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Ask HN: Heard of any good startups?
Three times a week, I write about a new startup at Venture Pimp (http://venturepimp.com/). It's actually really hard to find cool things that haven't gotten much press.
So, as always, I'm on the hunt for interesting startups. If you've got a startup, or have heard of something nifty, let me know. I'd really appreciate it. :)
Happy Sunday, folks.
- waterside81 16y ago@markchristian Sending you an email with more info, but in the meantime, check us out http://www.repustate.com http://www.repustate.com And we're Canadian, too. Double-double anyone?
- markchristian 16y agoI would kill someone for some Tim's at this point. ;)
- AlexBlom 16y agoWow. I must be the only person living in Canada (though not Canadian) who does not like Tims. Though timbits are a different story.
- yesimahuman 16y agoI assume you are talking about Tim Hortons, which is the only Canadian thing I know named "Tim". I've been there once (I'm American). You guys got it right up there. Who doesn't want drive thru muffins?
- what 16y agoTims coffee is gross, brown water.
- chitabox 16y agoI Live in the UK, but I get some Timmies imported. I dont even drink coffee, but try The French Vanila Coffee, Abso. Awesome! And Don't forget the Garlic Cream Cheese Beagle,Apple Fritter, Boston Cream, Blueberry Fritter..... Why have you done this to me!!!!
- waterside81 16y agoHah I love that this became a thread about Tims. We're such hosers.
- markchristian 16y agoOh yeah, eh.
- photon_off 16y agoSo glad I popped into this thread and discovered repustate. Really cool API!
- vyrotek 16y agoWhere was this a couple of years ago?! I had worked on a project with a friend and we were looking for exactly this to support it. We dropped it because we would have had to build what you offer plus our service. Your API looks clean and simple. I just might have to play with this still. Oh and I'm 1/4 Canadian, does that make me cool too? :P
- deleted 16y ago[deleted]
- vyrotek 16y agoOur startup is http://www.IActionable.com http://www.IActionable.com We're what some call 'Game Mechanics as a Service'. I'll send you an email as well.
- atomical 16y agoI left a message. I'd like to test you guys out.
- derwiki 16y agoTaskRabbit is neat if you haven't written about them yet.
- majhonger 16y agoCareCloud http://www.carecloud.com http://www.carecloud.com
- rokhayakebe 16y agoI like the space you are in.
- atomical 16y agoIt sounds a bit risky to put your medical records in the cloud.
- coryl 16y agoOur credit info is online, our home addresses, our banking info, our friends and family photos, what we buy, what we search for, where we go, where we are. What's so risky? :D
- clstrfckr 16y agoThe idea is that with your medical records in the cloud, an ER doctor in europe treating the ankle you broke skiing in the Alps would know right off the bat whether you were allergic to any particular meds. It would prevent the need for redundant tests if they had your access to your health data, thus saving money in an industry fraught with wasteful spending. I personally think this is a great idea, and to encapsulate the service in such an elegant and refined user experience is the stuff of startup success.
- mikecuesta 16y agoHi HN, I'm Director of Marketing & UX at CareCloud, if you have any questions or comments, I'd love to hear them!
- sabredata 16y agoWell, im from midwest...Chicago to be exact...i started TuneCloud.fm (though we are not live yet). But some other midwest music startups im cool with are merge.fm, g2.fm, and bln.kr. Check em out. By the way, I read and subscribe to VenturePimp...sweet. Keep it up
- markchristian 16y agoThanks :) I covered bln.kr last week: http://venturepimp.com/post/802527796/bln-kr http://venturepimp.com/post/802527796/bln-kr
- markchristian 16y agoAlright, mergefm is today's pimped venture: http://venturepimp.com/post/832618806/mergefm http://venturepimp.com/post/832618806/mergefm — thanks, sabredata. :)
- shafqat 16y agoNewsCred Platform (http://platform.newscred.com http://platform.newscred.com)
- gigafemtonano 16y agoRobert X. Cringely is doing a startup tour that's short on details but seems interesting. Might be worth a plug. http://www.cringely.com/2010/07/slouching-toward-sunnyvale/ http://www.cringely.com/2010/07/slouching-toward-sunnyvale/
- felideon 16y agoStormpulse http://www.stormpulse.com http://www.stormpulse.com Bootstrapped, just went profitable, 2 co-founders, recently hired employee #1 (me) and #2.
