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And The Winner Of TechCrunch Disrupt Is… Soluto

26 points by thiele 16y ago

silkodyssey 16y ago
As far as disruptive technologies go I think saluto, if they deliver on their promise of solving users' computer problems deserves this accolade. I have always lamented the fact that personal computers users have to double as system administrators to keep their systems running smoothly and the tech industry has been trying to alleviate the pain by moving to web based applications and alternative easier to use devices such as the iPad but if saluto can really deliver it may just give the desktop a second chance at life and that would truly be disruptive!
aresant 16y ago
Their tagline "Anti-frustration software" is brilliant.
- p0larboy 16y ago
  love their logo :)
pavs 16y ago
How is this disruptive? Maybe I am missing some trick here? Microsoft has a free tool that does exactly this for free from the horse's mouth: http://fixitcenter.support.microsoft.com/Portal http://fixitcenter.support.microsoft.com/Portal
- teej 16y ago
  There was also Windows Live Sync, Windows Live SkyDrive, Windows Live Mesh, but none of those made Dropbox any less disruptive. Sometimes making things simple and reliable -is- the disruption.
  - deleted 16y ago
    [deleted]
  - kenjackson 16y ago
    DropBox is not disruptive. It's nice and useful, but it's certainly not disruptive.
  - mistermann 16y ago
    There's also sysinternals, and many other 3rd parties that produced utilities for windows that were either no brainer useful, or actually did competently what the MS equivalent tools botched. There are so many things that MS does half-assed, even though it would cost very little more money to do properly (copying files within explorer is one obvious example). On the other hand, they will blow millions upon millions on flashy geegaws that no one uses anyways.
- ippisl 16y ago
  I think the disruption is in gathering a lot of data about various frustrations caused by apps. this gives the industry a new source of information on their products , that might guide them to different decision. And they learn from users which actions give better computers. this possibly give them a much larger database of pc optimization options than sysinternals.
ojbyrne 16y ago
"The company has previously raised $8 million over two rounds, but has been in beta until now." This seems idiotic. They should have had a restriction on what kind of startups (i.e. only angel funded or bootstrapped) could win the prize. Except of course, if it was just a giant techcrunch publicity stunt. Giving $50k to this company is about as disruptive as, well, sliced cheese.
jfager 16y ago
I'm amazed that Betterment got so much love, it's nothing more than a cynical attempt to convince the unwitting that ETFs and Treasuries are just savings accounts with higher returns. I would think the more appropriate response would be to tip off the SEC to their marketing materials, not give them a runner-up reward.
- holdenk 16y ago
  When I read this I thought you were over exagerating, but on first glance of looking at there website it certainly wasn't clear it was an investment product (however the statement next to the SIPC insurance makes it fairly clear if you read all the way to the end).
qeorge 16y ago
I love this idea and here's why: Whenever I go to clean a friend's slow computer its not the malware and spyware thats slowing it down - its all the random QuickCam and digital camera softwares, or the TurboTax updater thats running all the time, or whatever else has accumulated over the years. Traditional AV programs are too rigid - I want it to uninstall the Dell Photo Loader, even if its not a virus by any traditional definition. Crowd-sourcing the watch list in this way seems like an especially elegant solution to the problem. If they get this right, I'd recommend it to a lot of people.
brandnewlow 16y ago
I was at TC Disrupt this week. A few observations: 1. The Soluto guys and UJam (runners-up) had the most polished, finished products. 2. The Soluto guys were completely at ease, had a good sense of humor, and had answers for every question asked of them. They also had funny, winning accents. 3. The Soluto guys were addressing a very clear pain point and had very strong branding, including the catch-phrases and slogans that accompanied their product "Anti-frustration software" and "Every family has a CTO. We're building this for them!" 4. There seemed to be a strong Israeli contingent at the event that were sold-out for Soluto. They were the only startup all week that always had a cheering section anytime they were mentioned. To the casual observer who doesn't know it's the Israeli contingent cheering, this can look like popular support and start to sway people on the fence. By the end of the conference, they were pretty much the only startup anyone would mention if you asked who they thought was going to win (YMMV). 5. Also, as one HNer pointed out shortly before the winners were announced, Soluto's presentation was the only one to inspire defensive questions from all the judges. Each one of them asked questions about how their business would impact projects and areas they were working in themselves.

