Ask YC: Projects that inspire you

#1

Post by robmnl » Thu, Jun 12, 2008, 1:51 AM UTC

Hi YCers,

Sometimes I stumble upon projects / startups really excite me.

Years ago, I was really excited about del.icio.us: so clean, so nicely developed. Now it's been overrun a bit, quality has gone down.

Today I stumbled upon http://weewar.com - So NICE! Well developed, so clean, just sexy.

I'd like to know, what are startups out there that really inspire you, that are really just the cream of the crop - the small little % of stuff that really matters to you?

I've been doing my own startup, and I can't say it has fulfilled me. I'm in a process of turning it around, asking myself what I really care about, what really inspires me. That's why I wanted to check with you guys / girls, what really inspires you.

Thanks, Rob

Re: Ask YC: Projects that inspire you

#2

Post by rokhayakebe » Thu, Jun 12, 2008, 2:18 AM UTC

http://hellomynameise.com http://friendfeed.com , although I believe it solves a problem by slowly creating another (noise)

What I would really love today is an Intelligentsia. Something similar to a closed and secret community of smart people (which you find here) who share ideas, links,thoughts, solutions to our everyday problems. Think of it as a closed, secret invite only HN.

Re: Ask YC: Projects that inspire you

#3

Post by astrec » Thu, Jun 12, 2008, 2:26 AM UTC

rememberthemilk.com is pure cream, pardon the pun. It's a perfect example of a tiny, talented team building something people want (and love), without any fuss.

Re: Ask YC: Projects that inspire you

#4

Post by missenlinx » Thu, Jun 12, 2008, 2:27 AM UTC

I have to say its not the project which inspires me. Its the people behind the project.

That being said I do enjoy reading about facebook progress in the world, quite inspirational.

Re: Ask YC: Projects that inspire you

#5

Post by edw519 » Thu, Jun 12, 2008, 2:31 AM UTC

http://wufoo.com/

http://www.weebly.com/

http://geticeberg.com/

http://wordpress.com/

All sites that let the user build something of his own. I've always been fascinated by this approach.

All very clever and very cool.

(Now all we need is a site that lets the user build a site that lets his user build a something of his own.)

Re: Ask YC: Projects that inspire you

#6

Post by dhotson » Thu, Jun 12, 2008, 2:40 AM UTC

I'm a big fan of MOO.com

They've got some really cool products and a really slick web site.

I sometimes use them as a reference for my own web apps, which is basically a nice way of saying I've stolen ideas from them before. :)

Re: Ask YC: Projects that inspire you

#7

Post by helveticaman » Thu, Jun 12, 2008, 2:55 AM UTC

edw519 wrote: post #5

http://wufoo.com/ http://www.weebly.com/ http://geticeberg.com/ http://wordpress.com/ All sites that let the user build something of his own. I've always been fascinated by this approach. All very clever and very cool. (Now all we need is a site that lets the user build a site that lets his user build a something of his own.)

I think that can be done with heroku.

http://heroku.com

Re: Ask YC: Projects that inspire you

#8

Post by evdawg » Thu, Jun 12, 2008, 3:08 AM UTC

http://www.plurk.com/

Why? Because they have a service that exists in a field that is hopelessly dominated by a single competitor (twitter). But they think they can do it anyways, and in many ways have created a superior product.

Re: Ask YC: Projects that inspire you

#9

Post by crystalarchives » Thu, Jun 12, 2008, 3:17 AM UTC

http://www.tinyurl.com

They're not really a startup since they only accept donations, but I loved the idea so much I made my own version which does not randomly assign a string but instead allows users to pick their own phrase: http://www.oneryng.com

Re: Ask YC: Projects that inspire you

#10

Post by syia » Thu, Jun 12, 2008, 3:19 AM UTC

I really like http://37signals.com business model. for me the basic thing that inspire me will the how the business model uniqueness :)