6 ms·

Ask YC:Sleep.FM (my startup) seeks UI designer

14 points by ryanspahn 19y ago

I see that I can not post in the job section not being a part of Y. Forgive me If I have formatted this post incorrectly. My name is Ryan Spahn and I am seeking a UI designer/consultant for my startup ( http://Sleep.FM ). If UI design (HTML, CSS and Photoshop expert) is your specialty it would be great to hear from you! This would be a work for hire. If interested in learning more please contact me at ryanspahn@comcast.net (links to your work are appreciated). Thanks, Ryan

mattmaroon 19y ago
I hope the salary is high, because that's still the worst startup idea I've ever seen. You should hire an idea designer.
- thorax 19y ago
  I can't fathom how it makes money, but I could see a lot of Facebook sorts of apps revolving around your friends controlling certain aspects of your life. E.g., choosing your current music, picking the next book you read, the videos you watch one afternoon, your alarm clock music (maybe?). It's kinda like the new form of mix-tapes. I dunno-- just brainstorming.
- amichail 19y ago
  Maybe you could try publishing this in alt.chi. I like the idea of exploring social startup ideas revolving around sleep in general. It may not turn out to be profitable, but it's interesting.
- NSX2 19y ago
  Are you a management consultant? Because at least those guys figured out how to get paid for their inconsequential opinions on how OTHER people should run THEIR businesses ... remind us all again what makes you the definative expert on OTHER people's prospects for success?
  - rms 19y ago
    he made a bunch of money playing poker and his current startup has obvious money making potential
    - NSX2 19y ago
      >> he made a bunch of money playing poker Well! I take back what I said. Obviously "making a bunch of money playing poker" qualifies one as an expert in rapidly assigning probabilities of success to ventures undertaken in an increasingly complex world where the law of unintended consequences seems to be trumping everything else. >> and his current startup has obvious money making potential And is worth $0. Contrasted with, say, Google ... which until year 3 had no clue as to what their business model would be and therefore had, using your logic, no "obvious money making potential" ... but is now worth ... like, a lot - or so I hear. If ideas are a dime a dozen then "potential" must be the stuff they use for shipping filler to make sure the ideas don't get damaged during transport. In other words, he is no more proven than the people whose startups he belittles ...
      - deleted 19y ago
        [deleted]
    - rokhayakebe 19y ago
      Man please
- rokhayakebe 19y ago
  that's mean. And quite frankly it is very low for anyone to attack people in such a manner. If you cannot say something that adds value maybe you can save the keystrokes to promoting your gambling site.
  - davidw 19y ago
    It was pretty direct, and I think I might have chosen a softer way of saying it, but I don't like the idea much myself, either. Telling someone you respect the truth "adds value" in my opinion. Who knows though, maybe Ryan will be able to repurpose it into something cool with just a little bit of effort, and come out ahead. I hope so. What I think I would say to Ryan if I were talking about it over a beer, and trying to be a bit humorous about it, is that it really reminds me of something Kramer from Seinfeld would be trying to sell Jerry and Elaine on. "But Jerry, it's great, it's an alarm clock and it's social!". Later in the episode Kramer would be walking around in an obviously sleep deprived state.
    - deleted 19y ago
      [deleted]
    - ryanspahn 19y ago
      Why would Kramer be walking around in a sleep deprived state? Maybe I need to be more direct, as it looks like readers get the impression that your friends have the power to randomly wake you up with their messages? That is not the case and I dont want to use an alarm clock that allowed people to wake me up to messages when they want to. Uggh, that would stink, I want to sleep until the time on my alarm clock goes off! What's different here is the sound of your alarm clock. INstead of just hearing only a buzzer you hear some sorta of buzzer and then audio messages left from those you allow. THis is only heard after the alarm time you set passes... same principle as a normal alarm clock. If this is clear to you cool ... though I dont understand your statement, "Kramer would be sleep deprived"
      - davidw 19y ago
        Well, it's Seinfeld, so it would have been hacked or otherwise malfunctioned to make the show entertaining. "Jerry, these kids won't leave me alone!" or "Jerry, this woman keeps leavin' me messages, and I get all wowwowah". Didn't mean to cast aspersions on how it actually works. Maybe you should aim higher or broader...take the ability to leave messages for people and do something with that? I just don't find the idea very compelling - it's too narrow feeling. If I want to hear a friend, I want to hear from them whenever it is, not just in the morning. And if I want a fancy alarm clock thing, I simply want one that I can load ogg or mp3 files in. Messages from people might be loaded or automatically pulled in, but for me that's just not a central feature. Another thing that sort of limits its appeal is that you have to have your computer in your room with you, and on. Mine has an option to automatically wake up, but it's a fiddly bios thing that most people aren't going to want to use, and most people don't like sleeping with the things on, either - they're noisy. So, beyond what I don't like, I wonder how you could take what you've created and tweak it to appeal to other audiences, or be useful in other ways? If you've got good tech behind it, perhaps it's just a matter of trying out a few other niches - maybe something else is what it's really destined to be.
