Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

YC Demo Day Session 1

techcrunch.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

61–70 of 107 posts

Re: YC Demo Day Session 1

#61

Post by boomzilla »

pinkyand wrote: post #55
kyro wrote: post #31

YC is getting involved in some serious tech and markets. Long gone are the days of web apps. Deep insight, experience, and skill in today's heavyweight industries are what matter now. Really happy to see this change and very impressed with the first portion of this batch.

What does YC bring to tech heavy startups except connections to funding ? because most of the risk there is technology risk , not market risk, and YC is no tech expert at those subjects.

Connections to funding and talents. It's not easy to find a group of tens of thousand engineers, and which has very high opinion of YC.

Re: YC Demo Day Session 1

#62

Post by jonnathanson »

pinkyand wrote: post #55
kyro wrote: post #31

YC is getting involved in some serious tech and markets. Long gone are the days of web apps. Deep insight, experience, and skill in today's heavyweight industries are what matter now. Really happy to see this change and very impressed with the first portion of this batch.

What does YC bring to tech heavy startups except connections to funding ? because most of the risk there is technology risk , not market risk, and YC is no tech expert at those subjects.

There is plenty of technology risk and market risk in hard-tech companies. A business with R&D cycles, long lead times, and heavy capex requirements is going to face a substantial amount of both types of risk.

Re: YC Demo Day Session 1

#63

Post by rwitten »

Cakez0r wrote: post #45

I'd be interested in trying out MTailor if they had an Android client and will ship to England. Is an Android client in the works?

Yep - an Android app is in the works (probably 3-4 months out). We're happy to ship to England.

Re: YC Demo Day Session 1

#64

Post by aganders3 »

mind_heist wrote: post #59
aganders3 wrote: post #52

TicketLabs will have an uphill battle against TicketMaster, but man do I hope they succeed.

How is Ticketmaster Evil in the first place ? Do they pocket a lot of commission ?

I can't speak to their overhead, but the fees certainly seem excessive and in some cases insulting (e.g. at-home ticket printing convenience fees).

They have also been criticized, sued, and investigated for anti-trust practices. In fairness, I don't think any of these challenges have been successful (though some have been settled and the terms are not public).

Re: YC Demo Day Session 1

#65

Post by guybrushT »

alexchamberlain wrote: post #6

>> Backpack is a company that arbitrages the cost of goods in different countries by using international travelers as a distribution network I don't understand this one - with a world focused on security and import taxes, how does this work out?

Hah! I had the exact same idea. I created a landing page, posted it on HN and asked:

1. "Is my startup idea legal?" https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7167200

2. "Is it possible to 'shop without borders'? https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7166333

Interesting discussion ensued. Read more about my tiny non-existent precursor to Backpack :) I am so intrigued by the fact that they actually went ahead, launched and executed! Hats off. I never progressed beyond just thinking about it.

Re: YC Demo Day Session 1

#66

Post by specular »

alexchamberlain wrote: post #6

>> Backpack is a company that arbitrages the cost of goods in different countries by using international travelers as a distribution network I don't understand this one - with a world focused on security and import taxes, how does this work out?

This is really interesting -- I had the exact same reaction as the majority of the responses to this comment.

Ignoring the tax issue for a moment, I would expect the arbitrage to fluctuate with shipping costs and currency valuations, which is really interesting.

But unfortunately, it's really difficult to ignore the tax issue. In particular, China and the United States are sticklers for this, and getting caught smuggling a high priced item (I forget the threshold) won't be viewed as innocent arbitrage by customs.

This model would work equally well for drugs and human trafficking, so I would assume that most governments will/should have a problem with this form of tariff evasion.

Note: I'm not trying to imply that the founders have anything but the best intentions here. I'm simply pointing out that the very existence of a viable distribution network such as this might be of concern for authorities.

Re: YC Demo Day Session 1

#67

Post by chvid »

I am the only who is thinking that we most be near the end of a cycle when the business ideas become more and more blantly illegal? I mean: Backpack - tax evasion. Unwind Me - the world's oldest profession.

Here are two new ideas for the next round at ycombinator:

Wind me up - natural herbs and mushrooms for expanding your mind brought to you in an anonymous brown package at the confort of your home. Not sure where you are? Don't worry - our iPhone app is location aware.

Smackpack - having trouble with your neighbours? We send two guys to talk with them about the noise they made last night or collect any debt they may have incurred. Use our welldesigned iPhone app with in-app purchases and referral programmes.

Re: YC Demo Day Session 1

#68

Post by Cookingboy »

specular wrote: post #66
alexchamberlain wrote: post #6

>> Backpack is a company that arbitrages the cost of goods in different countries by using international travelers as a distribution network I don't understand this one - with a world focused on security and import taxes, how does this work out?

This is really interesting -- I had the exact same reaction as the majority of the responses to this comment. Ignoring the tax issue for a moment, I would expect the arbitrage to fluctuate with shipping costs and currency valuations, which is really interesting. But unfortunately, it's really difficult to ignore the tax issue. In particular, China and the United States are sticklers for this, and getting caught smugg…

Basic rule of thumb: If your startup's profit model is based off completely screwing over the governments around the world, then even in the ever so small chance it's not illegal everywhere yet, it will be very soon.

Re: YC Demo Day Session 1

#69

Post by ivanca »

alexchamberlain wrote: post #6

>> Backpack is a company that arbitrages the cost of goods in different countries by using international travelers as a distribution network I don't understand this one - with a world focused on security and import taxes, how does this work out?

Besides the point already made about "avoiding taxes" the other big problem is that this service is perfect for... drug traffickers; so yeah, I don't give it more than 3 months before they pivot.

Also, a lot of airports ask you directly if you are carrying something as a favor for someone else; so "backpack" has to tell its users to lie about it, otherwise the item gets confiscated.

Re: YC Demo Day Session 1

#70

Post by specular »

mind_heist wrote: post #15
alexchamberlain wrote: post #6

>> Backpack is a company that arbitrages the cost of goods in different countries by using international travelers as a distribution network I don't understand this one - with a world focused on security and import taxes, how does this work out?

- Well,I have a partial understanding of this. Its typical for people travelling back to South East Asian countries to buy stuff that are super expensive there ( like mentioned in the original explanation , MacBooks are expensive ; Xbox , Playstations , Premium Watches , Booze (due to local taxes) ; mostly electronics and high end fashion stuff. - With respect to import taxes : You wont be stopped by the customs unle…

What you've pointed out is what people do, but not what they are theoretically allowed to do :)

Transporting a MacBook, Xbox, PS4, etc. from the United States back to a South East Asian country (as you suggest), is illegal. For the casual traveler there probably isn't a great risk, since they can always claim it was an accident. But for the recurrent backpacker, the risks are potentially higher.

Post reply on HN