Well, We Failed – Wattage is shutting down • Hacker News Board

Re: Well, We Failed – Wattage is shutting down

#61

Post by balls187 » Tue, May 05, 2015, 7:45 PM UTC

chrissnell wrote: post #52

oalders wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The post says they raised "$250,000 from friends & family". That seems like a strong incentive to make sure your investors (read: loved ones) can recover their investments.

Would the typical VC deal allow founders to return money to their seed round investors before the VCs?

Pretty sure not.

Seed round funding usually uses a convertible note. Assuming the VC round is a priced round, the seed round investors are treated as if they had put in money during the price round.

Thus they would have same class of stock as the VC investors, with the same liquidation preferences.

Re: Well, We Failed – Wattage is shutting down

#62

Post by jeremybell » Tue, May 05, 2015, 7:48 PM UTC

myth_buster wrote: post #46

BillyParadise wrote: post #27

That really IS a nice pitch deck.

That deck is really pretty but I'm really curious whether investors would spend their time going through so much text. Here is a pitch deck that buffer used. http://www.slideshare.net/Bufferapp/buffer-seedrounddeck

I felt I needed to tell a richer story about what we were trying to achieve, mainly because we were created an entirely new market. I couldn't point to another company and say "we're like them, but 10x better." I didn't exactly have market numbers to use as a method of framing the investment potential. I felt

I needed to paint a picture about a future we were trying to create... but you may very well be correct.

Re: Well, We Failed – Wattage is shutting down

#63

Post by grffn » Tue, May 05, 2015, 7:48 PM UTC

t1m wrote: post #34

You may have failed, Wattage, but you certainly left the place in better shape than you found it! In a time where a good portion of the industry is helping us click on ads that we would rather not see, you attempted something difficult, different, and with less money than most VC backed start-ups spend on their espresso machine. I am looking forward to your next venture.

Nailed it @t1m. Excited to see what these guys do next!

Re: Well, We Failed – Wattage is shutting down

#64

Post by sbov » Tue, May 05, 2015, 7:49 PM UTC

jeremybell wrote: post #57

daenz wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Reminds me of Mitt Romney's entrepreneurial advice: "Borrow money if you have to from your parents." Such a disconnect. Must be nice to have parents to be able to bankroll your businesses, Mitt.

Why would you immediately think it was my parents? Sigh.

I don't think it was a slight on you. Just the idea that some people (again, not you) think that it's easy to get access to this sort of cash (or even 1/10th, or even 1/100th of it) to "bootstrap" themselves to success (bootstrap in quotes because relying on cash from others isn't equally feasible and I'm not sure if it's really pulling yourself up from your bootstraps).

Re: Well, We Failed – Wattage is shutting down

#65

Post by jeremybell » Tue, May 05, 2015, 7:53 PM UTC

alaskamiller wrote: post #49

This is like making a McDonalds because everyone says they want it their way but deep down the truth is we just want an In-N-Out menu of 5 things. And the McDonald's way is bloated, slow, expensive, and dying.

You're thinking of Burger King's "have it your way", not McD's. Regardless, I'm not sure it's an apt comparison. McD's is dying not because they offer lots of choice, but rather because the food is shit and unhealthy. In-N-Out is in a similar situation, but their food just happens to be of a higher quality.

When it comes to mass-customization, there's actually a lot of evidence that shows people do want more choice. You're seeing it with products like Moto X and NikeiD. Or even with what Apple is doing with the Watch. It's logistically more difficult to pull off, but it's doable online.

Re: Well, We Failed – Wattage is shutting down

#66

Post by BukhariH » Tue, May 05, 2015, 7:58 PM UTC

myth_buster wrote: post #46

BillyParadise wrote: post #27

That really IS a nice pitch deck.

That deck is really pretty but I'm really curious whether investors would spend their time going through so much text. Here is a pitch deck that buffer used. http://www.slideshare.net/Bufferapp/buffer-seedrounddeck

When I was reading through it I was thinking way too much text.

Really well designed but they really neglected to talk about their business model.

I mean I would have loved to have known how much their 'OneWatt' breadboard cost to manufacture and what they were planning on selling it for.

That being said I loved their slide on 'HOW BIG IS THE MARKET?'.

Re: Well, We Failed – Wattage is shutting down

#67

Post by jeremybell » Tue, May 05, 2015, 7:58 PM UTC

aaron-lebo wrote: post #53

alaskamiller wrote: post #49

This is like making a McDonalds because everyone says they want it their way but deep down the truth is we just want an In-N-Out menu of 5 things. And the McDonald's way is bloated, slow, expensive, and dying.

One of my favorite Jobs stories is how he took Apple's late-90s lineup of numerous products and simplified it in a 2x2 matrix. (Maybe not the best link, but it shows what I'm talking about.) http://www.slopefillers.com/steve-jobs-product-matrix/

That strategy worked because Apple was dying and Jobs needed to focus their efforts. But that all changed once they found their footing. Consider the iPod and all the sizes and colours they offered, or what Apple is now doing with the Watch. There are many many customization options, and I suspect these options are only going to grow.

Re: Well, We Failed – Wattage is shutting down

#68

Post by pbhjpbhj » Tue, May 05, 2015, 8:02 PM UTC

bhagman wrote: post #39

danielvinson wrote: post #36

Mirror for the pitch deck? Looks like Dropbox is 429'ing it.

fixed - it's on Google Drive now

I wonder if somewhere a Dropbox engineer is crying over that comment!?

Re: Well, We Failed – Wattage is shutting down

#69

Post by pbreit » Tue, May 05, 2015, 8:10 PM UTC

Animats wrote: post #56

It's not about the pitch deck. It's about the product. How many people really want a custom radio front panel? There are other customized products in that space which might be more useful. * Customized entertainment remotes. Tell us what gear you have, what you like to do with it, and we make a remote or remotes that makes it easier to use. You might have a simple "watch TV only" remote, and a tablet type "does every…

> How many people really want a custom radio front panel?

It looks like they finally decided to focus on this one product which I think is smart because my guess is "way more than you think". Customization may be difficult to make but it is very easy to sell.

Re: Well, We Failed – Wattage is shutting down

#70

Post by zyxley » Tue, May 05, 2015, 8:11 PM UTC

jeremybell wrote: post #67

aaron-lebo wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

One of my favorite Jobs stories is how he took Apple's late-90s lineup of numerous products and simplified it in a 2x2 matrix. (Maybe not the best link, but it shows what I'm talking about.) http://www.slopefillers.com/steve-jobs-product-matrix/

That strategy worked because Apple was dying and Jobs needed to focus their efforts. But that all changed once they found their footing. Consider the iPod and all the sizes and colours they offered, or what Apple is now doing with the Watch. There are many many customization options, and I suspect these options are only going to grow.

Still, compare, say, "Mac mini, iMac, or Mac Pro?" to the set of desktops available from Dell. Apple has lots of options, but they generally stick to consistent branding of a couple of core product lines.