- rokhayakebe 19y ago
  Dude, if I ever come down to the level you (which won't happen in this lifetime) I will say you are an idiot. But I will never be at that level, so I will never say it. But just so you know, a lot of people won't work at your startup for too long if they have to put it with your brains. Idiot.
rms 19y ago
Ryan, the other idea you talked about here, bringing internet radio to cell phones, is much better than this... I just don't think there is much potential here and I don't like seeing you spend money on it.
- mattmaroon 19y ago
  His target audience for this one seems to be people who meet the following criteria: 1.) Don't have a cell phone 2.) Sleep with a computer on in their room 3.) Want to let others wake them up, but not enough to just sleep near their phone.
ryanspahn 19y ago
Dude thanks for your passionate opinion! LoL
- curi 19y ago
  Dude, please locate the reply button. Threaded comments win.
fake 19y ago
sleep.fm seeks expert failer
- NSX2 19y ago
  Methinks you protest too much ...
  - fake 19y ago
    not sure what you mean
russ 19y ago
I'm also looking to hire a UI designer for my Jump to Conclusions Mat. Any takers?
ryanspahn 19y ago
My post here was not asking for feedback. I already heard from you guys in this regards. Thanks...most of it was helpful! I was politely asking if any UI designers are available and interested. If not cool.. I just thought I'd reach out to fellow entreprenuers/designers & coders.
- rms 19y ago
  But what does it say that the reaction you get here, from your peers, is so harshly negative?
  - randallsquared 19y ago
    Not much, necessarily. What if the guy(s) behind myspace had asked for feedback in a hacker forum in 2002? It's not clear to me that many would have recognized it as a huge moneymaker.
    - NSX2 19y ago
      Exactly ... I know I'm going to lose all 9 of my karma points for this, but: Michael Dell is successful in business and throughout 98, 99, and 2000 maintained that Steve Jobs should just "give up" and "stop deluding shareholders". Good thing Steve Jobs is in the habit of listening to unsolicited advice. So now that the whole world knows that even the opinions of rich, successful people can be totally off and worthless, what makes you naysayers think anybody cares what you think about their startup prospects? For all you know this guy's invented an algorithm to download terabits of video in seconds and is using this "social alarm" thing as a ruse ...
      - randallsquared 19y ago
        As an aside, I'd feel better about modding you up if you didn't protest that you expect to be modded down. :)
      - mattmaroon 19y ago
        That logic is bad because Jobs and Dell were sorta competitors. This guy has well-meaning noncompetitors telling him to switch directions, which is a much different thing.
utnick 19y ago
what do you mean by 'work for hire'?
mikesabat 19y ago
Ripping on someone's idea in this type of forum is a clear sign that you are an asshole. Period. But for all of those that hate this concept, notice that Seth Godin posted the same idea on his blog, twice. http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2007/09/alarm-clocks.html http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2007/09/alarm-clocks... http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2003/10/todays_free_ide.html http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2003/10/todays_free_...
- rms 19y ago
  Seth Godin's improved alarm clock has nothing in common with sleep.fm, except they both have to do with alarm clocks. Sleep.fm is an alarm clock where your friends can send you wake-ups with messages at any time they choose.
  - mikesabat 19y ago
    Did you click through to the second post? What makes you think that sleep FM wouldn't grow to include videos from your friends, weather reports, to do lists or overnight tweets?
    - rms 19y ago
      Sure, it could, and I hope Ryan looks at that post.
  - paul9290 19y ago
    I would never want to allow someone the power to wake me up when they want to. That would be so annoying! The only difference from a regular boring alarm clock to Sleep.FM's Social Alarm Clock, is the tone that wakes you. You set the clock and when it goes off your alarm message(s) is the tone that wakes you. Whether it's Happy Birthday, wake up old lady dont forget to take your medicine, the meeting has moved to a different location, good morning girlfriend/boyfriend/best friend i wanted to share this new song with you( you hear it), hey X i'll meet you for breakfast at denny's before work, im sorry i wont be in the carpool today, dont take i95 huge traffic jam, it's snowing go back to bed, etc, etc.... I wonder rms did you happen to view a promo vid of ours? Knowing that is helpful...
wmeredith 19y ago
I love UI design and I am a Photoshop/css pro. stuff I made: webdevelopersfieldguide.com (currently the top story ;-P) poptakeout.com <--mobile safari web-app. stanleymusic.com contact me through wademeredith.com if you'd like.
wumi 19y ago
It's sad to say that in the span of 31 comments, Wade Meredith was the only UI designer that offered a hand. Ryan's post: "I am seeking a UI designer/consultant for my startup" that no one wanted to answer.

