There is no Jake Frink
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There is no Jake Frink
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Re: There is no Jake Frink
#2Seems a lot of the newer YC bunch are playing dirty to win. pg encourages[1] this naughtiness, but I wonder if they sometimes go too far and what the recourse is after brand damage like this and a major shunning from the very communities they're targeting for. Startups like Airbnb which have engaged in this sort of behavior are a little entrenched by now and have considerable traction, but for littler guys like Teevox, this is pretty strong stuff I'd imagine.
pg obviously isn't going to micromanage every startup he funds every season, yet there's clearly a problem.
edit: Then again, it could be argued these sorts of things are necessary in some cases to build traction. YC startups just need to learn to be better trolls and build up better, more believable stories. Or actually be more transparent in cases like this which don't involve divulging actual userbase yet (which is crucial in the case of something like Reddit, which had to do this in a sense. Who wants to use a dead/empty site?). The fake dude and all was unnecessary. Another small company in the same space (in this same thread) was more transparent about it all and this was appreciated by the targeted market and gave them good karma and brand value in the minds of readers who'll stumble across the name again and again.
edit again: also some commenters on Reddit have pointed out other shady tactics including blocking jtv ads which are the income source for jtv and the players, as well as soliciting donations under the guise of the heroic lone coder giving back to the community...which turns out to be a violation of Paypal TOS. Redditors have already reported them for this.
Re: There is no Jake Frink
#3I can't rationalize this strategy in this circumstance. You have a small tight knit community of starcraft viewers who religiously watch streams. You create a product to cater to this audience. You lie to your audience about the origins. There is no broader audience you're trying to gain before your deceit is revealed. If there was some broader race against gaining wider traction, I might understand. But in this instance, it makes no sense. Funded and organized groups have gained support, this audience doesn't really hate companies like some niches. They like a good product.
Re: There is no Jake Frink
#4I've been using Teevox (Warp Prism) since the first version was released on Reddit. For those unfamiliar, it is a web application that provides a convenient interface to watch the video streams of professional Starcraft players. It was marketed as the effort of a single developer, a labor of love. Donations were solicited to that effect and I'll admit I was taken in by the whole thing. The narrative was appealing to hacker and Starcraft fan alike. I'll wait to hear a response from the developer, but if the whole thing was a marketing ploy its a damn shame.
Re: There is no Jake Frink
#5Seems a lot of the newer YC bunch are playing dirty to win. pg encourages[1] this naughtiness, but I wonder if they sometimes go too far and what the recourse is after brand damage like this and a major shunning from the very communities they're targeting for. Startups like Airbnb which have engaged in this sort of behavior are a little entrenched by now and have considerable traction, but for littler guys like Teevo…
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Re: There is no Jake Frink
#6Seems a lot of the newer YC bunch are playing dirty to win. pg encourages[1] this naughtiness, but I wonder if they sometimes go too far and what the recourse is after brand damage like this and a major shunning from the very communities they're targeting for. Startups like Airbnb which have engaged in this sort of behavior are a little entrenched by now and have considerable traction, but for littler guys like Teevo…
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Re: There is no Jake Frink
#7Re: There is no Jake Frink
#8I don't understand how (or why) this is even a marketing ploy. Users would have adopted it just as well if they admitted that they were two developers and left it at that.
Even if they're working on it full time, it actually IS a side project! The end user doesn't suspect a profit motive because there really is none at this point.
So why lie at all? Seems completely redundant.
Re: There is no Jake Frink
#9Great idea of you want to be hated by the entire community that you are trying to reach.
Pose as a lone programmer, take handouts from the community via PayPal, be exposed as company owner.
Good job! I bet the Ycombinator guys are proud to have funded your project!
Re: There is no Jake Frink
#10I've been using Teevox (Warp Prism) since the first version was released on Reddit. For those unfamiliar, it is a web application that provides a convenient interface to watch the video streams of professional Starcraft players. It was marketed as the effort of a single developer, a labor of love. Donations were solicited to that effect and I'll admit I was taken in by the whole thing. The narrative was appealing to…
Fantastic way of tarnishing your name and company in one foul swoop.