5 ms·

I'm not John Oliver, but my startup will be paying $1000 of someone's debt

9 points by sarahnadav 10y ago

smt88 10y ago
I think this promotion is a weak piggyback on top of John Oliver, but it got me to read about your company. I love the concept and would be much happier to upvote the company itself than this promotion. I hope you're very successful! Edit: I also see now that you posted the "sexual misconduct" article (which I tried to vouch for after people killed it) and that you generally advocate for women here. That's also wonderful, and I'm sure it's not fun to have so much vitriol sent your way. I do believe it's worth it for the people who come after you and completely support the effort.
- sarahnadav 10y ago
  OK- the tagline WAS click baity, but we've been planning it for weeks. It just happened that John Oliver did his thing last week We also just did a Memorial day campaign for members of the military (you can see the page on our site)
- sarahnadav 10y ago
  I am really glad that you love the concept. We'd appreciate some HN love because we have something that I think can make a huge difference for people.
minimaxir 10y ago
* A contest with a forced signup
- sarahnadav 10y ago
  Yes, you enter by signing up to the free service, which then takes you to a page informs you of your legal rights to protect against harrassment and fraudulent debt, and gives you a bunch of useful resources. If people are in debt, we want to give them more than just money.
sarahnadav 10y ago
Also- just FYI, John Oliver was paying off expired medical debt which was actually very useless and one of the most annoying media exploits of the defaulted debt industry I have ever seen. He didn't actually help anyone. Plus he was copying Occupy Wallstreet that paid of 35 mil of actual medical debt for people and forgave it without giving them any credit. #justsayin
- touristtam 10y ago
  oh you mean this? http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/jun/06/john-oliver-medical-debt-forgiveness-last-week-tonight http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/jun/06/john-oliver-m... Just ping JO through twitter to ask for an acknowledgement on his next show?
  - sarahnadav 10y ago
    Funny you say that. I thought it was weird that he didn't mention it because I've been in the industry for years. But apparently, he left them out on purpose so as not to be associated with Occupiers (according to them) http://blog.debtcollective.org/whos-afraid-of-occupy-hbos-john-oliver-erases-debt-resistance/ http://blog.debtcollective.org/whos-afraid-of-occupy-hbos-jo...
    - smt88 10y ago
      > he left them out on purpose so as not to be associated with Occupiers That was probably a good idea. Some people (including some liberals) would close their ears as soon as they heard about any association with Occupy.
      - sarahnadav 10y ago
        If I were him, I would have put it in at the end, but I would have included what they did even if he didn't say he worked WITH them. What they did was very important- and as an economist I would say that they deserve to be included in the history of dealing with this massive debt problem
sarahnadav 10y ago
Just FYI- this has been part of our marketing plan for weeks- the John Oliver thing is just a coincidence.

9 points by sarahnadav 10y ago

smt88 10y ago

I think this promotion is a weak piggyback on top of John Oliver, but it got me to read about your company. I love the concept and would be much happier to upvote the company itself than this promotion. I hope you're very successful! Edit: I also see now that you posted the "sexual misconduct" article (which I tried to vouch for after people killed it) and that you generally advocate for women here. That's also wonderful, and I'm sure it's not fun to have so much vitriol sent your way. I do believe it's worth it for the people who come after you and completely support the effort.

sarahnadav 10y ago
OK- the tagline WAS click baity, but we've been planning it for weeks. It just happened that John Oliver did his thing last week We also just did a Memorial day campaign for members of the military (you can see the page on our site)
sarahnadav 10y ago
I am really glad that you love the concept. We'd appreciate some HN love because we have something that I think can make a huge difference for people.

minimaxir 10y ago

* A contest with a forced signup

sarahnadav 10y ago
Yes, you enter by signing up to the free service, which then takes you to a page informs you of your legal rights to protect against harrassment and fraudulent debt, and gives you a bunch of useful resources. If people are in debt, we want to give them more than just money.

sarahnadav 10y ago

Also- just FYI, John Oliver was paying off expired medical debt which was actually very useless and one of the most annoying media exploits of the defaulted debt industry I have ever seen. He didn't actually help anyone. Plus he was copying Occupy Wallstreet that paid of 35 mil of actual medical debt for people and forgave it without giving them any credit. #justsayin

touristtam 10y ago
oh you mean this? http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/jun/06/john-oliver-medical-debt-forgiveness-last-week-tonight http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/jun/06/john-oliver-m... Just ping JO through twitter to ask for an acknowledgement on his next show?
- sarahnadav 10y ago
  Funny you say that. I thought it was weird that he didn't mention it because I've been in the industry for years. But apparently, he left them out on purpose so as not to be associated with Occupiers (according to them) http://blog.debtcollective.org/whos-afraid-of-occupy-hbos-john-oliver-erases-debt-resistance/ http://blog.debtcollective.org/whos-afraid-of-occupy-hbos-jo...
  - smt88 10y ago
    > he left them out on purpose so as not to be associated with Occupiers That was probably a good idea. Some people (including some liberals) would close their ears as soon as they heard about any association with Occupy.
    - sarahnadav 10y ago
      If I were him, I would have put it in at the end, but I would have included what they did even if he didn't say he worked WITH them. What they did was very important- and as an economist I would say that they deserve to be included in the history of dealing with this massive debt problem

sarahnadav 10y ago

Just FYI- this has been part of our marketing plan for weeks- the John Oliver thing is just a coincidence.