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Launch HN: Bottomless (YC W19) – Coffee Restocked with a Smart Scale

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Re: Launch HN: Bottomless (YC W19) – Coffee Restocked with a Smart Scale

#61
post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thanks for the note. We have been told by Four Barrel that they are now employee owned and that the former owner is no longer involved. My email is available at my account. If you know for certain that the above is not true, please reach out.

I'd be open to believing that and I definitely don't want to mess them up too much, but at this point, their brand has done so much shady stuff over the years that it's really hard to trust them any more, especially when there's so many good options that don't have assaulters and potentially complicit owners in the mix.

>I definitely don't want to mess them up too much

You‘re actively trying to get other people to boycott them, which would eventually put them out of business. It‘s the first time I’ve heard about them and I don‘t care one way or the other but be honest. There‘s no „openness to believing“ the „potentially complicit“ here, your post is a complete contradiction.

Re: Launch HN: Bottomless (YC W19) – Coffee Restocked with a Smart Scale

#62
What I want is a scale on both sides of airport security. I weight myself as I enter and weigh myself as I exit and if it matches, I know I didn’t leave anything behind.

Bottomless seems like a clever solution to a common problem. I don’t like subscribing to auto-refills based on dates as I end up with more than I need and causes the reverse of the problem I was trying to solve.

Re: Launch HN: Bottomless (YC W19) – Coffee Restocked with a Smart Scale

#63

Happy beta customer for almost a year. The only problem I have experienced is that that the roaster might take a variable amount of time to actually send the beans, so there is always a slight possiblity to run out, which is especially bad on Sunday since USPS don’t deliver and consumption is the highest during the weekend.

Hi, I'm glad that you're a happy beta customer, yes, USPS delivery times over the weekend are a challenge, we are working on ways we can improve that.

Re: Launch HN: Bottomless (YC W19) – Coffee Restocked with a Smart Scale

#64
What I don't understand is why there is the monthly shipping subscription. As someone who has free coffee at work and only drinks coffee at home on the weekend it doesn't seem like it would be worth paying monthly shipping. I would much prefer to be able to choose between the monthly cost and a per bag cost.

Re: Launch HN: Bottomless (YC W19) – Coffee Restocked with a Smart Scale

#65

Great idea and so many options as a business going forward! Just randomly was listening to you on Invest Like the Best today. I have an Airbnb listing that this service would be great for. Looking forward to hearing how your business evolves and grows in the future!

We were wondering whether this would be a good service for Airbnb listings, do you offer coffee for your guests? Anytime I've been into Airbnbs, my biggest complain is the bad coffee!

Re: Launch HN: Bottomless (YC W19) – Coffee Restocked with a Smart Scale

#66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thanks for the feedback. We weren't sure a scale would work either. We tested it with some skepticism. It turns out, leaving your coffee on a scale is intuitive for most people. This actually works as a way to do re-ordering without the user having to think of it at all. It's like a Dash button that presses itself. For what it's worth, Amazon recently discontinued Dash buttons. :)

We love our Bottomless scale! The thing I would add is this product works particularly well at our office. It’s one less task to delegate. At home I can mentally keep tabs on how supplies are diminishing but in an office environment there are more chaotic variables that I don’t have visibility into the effect resource consumption. Also protip: tare (reset to zero) the scale with an airtight container like a “coffee g…

I can see the office use case a lot more than the personal one--because I might not feel like I have the authority to re-order coffee when it runs out.

Maybe you should market towards offices more? (Your website reads as very consumer-focused to me right now.)

Re: Launch HN: Bottomless (YC W19) – Coffee Restocked with a Smart Scale

#67
post #62

What I want is a scale on both sides of airport security. I weight myself as I enter and weigh myself as I exit and if it matches, I know I didn’t leave anything behind. Bottomless seems like a clever solution to a common problem. I don’t like subscribing to auto-refills based on dates as I end up with more than I need and causes the reverse of the problem I was trying to solve.

Interesting use case on both sides of airport security!

Yes exactly. It's almost better to go to the store than having loads of product sitting around getting stale.

Re: Launch HN: Bottomless (YC W19) – Coffee Restocked with a Smart Scale

#68

Few of questions 1. People always make weekend grocery trips. Why can't they just add a packet of coffee powder? Why do they have to use you? 2. Amazon just discontinued their dash buttons. There should be a strong reason for it. Do you know what it is? How are you planning to avoid it? 3. The issue with diapers and toilet papers is huge. They take up a lot of volume and have very little weight. Does the scale approa…

Another question is what is stopping Amazon/Instacart/etc from copying this model?

Presumably Amazon Go shops have this capability and it could be modified to suit end consumers in their homes?

Re: Launch HN: Bottomless (YC W19) – Coffee Restocked with a Smart Scale

#69
Can you share your designs of your scale?

What I want is a scale that I can put under the cat food or water bowl (or under the cat litter tray), so that I can measure on a minute-by-minute basis how much water was drunk, how much food was eaten, or how much poop or pee was generated, and see those trends over a long period of time.

Cats are really good about hiding weakness and illness, and we've found that frequently one of the best indicators of health issues is a significant change in the intake and output processes.

You could then follow that up with a bigger scale you can put under the food/water bowl area, so that the cat ends up weighing themselves, every time they go to the bowls.

But I want these things recording this data locally, making it available locally, and not sharing it with any facility that is outside of my home.

Re: Launch HN: Bottomless (YC W19) – Coffee Restocked with a Smart Scale

#70
post #64

What I don't understand is why there is the monthly shipping subscription. As someone who has free coffee at work and only drinks coffee at home on the weekend it doesn't seem like it would be worth paying monthly shipping. I would much prefer to be able to choose between the monthly cost and a per bag cost.

Yeah, thanks for your feedback! Would you pay for a set up fee if then you can get per bag cost?
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