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YC Demo Day Session 2

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Re: YC Demo Day Session 2

#41

Post by tpeng »

foobarqux wrote: post #38
tpeng wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The cliche among hedge fund guys is to be "long term greedy" not "short term greedy", which explains why some funds try to be more investor friendly with fees. You also have flukes like Berkshire that seem to have undercharged simply out of benevolence. I don't really discuss my investments much, but I mostly do not invest in hedge funds for reasons of tax efficiency--a restriction that doesn't apply to many institut…

What type of funds do you like? Value?

I think special situations and value are both enduring strategies that can exhibit high return / low risk potential.

Re: YC Demo Day Session 2

#42

Post by parennoob »

Love the idea of Fixed, specially if it spills over to healthcare charges.

I have observed that hospitals invariably manage to saddle me with ridiculous "processing fees" and suchlike and add around $100 or more to my expected charges every time I visit them. I usually just pay up to avoid the nuisance of dealing with administrators who cannot seem to be able to communicate over email, and possible damage to my credit if I try to challenge it. I strongly suspect this is the case for a lot of middle-class Americans.

I'd gladly pay the same amount to Fixed to act as an intermediary between me and said 70s-era administrators, if only to let them know that someone is looking carefully at their exorbitant charges, and possibly even contesting them.

Re: YC Demo Day Session 2

#43

Post by [deleted] »

idlewords wrote: post #39
adwf wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You're probably not missing anything. By my (limited) reckoning, even if they can get their design to work in theory, I think they're grossly underestimating the materials requirements for the fusion reactor. From what I recall, one of the big problems that any reactor project has is that the reaction has a tendency to destroy the reaction chamber. Not just the heat, but the neutron radiation can completely screw up…

It seems like the kind of high risk thing VC money should be thrown at. It would be cool to see more research into cold fusion, too. The well was poisoned back in the eighties and the field never recovered.

[deleted]

Re: YC Demo Day Session 2

#44

Post by archseer »

dkyc wrote: post #5

Flynn could really make a dent in the PaaS space, although they seem to have a problem communicating their value proposition. I understand it's something like an open-source version of Heroku? If they take all the hassle out of deployments (everything that happens between git push and bare metal), I see a lot of Heroku users that are sick and tired of paying outrageous 35$ a month could flock over to them.

One of the maintainers here, we do agree that documentation and getting our message across a bit more clearer is our primary priority.

One of our major advantages is that we're a bit more ambitious about deploys and we try not to limit you to a certain format: you can deploy any type of application on Flynn, not just web apps, but regular applications and services like databases, mail servers and so on. We then let you connect all of these together via service discovery. Meaning that instead of limiting you to a plugin system, Flynn allows you to write your own "plugins" that behave just like regular apps.

Re: YC Demo Day Session 2

#45

Post by conorgil145 »

maxbrown wrote: post #37
conorgil145 wrote: post #19

Couldn't Square or some other "big" player come in and implement payments via bank account and simply put Kash out of business? I know nothing of the domain, but it seems relatively straight forward to do, no? PayPal already let's me send money to any individual with an email address (and maybe a PayPal account?), so couldn't they just change their fees to 1% flat for businesses tomorrow? What am I missing? Thoughts?

Sure, a big player could implement this model, but they may not take the risk or make the investment if their current model is successful. Also, it certainly doesn't mean they'll put Kash out of business if they do (and if the Kash team succeeds). For example, I don't expect Amazon Local Register to put Square out of business.

Fair points. I guess I struggle to see the benefit as a user. I just glanced at their site and they do list a few benefits for users including "fast and easy payment, perks and rewards for using Kash, manage spending better with daily limits, no bank fees or interest charges". These could be interesting, but as a user I don't know that the incentives are there for me to stop using my CC which I am already accustomed to. I get points from CC purchases, use Mint to set budgets, and do not see bank fees or interest charges because I pay each month in full. I guess I am just not the target market for Kash.

However, I clearly see the many benefits for the retailer. They are saving money on transaction fees, avoid charge backs (maybe?), get paid more quickly, and is free for businesses charging under $100k.

I think in the back of my mind when I posted my previous comment was the classic chicken-and-the egg problem. Lots of benefits for retailers, but only if customers use it. Possible benefits for customers, but only if retailers accept it. I think that many of the other larger existing players in this space already have most of the infrastructure in place (eg, Square) and have brand recognition to boot. So, I see a very large uphill battle for Kash in this space with their business model. However, as you point out, it isn't necessarily a zero sum game and Kash could exist along side competitors. It will be interesting to see if they can differentiate themselves in some way and/or execute better in some way.

Re: YC Demo Day Session 2

#47

Post by seren »

idlewords wrote: post #39
adwf wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You're probably not missing anything. By my (limited) reckoning, even if they can get their design to work in theory, I think they're grossly underestimating the materials requirements for the fusion reactor. From what I recall, one of the big problems that any reactor project has is that the reaction has a tendency to destroy the reaction chamber. Not just the heat, but the neutron radiation can completely screw up…

It seems like the kind of high risk thing VC money should be thrown at. It would be cool to see more research into cold fusion, too. The well was poisoned back in the eighties and the field never recovered.

This is definitely cool, and "if" something come out of it, it will be huge. I am a bit skeptical they'll have a product in a few years, but it is possible that they can find important pieces of the puzzle, that could later be sold and reused by another company.

Re: YC Demo Day Session 2

#48

Post by baudehlo »

conorgil145 wrote: post #19

Couldn't Square or some other "big" player come in and implement payments via bank account and simply put Kash out of business? I know nothing of the domain, but it seems relatively straight forward to do, no? PayPal already let's me send money to any individual with an email address (and maybe a PayPal account?), so couldn't they just change their fees to 1% flat for businesses tomorrow? What am I missing? Thoughts?

You're not missing anything. RBC has such a service though the entry fee to participate is high and they don't advertise it. It has a traditional enterprise sales cycle.
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