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Startups from Y Combinator’s S19 Demo Day 2

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Re: Startups from Y Combinator’s S19 Demo Day 2

#81

Post by pier25 »

m0zg wrote: post #2

What always strikes me about these lists is that if I had these ideas (and I often do), I'd discard them out of hand as non-viable. Yet people behind these startups don't mind staking years of their life on what is essentially a lottery with rather poor odds, and find passion in doing things which, at best, would make me yawn. Maybe I'm just old, I don't know.

I kinda agree. I just don't see the value in 90% of those ideas even if they are well executed. Maybe I'm getting old too but it seems most of these propositions are based on the premise of making something attractive and getting funding from VCs wanting to diversify their investments and play the lottery.

The lowest hanging fruit in tech has already been taken years ago and the human needs haven't changed that much. We need to communicate, we need to listen to music, we need to move around, etc.

Re: Startups from Y Combinator’s S19 Demo Day 2

#82

Post by whoisjuan »

fybe wrote: post #63

Vendr.com: A SaaS to keep track of your SaaS subscriptions. and a 6.5k or 10k PER MONTH for someone to buy your SaaS subscriptions seems super expensive. I'm not too versed in the SaaS market but is this really something that you need a dedicated "SaaS expert" to manage for you?

Basically, it saves you at least one potential IT headcount. From my time at Amazon, I remember an internal tool to they had to do exactly this. You put software requests and someone from IT buys it for you and sends you the license and installation instructions.

So if your company is large this becomes a real issue I guess. Also by having a third-party IT vendor, you can buy anonymously. This shields you from unreasonable negotiations and future solicitation.

Re: Startups from Y Combinator’s S19 Demo Day 2

#83

Post by elmar »

whoisjuan wrote: post #78
elmar wrote: post #28

Fresh out of Y Combinator, Tandem lands millions from Andreessen Horowitz https://techcrunch.com/2019/08/20/tandem/ "is raising a $7.5 million seed financing at a valuation north of $30 million" "We’re told several top venture capital firms were vying for a stake in Tandem. One firm even gifted the founders a tandem bike, sources tell TechCrunch, resorting to amusing measures to sway the Tandem team. But it was a16z…

I hope not to sound like a jerk or get downvoted for this, but what's the point of quoting the article without adding at least an opinion or thought?

:) well I posted on a FYI - For Your Information only angle.

My thoughts: seed valuations for YC Demo Day are probably on a all time high, VC's giving gifts to be able to get in rounds looks like something out of Silicon Valley HBO, ok I remembered everything on SV HBO is based on real life events.

Re: Startups from Y Combinator’s S19 Demo Day 2

#84

Post by ovi256 »

m0zg wrote: post #2

What always strikes me about these lists is that if I had these ideas (and I often do), I'd discard them out of hand as non-viable. Yet people behind these startups don't mind staking years of their life on what is essentially a lottery with rather poor odds, and find passion in doing things which, at best, would make me yawn. Maybe I'm just old, I don't know.

You should read http://www.paulgraham.com/swan.html

Most startup ideas are non-obvious in their very early phase. If there was already proof one way or another that they were good or bad, they would be already done, or already dropped, respectively.

Also, the founders have much more knowledge about their startup. You have what you got from that one paragraph description you read. That's a huge asymmetry of information.

PG's essay explicitly calls us out:

"At YC we're excited when we meet startups working on things that we could imagine know-it-alls on forums dismissing as toys. To us that's positive evidence an idea is good."

Re: Startups from Y Combinator’s S19 Demo Day 2

#85

Post by CabSauce »

ben_e wrote: post #77

I'm quite confused my Tensil, is the training of the model moved to their chips, or the final model? If the former, then are the chips locked in to whatever model they were built for, e.g. this chip only trains a multi-layer perceptron with n layers? Or are the chips re-programmable or FPGAs? If the latter, don't most models run quite quickly on CPU after training anyways?

I'm assuming it's the later. Some applications require pretty high speed inference, like video.

