Tell HN: Catch.com raises 7m. Didn't get in as solo founder (S08), kept pushing • Hacker News Board

Re: Tell HN: Catch.com raises 7m. Didn't get in as solo founder (S08), kept pushing

#31

Post by aschobel » Thu, Feb 17, 2011, 4:37 AM UTC

norova wrote: post #29

Glad to see Catch thriving. It has become an app that I cannot live without. A question though. Catch has no ads in the mobile apps or on the web site, so there isn't any revenue generated there as far as I can tell. The entire product is completely free, the API is free to use, etc. How does a product like this generate revenue?

We are rolling out a premium service in the next few weeks that will give you the ability to attach PDFs and Office docs.

Working on that blog post now, lots of cool new stuff (non-premium) coming.

Re: Tell HN: Catch.com raises 7m. Didn't get in as solo founder (S08), kept pushing

#32

Post by aschobel » Thu, Feb 17, 2011, 4:53 AM UTC

axiom wrote: post #21

98% of companies that apply to YC get rejected. Around 10% of startups succeed. Given this, YC rejects about 3 out of 4 successful startups even if their selection method is absolutely perfect. YC is in an amazing position where hundreds (thousands?) of great entrepreneurs come to them, and they get to pick and choose the cream of the crop. So please, don't their their rejection too seriously.

I dislike the word rejection, YC didn't accept my application for funding.

The odds were against me as a solo founder, but why not go for it?

http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=159549

It would have been incredible to learn and grow with YC, but I don't regret the path I took.

Re: Tell HN: Catch.com raises 7m. Didn't get in as solo founder (S08), kept pushing

#33

Post by Lucadg » Thu, Feb 17, 2011, 4:56 AM UTC

As Graham says determination is what makes a difference. Congratulations.

Re: Tell HN: Catch.com raises 7m. Didn't get in as solo founder (S08), kept pushing

#34

Post by svrs » Thu, Feb 17, 2011, 5:02 AM UTC

Hey-- Could you remove the javascript alert from delete and change it so the question appears on page? I think it's much more user-friendly to keep the confirmation in the same area as the delete button instead of popping open in the middle of the page.

Re: Tell HN: Catch.com raises 7m. Didn't get in as solo founder (S08), kept pushing

#35

Post by aschobel » Thu, Feb 17, 2011, 5:07 AM UTC

stevenrace wrote: post #23

Great to hear Andreas. I recall following your 3banana posts on lurking about on AWOT/WayOT years ago. Again, best of luck.

Danke Sir.

First post on way0t mentioning 3banana was on 2006-07-27, jeebus that is a long time ago.

Re: Tell HN: Catch.com raises 7m. Didn't get in as solo founder (S08), kept pushing

#36

Post by atiw » Thu, Feb 17, 2011, 5:41 AM UTC

Wow that's some story... It is so awesome to know that you (one of us) actualy made his dream come true in such a short period of time... I am sure we all get to hear "do the logical/right thing and take that job" strategy from their family/friends.

I know I do a lot.....

It's great to see you were in the same situation and chose otherwise....it's really hard to make that choice and stick with it....Kudos to you brother....

About me, I am still having to make this part time, since I felt lost after getting rejected twice for investments...and decided to take a job to stay in US and continue building my dream part time.... It is really really tought to do this part time....but I sure hope I won't give up, and come across stories like yours to keep me going, since I too feel my product's gonna touch many thousands, if not millions of lives (just like yours did?)

Thanks a lot for sharing your success story Sir, these are few and far between....

P.S. - just FYI, I was also not accepted October 2009, and have been trying to make my product....wow it;s been too long but I was really sick in between, so meh....another month might actually get my prototype going....

Re: Tell HN: Catch.com raises 7m. Didn't get in as solo founder (S08), kept pushing

#37

Post by darwinGod » Thu, Feb 17, 2011, 6:00 AM UTC

qeorge wrote: post #28

aschobel wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Danke! Sorry, I can't give the exact details but it wasn't that much. What was really cool is the seller of Catch.com could have sold it to a much bigger company and chose us instead. These acts of kindness are so touching, it is incredibly how people go out their way to help startups.

These acts of kindness are so touching, it is incredibly how people go out their way to help startups. You reached out when my friend suddenly and unfortunately became famous over the theft of a certain phone, offering him a job if needed and any other help you could give. I haven't forgotten it. Good things happen for good people, and many good things are sure to come your way. Thank you .

Ahh...Looks like Apple/Gawker. If so, really cool of you! All the best @ Catch!

Re: Tell HN: Catch.com raises 7m. Didn't get in as solo founder (S08), kept pushing

#38

Post by greydream » Thu, Feb 17, 2011, 6:02 AM UTC

dmix wrote: post #14

Funny I just downloaded Catch on my android over the weekend and thought it was a great app. Well designed and more straight-forward than Evernote. Good to see you're HN'ers. Congrats on raising capital.

Thanks for the kind words, dmix.

I was the first engineer aschobel brought on board after he founded. Now I'm heading up Catch's mobile dev efforts.

The Catch Android client is my baby, so I'm glad you're finding it compelling. Please don't hesitate to use the built-in feedback links to send us comments or criticisms!

Re: Tell HN: Catch.com raises 7m. Didn't get in as solo founder (S08), kept pushing

#39

Post by Multiplayer » Thu, Feb 17, 2011, 6:03 AM UTC

What an interesting update for me. I met you (or your cofounder I would guess) at TED a few years ago, and installed your app. I didn't "get" it at the time. I used to look at it on my iphone all the time, but never used it. I would have thought that was the end of the story.

Great to see that you persisted. Keep after it!

Re: Tell HN: Catch.com raises 7m. Didn't get in as solo founder (S08), kept pushing

#40

Post by Ripst » Thu, Feb 17, 2011, 8:02 AM UTC

I have been working for more than 3 years on a similar thing. I have to admit that you nailed it focusing on a simple interface with just the essential features. I still like mine better of course ;) but I am overloading mine (notepub.com) with features very few people use, just because I am having fun at it. And I do not have the capacity to expand to mobile apps, so I am kind of stuck. Congratulations! I hope you the best for you.