- atomical 16y agoWhen I move the map the new parts take some time to load. Is it possible to preload some of them? Otherwise, great site.
- wensing 16y agoThe tiles or the "data"? Tiles are served over S3 (non-CloudFront).
- Elite 16y agoHow do you guys make money? Sorry, didn't have time to explore the entire site
- markchristian 16y agoVery cool, but can we get metric units? Google does a good job of facilitating this: http://img.skitch.com/20100719-t7nebfpieb75hrsbhu9w29361k.jpg http://img.skitch.com/20100719-t7nebfpieb75hrsbhu9w29361k.jp...
- wensing 16y agoI dig the toggle; thanks for the request.
- kordless 16y ago<raises hand> Loggly - http://loggly.com/ http://loggly.com/ is a cloud-based log management service funded by True and Trinity. Logs are normally a real PITA, especially on something like EC2, but we make dealing with them fun and easy. Basically you point your logs at our servers where we catch them and store them safely away. We apply a fulltext index to the logs to make them searchable. Results can be processed with custom scripts you write and then run from our shell-in-a-browser interface. Our API provides a way for you to programmatically view raw data, searches, facets of searches, or results of MR jobs to drive charts, graphs, or other mashups. We'll also support streaming of logs in via a persistant HTTP connection (and Mongrel2!) so you can send data from webapps or other client based applications. We're planning on launching a public beta in the Fall, and we have a fun madlibs form you can fill out to be notified when we're getting close to release: http://loggly.com/signup/ http://loggly.com/signup/
- zackattack 16y agoOut of curiosity: Do I have to install a cron or something to automatically scp my logs to your server? How does that work?
- kordless 16y agoActually you just run syslog-ng or rsyslog and point them at our servers by changing a few lines in your config file. If you need to monitor a file which isn't feeding into syslog, it's just a few extra steps. For most of the AMIs on Amazon, you'll have one or the other of these services already installed on your machine. It takes about 2 minutes to set up the configuration.
- riffraff 16y agoNice idea, but how do you handle privacy concerns?
- pclark 16y agoany chance of some early beta action?
- richardhenry 16y ago
- smallegan 16y agoTimeInB5 - http://www.timeinb5.com http://www.timeinb5.com This is an angel backed startup from Grand Rapids, MI. The idea behind the site is to build a communication platform for mass transit (namely flying). The site allows semi-anonymous posts between those waiting around at the same airport. There is a chatbox feature for live anonymous chatting.
- geez 16y agoCheck out Gigayo in the online banner and advertising space http://www.gigayo.com http://www.gigayo.com
- rooshdi 16y agoFavetop http://www.favetop.com http://www.favetop.com : A social web desktop for saving and sharing favorites. Check it out and let us know what you think.
- car 16y agoCheck out http://www.twimpact.com http://www.twimpact.com, or their japanese licensee http://twimpact.jp http://twimpact.jp while they are upgrading. It's like Google PageRank for Tweets.
- thefool 16y agoGuruFi - http://gurufi.com/ http://gurufi.com/ : Service for directly connecting essay editors with clients. We are still very much an alpha site, but we are bootstrapped and breaking even. We hope to add transparency to an otherwise obscured industry and to generally give people a chance to get writing help from experts.
- markchristian 16y agoThis is a great idea. A while ago, I had brainstormed something like oDesk + Etherpad for writers that would be based on reputation/ratings, and it looks like you're well on the way to something similar. Best of luck. :)
- deleted 16y ago[deleted]
- bonquesha99 16y agohttp://webchiever.com http://webchiever.com - web achievements http://inquiryapp.com http://inquiryapp.com - faq hosting service
- paraschopra 16y agoMy own startup: Visual Website Optimizer http://visualwebsiteoptimizer.com/ http://visualwebsiteoptimizer.com/ And, yes, we haven't gotten much press. Proof: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1520001 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1520001
- kordless 16y agoI like the design, but it would seem a call to action to signup would be best put at the top of the page. What do I know though? You're the one with the A/B testing hammer! :)
- paraschopra 16y agoYeah, the call to action has been under serious experimentation :) One hypothesis for not having Plans & Pricing button upfront is because it works great if your software is priced at sub $50 level. But VWO goes for $49, $129 and $249. So, unless visitors watch a video and get familiar with what exactly we offer, such prices will scare them into not learning more about the product.