Re: Startups from Y Combinator’s S19 Demo Day 2

#86

Post by streetcat1 »

IshKebab wrote: post #41
firtoz wrote: post #12

I am currently participating in another accelerator in London called Antler; and I have been exposed to ideas from 70 entrepreneurs. We are presenting to investors this week. Also I am in YC Startup School too, which allows you to see what's coming up in the world, and that's awesome too. It's amazing to see that a significant percentage (~30%) of ideas they have come up with have been also thought of by others e.g.…

It's because ideas are the easy part. How many people thought of Uber before it existed? Probably everyone that has ever had to book a taxi.

The interesting part about Uber is the legal side and not the actual transportation. I.e. how can you legally provide a public transportation without paying for permit.

Or how can you call a driver a non employee while specifically giving him orders to drive.

This is the real innovation.

Re: Startups from Y Combinator’s S19 Demo Day 2

#87

Post by wolco »

m0zg wrote: post #2

What always strikes me about these lists is that if I had these ideas (and I often do), I'd discard them out of hand as non-viable. Yet people behind these startups don't mind staking years of their life on what is essentially a lottery with rather poor odds, and find passion in doing things which, at best, would make me yawn. Maybe I'm just old, I don't know.

I think most look at the ideas and don't see a safe/profitable path. Most are right but with the right person they can take any idea and make it work. Not because of the big idea but by winning the small battles and the non-obvious battles.

Facebook had a similiar idea to others. But they limited it to Harvard. So anyone who joined was part of a social club that they saw in real life. That gave them trust and people more freely posted. Next they rolled out to only ivy league schools. Next all colleges. Then highschools. When they released to the public the colleges still had semi-private networks allowing them more freedom. Then facebook did something no one thought was possible, they allowed you to login to hotmail import your contacts. Now you are friends with people you may not have talk to in years.

The original idea only shaped a broadvision. Each decision really provided the vision and a path for growth.

The original vision is important. If you tried to take a dating app and follow the Harvard facebook roll-out it wouldn't work because people wouldn't want to be seen as looking for a mate. Dating sites try to connect strangers.

Re: Startups from Y Combinator’s S19 Demo Day 2

#88

Post by whoisjuan »

elmar wrote: post #83
whoisjuan wrote: post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I hope not to sound like a jerk or get downvoted for this, but what's the point of quoting the article without adding at least an opinion or thought?

:) well I posted on a FYI - For Your Information only angle. My thoughts: seed valuations for YC Demo Day are probably on a all time high, VC's giving gifts to be able to get in rounds looks like something out of Silicon Valley HBO, ok I remembered everything on SV HBO is based on real life events.

I think the most ridiculous thing is not even the gift, but the fact that it is a Tandem bike (just because of the name).

What's the rationale there? "Ohh their name is Tandem. Let's buy them a Tandem bike to convince them to accept our term sheet. It's our fiduciary responsibility to do this stupid thing".

For me, that's just a red flag. How little can you add to a company besides money, that you have to resort to this chaplinesque strategy?

Re: Startups from Y Combinator’s S19 Demo Day 2

#89

Post by pequalsnp »

sidcool wrote: post #47
pgt wrote: post #40

MyPetrolPump is genius. It's last-mile delivery for gas (or Uber for gas), but solving a security and logistics problem for a high-value market. Only qualified truck drivers can move trucks, and you pay them per hour. So now you refuel the trucks behind closed doors while the truck is parked overnight and you only have to secure access for the petrol driver.

I feel there is also a room for mobile superchargers. They can come to your house and fully charge your car in half an hour, rather than waiting for hours on home voltage.

I thought the same as well.

Re: Startups from Y Combinator’s S19 Demo Day 2

#90

Post by WillPostForFood »

whoisjuan wrote: post #88
elmar wrote: post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

:) well I posted on a FYI - For Your Information only angle. My thoughts: seed valuations for YC Demo Day are probably on a all time high, VC's giving gifts to be able to get in rounds looks like something out of Silicon Valley HBO, ok I remembered everything on SV HBO is based on real life events.

I think the most ridiculous thing is not even the gift, but the fact that it is a Tandem bike (just because of the name). What's the rationale there? "Ohh their name is Tandem. Let's buy them a Tandem bike to convince them to accept our term sheet. It's our fiduciary responsibility to do this stupid thing". For me, that's just a red flag. How little can you add to a company besides money, that you have to resort to t…

Why not? Personal relationships are a part of why deals are made. Showing some whimsy and personal attention isn't going to hurt, and costs what? ~500?
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