Dead Startup Toys • Hacker News Board

Re: Dead Startup Toys

#91

Post by slg » Mon, Jul 12, 2021, 5:20 PM UTC

dotBen wrote: post #56

Seems prudent to point out this isn't the product of a disgruntled's weekend project with fancy webdesign. This is a product from MSCHF which is a $100M+ startup [1] (feels like they're getting a bit of an astroturfed free ride of prime PR on HN because folks may not realize who is behind this) [1] https://pitchbook.com/profiles/company/279769-42

For those unware, this is the same people behind those Lil Nas X shoes with blood in them that made the news a few months back. While they do sell products, they seem to be less of a traditional startup with the goal of making money and more of a mix of satirists, artists, and trolls.

Re: Dead Startup Toys

#92

Post by motohagiography » Mon, Jul 12, 2021, 5:21 PM UTC

One hopes there is some dignity to be found in the discovery that, if nothing else, your purpose was to be an example to others.

The OLPC thing is a useful lesson in product design though. It wasn't really a product, it was a mandate about what some people thought others should do, and now instead we have netbooks, the android ecosystem, tablets, and everything else. If someone in the world wants a laptop over other immediate needs, they can get one. Juicero I think had the same problem the rest of juicer market had, which it was a niche product for a nexus of people who both had an upper middle disposable income and thought it was a good idea to convert fibre rich foods into insulin spiking sugar water. Jibo's robot without a purpose was existentially pretty accurate, but they discovered nobody wants that kind of uncanny reminder of the absurdity of their existence hanging around. I joke, but a well aimed joke can destroy a brand, and having funny people around to take those shots can be company saving.

Re: Dead Startup Toys

#93

Post by SamBam » Mon, Jul 12, 2021, 5:22 PM UTC

cercatrova wrote: post #50

philjackson wrote: post #22

It it actually selling something? It takes me to a shopify link...

They are actually selling the toys, yes.

But that's still ambiguous. It refers to all the products as toys. So is it actually selling the original hardware, like the Jibo, for $40? Do they "work" in any way? Does the OLPC turn on?

Re: Dead Startup Toys

#94

Post by s_gourichon » Mon, Jul 12, 2021, 5:22 PM UTC

LamaOfRuin wrote: post #62

BugsJustFindMe wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> You know, just in case you lose the sense of thirst for some bizarre reason. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adipsia

"Due to its rarity, the disorder has not been the subject of many research studies." The definition of "for some bizarre reason"

Definitely a huge market for a startup then! ;-)

Re: Dead Startup Toys

#95

Post by milkthefat » Mon, Jul 12, 2021, 5:23 PM UTC

philjackson wrote: post #22

It it actually selling something? It takes me to a shopify link...

They are selling miniature replicas of the products as "toys" for 40$.

Re: Dead Startup Toys

#96

Post by ClumsyPilot » Mon, Jul 12, 2021, 5:24 PM UTC

ghaff wrote: post #44

mushufasa wrote: post #38

Did One Laptop per Child truly fail as a startup? It was always a nonprofit, so of course it didn't make money. While the technology was lacking in many respects, it did serve a lot of children at the time, and proved the market that Chromebooks came to later dominate with a similar approach (linux-based OS with minimal resources at $100-300 price point).

>Did One Laptop per Child truly fail as a startup? I'd say it kind of did (as did Netbooks as a technology for the most part as well). It's smartphones really that won the segment that OLPC was primarily targeted at. Chromebooks became fairly big in education but primarily AFAIK in developed countries.

"Netbooks as a technology for the most part"

I know people that created books and websites on a netbook, who got though school and business meetings with them. I never seen that for a smartphone.

Re: Dead Startup Toys

#97

Post by sophacles » Mon, Jul 12, 2021, 5:24 PM UTC

duxup wrote: post #61

andyjohnson0 wrote: post #49

They could add the CueCat to their list. I seem to remember that Wired got all excited about it at the time. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CueCat

That was a neat one. I never thought it would go anywhere because who would buy hardware just for that? But I did kinda admire that they tried. One of those 'oh man great idea ... oh no I don't think it will ever work' kinda situations. It was very much a fun early mass consumer days of the internet kinda shot in the dark / fun to me.

In retrospect I see it as ahead of it's time. The idea of "place a computer readable label on things to send you to a special website (etc)" is still alive and used today in the form of QR codes. The hardware problem ended up solved by convincing everyone to carry a computer in their pocket and image recognition, but the central idea is pretty much unchanged.

Re: Dead Startup Toys

#98

Post by [deleted] » Mon, Jul 12, 2021, 5:24 PM UTC

ghaff wrote: post #44

mushufasa wrote: post #38

Did One Laptop per Child truly fail as a startup? It was always a nonprofit, so of course it didn't make money. While the technology was lacking in many respects, it did serve a lot of children at the time, and proved the market that Chromebooks came to later dominate with a similar approach (linux-based OS with minimal resources at $100-300 price point).

>Did One Laptop per Child truly fail as a startup? I'd say it kind of did (as did Netbooks as a technology for the most part as well). It's smartphones really that won the segment that OLPC was primarily targeted at. Chromebooks became fairly big in education but primarily AFAIK in developed countries.

[deleted]

Re: Dead Startup Toys

#99

Post by Symbiote » Mon, Jul 12, 2021, 5:24 PM UTC

tinco wrote: post #74

ghaff wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Did One Laptop per Child truly fail as a startup? I'd say it kind of did (as did Netbooks as a technology for the most part as well). It's smartphones really that won the segment that OLPC was primarily targeted at. Chromebooks became fairly big in education but primarily AFAIK in developed countries.

If it, and netbooks as a hardware category, failed, it was because in the end they turned out to not have been worth it. I used a netbook happily for about a year or two, it cost ~$400 if I recall correctly, and afterwards I donated it to my sister who I think used it for a while as well. That's at least $150/yr for a low end product fun but uncomfortable product. After the netbook I upgraded to a Macbook Pro that wa…

Didn't netbooks as a category just merge into cheaper laptops? I doubt they were unprofitable for the manufacturers.

I'll bet the children in Africa etc with the OLPCs used them for several years. They can't switch to a MacBook.

Re: Dead Startup Toys

#100

Post by SamBam » Mon, Jul 12, 2021, 5:25 PM UTC

croes wrote: post #26

Don't forget the ZANO mini drone, the OLO smartphone 3D printer, Peachy printer, the $100 resin printer and Blocks, the modular smartwatch. https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/torquing/zano-autonomou... https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/olo3d/olo-the-first-eve... https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/117421627/the-peachy-pr... https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/2106691934/blocks-the-w...

I don't think counting products that never made it to production really counts, through...

I backed the Peachy Printer and was sad to see it fail (and definitely assume that large parts of the creator's explanations were not entirely true), but a failed $600k Kickstarter is not in the same league as an eight- or nine-figure company producing something that turns out to be completely stupid.