- dhotson 16y agoOh Hi. It's funny who you run into here. :-) I'm a developer at 99designs and we've been using Visual Website Optimizer to do A/B testing. Our marketing guys love it.
- paraschopra 16y agoHi Dennis, glad to find a customer here on HN!
- Sociallybuzz 16y agoCheck these guys out Sociallybuzz http://www.Sociallybuzz.com http://www.Sociallybuzz.com Social Media Management, Marketing & Advertising Company. Pretty Awesome.
- rantfoil 16y agoMy faves include http://jamlegend.com http://jamlegend.com http://gotreehouse.com/ http://gotreehouse.com/
- paul9290 16y agoWe're launching this week (Sleep.fm) an updated site (http://sleep.fm/coming-soon/ http://sleep.fm/coming-soon/) to announce our iphone app. We just learned & became skilled at Objective-C; stoked to finally be releasing a product outside of web browser. Appreciate any/all feedback on new site UI/UX.
- woodall 16y agoThe "Stop" button, used when testing, needs to be more... conservative. Until I click "Set Alarm" I have no idea what those icons at the bottom do. Title them so that I can also click them. It will save users a bunch of time. I know I shouldn't, but if I type www.sleep.fm/[special_char] I get a 503 page. Make that fancy or forward it with htaccess. I really like the voice, as well as, it telling me my flight, weather ect. All of that is awesome.
- paul9290 16y agoHi thanks so much for the feedback. Re: icons at bottom yeah they are just static - they add color to our dark design. Though I have heard this comment before, so I'll c how it looks without & a bigger clock window. Re: [special_char] ... when it goes live will get our alarm links working as they do on live site (http://Sleep.fm/7am http://Sleep.fm/7am, http://sleep.fm/8am http://sleep.fm/8am, etc). Maybe that' what u meant? Not sure what you meant by "Stop," button. Is it too big? thnx again
- paul9290 16y agoand hey cool you went or are going to my Alma Matter. MTSU - though Baltimore is hometown and where I reside now. Recording Industry major. Fun times!
- woodall 16y agoA fellow Raider! I'm doing my final semester of Criminal Justice, along the way I learned how to program and I'm too lazy/far in to change majors. Here is a rough idea of what I had in mind: http://imgur.com/5HHOQ.png http://imgur.com/5HHOQ.png . The Rooster is active so the "Test" link appears under it. When you click "Weather Alarm" a test link will appear under that and disappear from the under the Rooster. You can arrange the icons any way, but I think labeling them would help the user know what they do. I wasn't aware you weren't fully live yet, it looks nice so far. I would recommend creating a nice 404 page so that users who go to http://sleep.fm/<> http://sleep.fm/<> or http://sleep.fm/7 http://sleep.fm/7 are either directed back to the homepage or to a pretty 404 page telling them they messed up. >Not sure what you meant by "Stop," button. Is it too big? Yes :). A simple stop would be more than enough, although the big button did work- i.e. I knew how to stop the test alarm. I see potential here. The name is awesome, there are some nice design aspects. Give it a few more features- tweet the alarm time, intergrate pandora/last.fm/grooveshark- and I think you have a nice piece of work. Good luck!
- msencenb 16y agoI'll throw in my own startup here as well: www.adsreloaded.com - It's an alternative iPhone advertising platform. I'm a 21 year old student founder, and am always open to answering any questions you might have, just let me know.
- thinkcomp 16y agohttp://www.facecash.com http://www.facecash.com Designed to kill the credit card.
- PStamatiou 16y agoNotifo - Mobile Push Notifications platform http://notifo.com http://notifo.com
- markchristian 16y agoGot it already :) http://venturepimp.com/post/526176519/notifo http://venturepimp.com/post/526176519/notifo
- dnorris10 16y agohttp://www.gogyc.org http://www.gogyc.org How about non-profits? We're focusing on using web and mobile technology to help microfinance institutions extend loans to youth.
- mijoro 16y agowww.isocket.com -- Commission free direct ad sales, works with adsense too.
- alabut 16y agoHey, I work at isocket - thanks for the shoutout! I didn't recognize your username though? To the OP, ping me if you have any questions at alabut at gmail.