14 points by ryanspahn 19y ago

mattmaroon 19y ago

I hope the salary is high, because that's still the worst startup idea I've ever seen. You should hire an idea designer.

thorax 19y ago
I can't fathom how it makes money, but I could see a lot of Facebook sorts of apps revolving around your friends controlling certain aspects of your life. E.g., choosing your current music, picking the next book you read, the videos you watch one afternoon, your alarm clock music (maybe?). It's kinda like the new form of mix-tapes. I dunno-- just brainstorming.
amichail 19y ago
Maybe you could try publishing this in alt.chi. I like the idea of exploring social startup ideas revolving around sleep in general. It may not turn out to be profitable, but it's interesting.
NSX2 19y ago
Are you a management consultant? Because at least those guys figured out how to get paid for their inconsequential opinions on how OTHER people should run THEIR businesses ... remind us all again what makes you the definative expert on OTHER people's prospects for success?
- rms 19y ago
  he made a bunch of money playing poker and his current startup has obvious money making potential
  - NSX2 19y ago
    >> he made a bunch of money playing poker Well! I take back what I said. Obviously "making a bunch of money playing poker" qualifies one as an expert in rapidly assigning probabilities of success to ventures undertaken in an increasingly complex world where the law of unintended consequences seems to be trumping everything else. >> and his current startup has obvious money making potential And is worth $0. Contrasted with, say, Google ... which until year 3 had no clue as to what their business model would be and therefore had, using your logic, no "obvious money making potential" ... but is now worth ... like, a lot - or so I hear. If ideas are a dime a dozen then "potential" must be the stuff they use for shipping filler to make sure the ideas don't get damaged during transport. In other words, he is no more proven than the people whose startups he belittles ...
    - deleted 19y ago
      [deleted]
  - rokhayakebe 19y ago
    Man please
rokhayakebe 19y ago
that's mean. And quite frankly it is very low for anyone to attack people in such a manner. If you cannot say something that adds value maybe you can save the keystrokes to promoting your gambling site.
- davidw 19y ago
  It was pretty direct, and I think I might have chosen a softer way of saying it, but I don't like the idea much myself, either. Telling someone you respect the truth "adds value" in my opinion. Who knows though, maybe Ryan will be able to repurpose it into something cool with just a little bit of effort, and come out ahead. I hope so. What I think I would say to Ryan if I were talking about it over a beer, and trying to be a bit humorous about it, is that it really reminds me of something Kramer from Seinfeld would be trying to sell Jerry and Elaine on. "But Jerry, it's great, it's an alarm clock and it's social!". Later in the episode Kramer would be walking around in an obviously sleep deprived state.
  - deleted 19y ago
    [deleted]
  - ryanspahn 19y ago
    Why would Kramer be walking around in a sleep deprived state? Maybe I need to be more direct, as it looks like readers get the impression that your friends have the power to randomly wake you up with their messages? That is not the case and I dont want to use an alarm clock that allowed people to wake me up to messages when they want to. Uggh, that would stink, I want to sleep until the time on my alarm clock goes off! What's different here is the sound of your alarm clock. INstead of just hearing only a buzzer you hear some sorta of buzzer and then audio messages left from those you allow. THis is only heard after the alarm time you set passes... same principle as a normal alarm clock. If this is clear to you cool ... though I dont understand your statement, "Kramer would be sleep deprived"
    - davidw 19y ago
      Well, it's Seinfeld, so it would have been hacked or otherwise malfunctioned to make the show entertaining. "Jerry, these kids won't leave me alone!" or "Jerry, this woman keeps leavin' me messages, and I get all wowwowah". Didn't mean to cast aspersions on how it actually works. Maybe you should aim higher or broader...take the ability to leave messages for people and do something with that? I just don't find the idea very compelling - it's too narrow feeling. If I want to hear a friend, I want to hear from them whenever it is, not just in the morning. And if I want a fancy alarm clock thing, I simply want one that I can load ogg or mp3 files in. Messages from people might be loaded or automatically pulled in, but for me that's just not a central feature. Another thing that sort of limits its appeal is that you have to have your computer in your room with you, and on. Mine has an option to automatically wake up, but it's a fiddly bios thing that most people aren't going to want to use, and most people don't like sleeping with the things on, either - they're noisy. So, beyond what I don't like, I wonder how you could take what you've created and tweak it to appeal to other audiences, or be useful in other ways? If you've got good tech behind it, perhaps it's just a matter of trying out a few other niches - maybe something else is what it's really destined to be.
rokhayakebe 19y ago
Dude, if I ever come down to the level you (which won't happen in this lifetime) I will say you are an idiot. But I will never be at that level, so I will never say it. But just so you know, a lot of people won't work at your startup for too long if they have to put it with your brains. Idiot.

