayak or something got closed, it'd be deemed off-topic for HN. Kayak and Hipmunk do virtually the same thing. The difference? One was by a YC founder, the other has T.V. commercials.

> If Kayak or something got closed, it'd be deemed off-topic for HN. Kayak and Hipmunk do virtually the same thing. The difference? One was by a YC founder, the other has T.V. commercials. Um, what? https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4759841

I'll admit I worded that poorly, intending for it to be qualified with "and marketing copy was posted to HN," however, I think that post is a poor example: being acquired for a billion is rare and newsworthy. A failed startup shutting down is not. Something like 96% of businesses close down.

Re: Hipmunk Says Goodbye

#294

Post by kick »

schimmy_changa wrote: post #275
kick wrote: post #274

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not really. It's a flight-booking company. If Kayak or something got closed, it'd be deemed off-topic for HN. Kayak and Hipmunk do virtually the same thing. The difference? One was by a YC founder, the other has T.V. commercials.

I disagree - it was a really great product, something to be emulated. When it came out, there was nothing like it, and it truly felt like a step change compared to the existing sites. It was not quite the same impact, but felt like a shadow of the feeling when you first used Google instead of Altavista. One thing the HN community values is really good, well-executed products, and it's instructive to learn what killed…

I think this is a fair and balanced argument. I'm not entirely sure if I agree with it, but you make a good point. This has definitely swayed me a bit.

Re: Hipmunk Says Goodbye

#295

Post by zamfi »

kick wrote: post #293
zamfi wrote: post #291

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> If Kayak or something got closed, it'd be deemed off-topic for HN. Kayak and Hipmunk do virtually the same thing. The difference? One was by a YC founder, the other has T.V. commercials. Um, what? https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4759841

I'll admit I worded that poorly, intending for it to be qualified with "and marketing copy was posted to HN," however, I think that post is a poor example: being acquired for a billion is rare and newsworthy. A failed startup shutting down is not. Something like 96% of businesses close down.

Oh, is your point that YC-funded companies get more coverage on HN than non-YC-funded companies? And that this is bad?

There are many reasons why this could be the case, only one of which is naked self-interest on the part of YC to promote itself somehow. For example, it could also be correlative: YC funds interesting companies; HN covers interesting companies; thus you would expect that HN covers YC companies frequently.

Hipmunk was not just "a failed startup shutting down"; it was founded by a YC alum, as you note, but it was also design-focused with a distinct UX, good at PR, taking a somewhat combative approach in an industry popular on HN, etc., etc.

Most of that 96% of business do not have even one or two of those things?

Re: Hipmunk Says Goodbye

#296

Post by speedplane »

zamfi wrote: post #295
kick wrote: post #293

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'll admit I worded that poorly, intending for it to be qualified with "and marketing copy was posted to HN," however, I think that post is a poor example: being acquired for a billion is rare and newsworthy. A failed startup shutting down is not. Something like 96% of businesses close down.

Oh, is your point that YC-funded companies get more coverage on HN than non-YC-funded companies? And that this is bad? There are many reasons why this could be the case, only one of which is naked self-interest on the part of YC to promote itself somehow. For example, it could also be correlative: YC funds interesting companies; HN covers interesting companies; thus you would expect that HN covers YC companies freque…

> Oh, is your point that YC-funded companies get more coverage on HN than non-YC-funded companies? And that this is bad?

In a perfectly fair world, companies would get attention based on the value they are providing to society, not on the level of VC funding or particular affiliations.

In particular, labor rights, non-profits, legal technology, and governance are generally under-reported despite their larger potential impact on society, largely because they aren't attractive to VCs looking for out-sized returns on investment.

Re: Hipmunk Says Goodbye

#297

Post by Dylan16807 »

Jasper_ wrote: post #216
wpietri wrote: post #181

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> if sale below M.A.P. drops the bottom out of a market and kills an industry, the product can disappear from common production and the consumer doesn't benefit in the long run Is there an example of this happening anywhere in recent history? I ask because it seems absurd to me that there is an industry so fragile that retailers taking a bit less profit would lead to sudden, total collapse. (And doubly absurd this mi…

The industry of mobile apps and games has seen rates go unsustainably low, often to 99c or free, causing them to make up the difference with in-app purchases, ad networks, tracking, and lots and lots of psychological tricks. Nobody can dare simply sell a game on the iOS or Google Play store for $5 or $10 anymore, because there's far more "free" ones out there. This has turned lots of people off of these storefronts.…

That's just a generic race to the bottom, isn't it? What does it have to do with minimum advertised prices?

Re: Hipmunk Says Goodbye

#298

Post by Dylan16807 »

nitwit005 wrote: post #286
ec109685 wrote: post #191

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not very consumer friendly.

At the time when southwest cut them off, the online travel sites were expecting $5 to $10 in compensation. Offering the lowest price required trimming that cost. News story from 2002: https://www.cnet.com/news/southwest-soars-without-travel-sit...

To trim the cost of a referral program, you shut down the referral program. Or cut the payout.

That's not a reason to stop supplying data entirely.

Re: Hipmunk Says Goodbye

#299

Post by mav3rick »

ericd wrote: post #251
nraynaud wrote: post #215

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Someone told me they spend 2 years in a team responsible for some of the undo menu at a giant software company. Incredible siloing.

I was interviewing at a megacorp a long while back, my interviewer was solely responsible for the pie charts in some old application. He mentioned in the interview that it was totally feasible to run your own startup on the side.

My first job out of school was writing an OS from scratch for a new device. This was at a FAANG. Couldn't be happier. It depends on the opportunity.

Re: Hipmunk Says Goodbye

#300

Post by cezart »

ericd wrote: post #251
nraynaud wrote: post #215

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Someone told me they spend 2 years in a team responsible for some of the undo menu at a giant software company. Incredible siloing.

I was interviewing at a megacorp a long while back, my interviewer was solely responsible for the pie charts in some old application. He mentioned in the interview that it was totally feasible to run your own startup on the side.

An acquaintance of mine worked at Google for one entire year on the functionality of one single button in GMail (I don't recall what it was specifically). He was very disappointed, left and launched a startup.
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