Raising money is not hard, what is hard is make money :/
Your comment is flawed
How a 19-Year-Old Raised $5 Million to Revolutionize Search
51–60 of 73 posts
Re: How a 19-Year-Old Raised $5 Million to Revolutionize Search
#52Earlier quoted context omitted.
Facebook already updates their API and policies very regularly, nothing they give an application access to can be given for granted in the long term. Especially when it deals with private content. When your service is dependent on another, you're always at the mercy of an update that can shut down the API feature you were using, whether the intention is to kill your service or not. In this case it seems like the goal…
Yes, but you haven't really address 'why' they would do it. > In this case it seems like the goal of the website is to become a starting point for a person's browsing/searching experience, facebook and google want the same thing. This is your only 'why', but it's very weak. Every company wants to be the 'starting point for a persons browsing experience', but Facebook doesn't provide that, and neither does Greplin. Go…
The companies providing the APIs don't have to justify the "why". When I was working on Facebook applications a few years ago they would change the API calls and rules almost monthly, app developers had to adapt or die. The changes were often due to apps abusing the system in one way or another, but Facebook defined what was abuse or not. Sometimes the changes just looked completely arbitrary and sometimes meant that some applications were just not possible anymore due to vanishing API calls.
Exporting the private data from Facebook is considered a big no-no, from what I remember the TOS might only allow you to do so for a short period. Maybe that search service gets away with it because it stores an index based on the private data and not the private data itself. If Facebook gets uneasy with how close the index is to the original data or what private information leak might happen if Greplin is compromised, that could be a good enough reason to put a stop to it. Facebook not getting into a private information leakage scandal is probably more important than allowing a startup to live on Facebook data.
Re: How a 19-Year-Old Raised $5 Million to Revolutionize Search
#53I thought this was a cool article until I read this line: "But regardless of how successful Greplin is, say, even if we go public someday, my parents won't be satisfied unless I get a degree. They won't speak to me." That's pretty sad, actually :(
I came here to say the same thing (even worded the same way in my head). Why are people so fixated on college degrees -- even if they've already built a profitable company from scratch? Is it to prove something? If so, what?
It used to mean something. Fifty years ago fewer people had degrees and it was likely to mean good life and secure career.
Not so much any longer but the old tricks of the trade of life from 1-2 generations back keep living on. It'll take some time to change.
Re: How a 19-Year-Old Raised $5 Million to Revolutionize Search
#54Do startup founders in Israel tend to be relatively younger than US-born founders, and if so, why do you think that is?
military draft at 18.
Re: How a 19-Year-Old Raised $5 Million to Revolutionize Search
#55Earlier quoted context omitted.
It happened to Facebook Breakup Notifier recently. Facebook revoked API access without notification.
Sure, but why would they do it to Greplin specifically?
I believe Breakup Notifier was blocked due to too many api calls. Facebook hasn't really been commenting on the specifics as to why it was blocked. So why would they block Greplin specifically? Well the point is no one knows if/why/when Facebook would block Greplin, if ever. But they have the option to. And if Facebook decides to block Greplin, who holds all the cards?
Re: How a 19-Year-Old Raised $5 Million to Revolutionize Search
#56easy to click Greplin Programming Challenge: http://challenge.greplin.com/ Anyone managed to pass level 1? I am stuck at level 1. Please share the logic.
I think this would work (but I haven't tested it):
Convert the string to an array of integers called FORWARD. Copy and flip the array into REVERSE. Subtract the values of REVERSE, offset by (0..length), pairwise from FORWARD. Then, just keep track of the longest block of zeros (index in FORWARD and length)
corpus: ilikeracecarstoo FORWARD: (8,11,8,10,4,17,0,2,4,2,0,17,19,14,14) REVERSE: (14,14,19,17,0,2,4,2,0,17,4,10,8,11,8)
In this case, the password appears at an offset of 2 REVERSE(2): (0,0,14,14,19,17,0,2,4,2,0,17,4,10,8) SUBTRACTED: (-8,-11,6,4,15,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,-15,-4,-6)
The longest zero block occurs at FORWARD[5] and ends at FORWARD[11]... in other words, racecar.
Should be quicker than brute force.
Re: How a 19-Year-Old Raised $5 Million to Revolutionize Search
#57Earlier quoted context omitted.
Yes, but you haven't really address 'why' they would do it. > In this case it seems like the goal of the website is to become a starting point for a person's browsing/searching experience, facebook and google want the same thing. This is your only 'why', but it's very weak. Every company wants to be the 'starting point for a persons browsing experience', but Facebook doesn't provide that, and neither does Greplin. Go…
The companies providing the APIs don't have to justify the "why". When I was working on Facebook applications a few years ago they would change the API calls and rules almost monthly, app developers had to adapt or die. The changes were often due to apps abusing the system in one way or another, but Facebook defined what was abuse or not. Sometimes the changes just looked completely arbitrary and sometimes meant that…
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Re: How a 19-Year-Old Raised $5 Million to Revolutionize Search
#58Daniel, if you're on HN, I'd love to know how the visa/immigration situation worked out for you in this case (if you can publicly talk about it, I know that this is not always the case).
I actually emailed him for this about a year ago and he told me that he was an American citizen.
when did he come to the states?
Re: How a 19-Year-Old Raised $5 Million to Revolutionize Search
#59Earlier quoted context omitted.
Sure, but why would they do it to Greplin specifically?
Why wouldn't they? Why did they kill off Breakup Notifier? It's not like that was obviously going to happen. The problem here is that you have no visibility into Facebook's roadmap, priorities, etc. Sorry, but I think betting $5m (or years of your life) on a startup that can literally be killed overnight on the whim of someone at another tech company is crazy.
The point of these API-based companies is usually to gain a foothold and some user traction and then reduce their dependency on the mothership once they've got some leverage.
It's pretty obvious that a business that's completely dependent upon FaceBook isn't in a very good position. It's equally obvious that a business that's completely dependent upon FaceBook but has users is in a better position than a business that nobody cares about. You start with the latter, not the former.
If Greplin or some other startup is still dependent upon FaceBook after years gone by and $5M spent, they're doing something wrong. But in the near-term, they're doing a helluva lot better than the average startup.
Re: How a 19-Year-Old Raised $5 Million to Revolutionize Search
#60[deleted]