rms 19y ago

Ryan, the other idea you talked about here, bringing internet radio to cell phones, is much better than this... I just don't think there is much potential here and I don't like seeing you spend money on it.

mattmaroon 19y ago
His target audience for this one seems to be people who meet the following criteria: 1.) Don't have a cell phone 2.) Sleep with a computer on in their room 3.) Want to let others wake them up, but not enough to just sleep near their phone.

ryanspahn 19y ago

Dude thanks for your passionate opinion! LoL

curi 19y ago
Dude, please locate the reply button. Threaded comments win.

fake 19y ago

sleep.fm seeks expert failer

NSX2 19y ago
Methinks you protest too much ...
- fake 19y ago
  not sure what you mean

russ 19y ago

I'm also looking to hire a UI designer for my Jump to Conclusions Mat. Any takers?

ryanspahn 19y ago

My post here was not asking for feedback. I already heard from you guys in this regards. Thanks...most of it was helpful! I was politely asking if any UI designers are available and interested. If not cool.. I just thought I'd reach out to fellow entreprenuers/designers & coders.

rms 19y ago
But what does it say that the reaction you get here, from your peers, is so harshly negative?
- randallsquared 19y ago
  Not much, necessarily. What if the guy(s) behind myspace had asked for feedback in a hacker forum in 2002? It's not clear to me that many would have recognized it as a huge moneymaker.
  - NSX2 19y ago
    Exactly ... I know I'm going to lose all 9 of my karma points for this, but: Michael Dell is successful in business and throughout 98, 99, and 2000 maintained that Steve Jobs should just "give up" and "stop deluding shareholders". Good thing Steve Jobs is in the habit of listening to unsolicited advice. So now that the whole world knows that even the opinions of rich, successful people can be totally off and worthless, what makes you naysayers think anybody cares what you think about their startup prospects? For all you know this guy's invented an algorithm to download terabits of video in seconds and is using this "social alarm" thing as a ruse ...
    - randallsquared 19y ago
      As an aside, I'd feel better about modding you up if you didn't protest that you expect to be modded down. :)
    - mattmaroon 19y ago
      That logic is bad because Jobs and Dell were sorta competitors. This guy has well-meaning noncompetitors telling him to switch directions, which is a much different thing.

utnick 19y ago

what do you mean by 'work for hire'?

mikesabat 19y ago

Ripping on someone's idea in this type of forum is a clear sign that you are an asshole. Period. But for all of those that hate this concept, notice that Seth Godin posted the same idea on his blog, twice. http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2007/09/alarm-clocks.html http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2007/09/alarm-clocks... http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2003/10/todays_free_ide.html http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2003/10/todays_free_...

rms 19y ago
Seth Godin's improved alarm clock has nothing in common with sleep.fm, except they both have to do with alarm clocks. Sleep.fm is an alarm clock where your friends can send you wake-ups with messages at any time they choose.
- mikesabat 19y ago
  Did you click through to the second post? What makes you think that sleep FM wouldn't grow to include videos from your friends, weather reports, to do lists or overnight tweets?
  - rms 19y ago
    Sure, it could, and I hope Ryan looks at that post.
- paul9290 19y ago
  I would never want to allow someone the power to wake me up when they want to. That would be so annoying! The only difference from a regular boring alarm clock to Sleep.FM's Social Alarm Clock, is the tone that wakes you. You set the clock and when it goes off your alarm message(s) is the tone that wakes you. Whether it's Happy Birthday, wake up old lady dont forget to take your medicine, the meeting has moved to a different location, good morning girlfriend/boyfriend/best friend i wanted to share this new song with you( you hear it), hey X i'll meet you for breakfast at denny's before work, im sorry i wont be in the carpool today, dont take i95 huge traffic jam, it's snowing go back to bed, etc, etc.... I wonder rms did you happen to view a promo vid of ours? Knowing that is helpful...

wmeredith 19y ago

I love UI design and I am a Photoshop/css pro. stuff I made: webdevelopersfieldguide.com (currently the top story ;-P) poptakeout.com <--mobile safari web-app. stanleymusic.com contact me through wademeredith.com if you'd like.

wumi 19y ago

It's sad to say that in the span of 31 comments, Wade Meredith was the only UI designer that offered a hand. Ryan's post: "I am seeking a UI designer/consultant for my startup" that no one wanted to answer.