26 points by thiele 16y ago

As far as disruptive technologies go I think saluto, if they deliver on their promise of solving users' computer problems deserves this accolade. I have always lamented the fact that personal computers users have to double as system administrators to keep their systems running smoothly and the tech industry has been trying to alleviate the pain by moving to web based applications and alternative easier to use devices such as the iPad but if saluto can really deliver it may just give the desktop a second chance at life and that would truly be disruptive!

aresant 16y ago

Their tagline "Anti-frustration software" is brilliant.

p0larboy 16y ago
love their logo :)

pavs 16y ago

How is this disruptive? Maybe I am missing some trick here? Microsoft has a free tool that does exactly this for free from the horse's mouth: http://fixitcenter.support.microsoft.com/Portal http://fixitcenter.support.microsoft.com/Portal

teej 16y ago
There was also Windows Live Sync, Windows Live SkyDrive, Windows Live Mesh, but none of those made Dropbox any less disruptive. Sometimes making things simple and reliable -is- the disruption.
- deleted 16y ago
  [deleted]
- kenjackson 16y ago
  DropBox is not disruptive. It's nice and useful, but it's certainly not disruptive.
- mistermann 16y ago
  There's also sysinternals, and many other 3rd parties that produced utilities for windows that were either no brainer useful, or actually did competently what the MS equivalent tools botched. There are so many things that MS does half-assed, even though it would cost very little more money to do properly (copying files within explorer is one obvious example). On the other hand, they will blow millions upon millions on flashy geegaws that no one uses anyways.
ippisl 16y ago
I think the disruption is in gathering a lot of data about various frustrations caused by apps. this gives the industry a new source of information on their products , that might guide them to different decision. And they learn from users which actions give better computers. this possibly give them a much larger database of pc optimization options than sysinternals.

ojbyrne 16y ago

"The company has previously raised $8 million over two rounds, but has been in beta until now." This seems idiotic. They should have had a restriction on what kind of startups (i.e. only angel funded or bootstrapped) could win the prize. Except of course, if it was just a giant techcrunch publicity stunt. Giving $50k to this company is about as disruptive as, well, sliced cheese.

jfager 16y ago

I'm amazed that Betterment got so much love, it's nothing more than a cynical attempt to convince the unwitting that ETFs and Treasuries are just savings accounts with higher returns. I would think the more appropriate response would be to tip off the SEC to their marketing materials, not give them a runner-up reward.

holdenk 16y ago
When I read this I thought you were over exagerating, but on first glance of looking at there website it certainly wasn't clear it was an investment product (however the statement next to the SIPC insurance makes it fairly clear if you read all the way to the end).

qeorge 16y ago

I love this idea and here's why: Whenever I go to clean a friend's slow computer its not the malware and spyware thats slowing it down - its all the random QuickCam and digital camera softwares, or the TurboTax updater thats running all the time, or whatever else has accumulated over the years. Traditional AV programs are too rigid - I want it to uninstall the Dell Photo Loader, even if its not a virus by any traditional definition. Crowd-sourcing the watch list in this way seems like an especially elegant solution to the problem. If they get this right, I'd recommend it to a lot of people.

brandnewlow 16y ago

I was at TC Disrupt this week. A few observations: 1. The Soluto guys and UJam (runners-up) had the most polished, finished products. 2. The Soluto guys were completely at ease, had a good sense of humor, and had answers for every question asked of them. They also had funny, winning accents. 3. The Soluto guys were addressing a very clear pain point and had very strong branding, including the catch-phrases and slogans that accompanied their product "Anti-frustration software" and "Every family has a CTO. We're building this for them!" 4. There seemed to be a strong Israeli contingent at the event that were sold-out for Soluto. They were the only startup all week that always had a cheering section anytime they were mentioned. To the casual observer who doesn't know it's the Israeli contingent cheering, this can look like popular support and start to sway people on the fence. By the end of the conference, they were pretty much the only startup anyone would mention if you asked who they thought was going to win (YMMV). 5. Also, as one HNer pointed out shortly before the winners were announced, Soluto's presentation was the only one to inspire defensive questions from all the judges. Each one of them asked questions about how their business would impact projects and areas they were working in themselves.