- pramit 16y ago(Self referential) The Great Books Project: The Great Books Project aims to distill the wisdom of the greatest and most useful business and self-improvement books of all time. Till date, they have done 120+ books http://thesuccessmanual.bighow.com/greatbooks.html http://thesuccessmanual.bighow.com/greatbooks.html
- tomh 16y agoI'll put my workplace out there: Akaza Research http://www.akazaresearch.com/ http://www.akazaresearch.com/ http://www.openclinica.org/ http://www.openclinica.org/ We create open-source solutions for the clinical research field. Also of note: http://opower.com/ http://opower.com/ - tracks energy efficiency with solar power + software. Something like that.
- markchristian 16y agoThanks for all your suggestions, folks — this has been a great turn out. I'll check each and very one of them out.
- stevenwei 16y agohttp://www.chompstack.com http://www.chompstack.com : A mobile website builder for restaurants. The biggest source of traffic we've gotten so far is the Ask HN thread I posted 2 weeks ago: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1492184 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1492184
- jgresula 16y agoMy own startup: Pdfcrowd http://pdfcrowd.com http://pdfcrowd.com It lets you convert HTML to PDF online - either directly in your browser or in your apps using the API.
- mschaecher 16y agoSome Nebraska Startups http://www.rockdex.com http://www.rockdex.com http://www.hudl.com/ http://www.hudl.com/ http://www.tripleseat.com/ http://www.tripleseat.com/
- rupurt 16y agohttp://www.nearmap.com http://www.nearmap.com Based in sunny Perth, Australia :) We have high-res PhotoMaps of the major Australian cities and allow you to see change over time by flicking through the dates of places we have captured. http://www.nearmap.com/?ll=-31.959417,115.859435&z=17&t=k&nmd=20100529 http://www.nearmap.com/?ll=-31.959417,115.859435&z=17...
- markchristian 16y agoVery cool.
- harrygold 16y agoWordzoku - Site a friend and I created. http://wordzoku.com http://wordzoku.com - free service to help people improve and learn vocabulary. Take a new word and use it in a sentence. Site live but still in development. By creating a sentence with the word you're given, you put word to use and into a context.
- pclark 16y agosome that aren't mine but I'm finding useful recently: http://pinboard.in http://pinboard.in # delicious alternative http://extension.fm http://extension.fm # collects mp3 players from sites you visit http://invisiblehand.com http://invisiblehand.com # offers cheaper price listings for products inline in web pages
- cglee 16y agoWe created Active Interview (activeinterview.com) and have helped screen candidates from around the world by organizations such as One Laptop Per Child, among others.
- DJN 16y agohttp://www.trafficspaces.com http://www.trafficspaces.com - alternative to OpenX. Bootstrapped and profitable :)
- taroby 16y agowww.taroby.org
- andymoles 16y agoI've tried it. It's a really cool application for messaging and collaboration.
- alanthonyc 16y agoFriends of a friend started http://www.chictopia.com http://www.chictopia.com It's fashion oriented, but I don't know much else about it other than that they appear to be successful.
- metachris 16y agohttp://www.flockengine.com http://www.flockengine.com - Android Multiplayer Framework & Hosted Infrastructure
- ndoea 16y agohttp://www.briefcam.com http://www.briefcam.com - Automatic summarisation of video footage.
- chitabox 16y agoChitabox - Mobile Video Start-up. 3-4 Weeks away to launch for private alpha participants, iPhone's required to be in this! Really could do with peeps from here. Bootstrapped Non-programmer sysadmin founder, outsourcing webdev team. Time is very scarce, up late nights and most weekend, but persistence it key. Thanks to all here for the great articles. They provide great support and motivation for someone in my shoes. Shout-out to http://www.daemonology.net/hn-daily/ http://www.daemonology.net/hn-daily/. HND saves me an hour each day! Android users - Apologies in the delays. App planned for late September release, ready for Beta. And before people say it...no were not harvesting emails. Any email given will only be sent one email invite! Chitabox Team (Me and my fish!)
- markchristian 16y agoSend me an invite?
- Concours 16y agoHi Makchristian, great idea and thanks for helping us get the word out. http://www.gmbhnews.com/ http://www.gmbhnews.com/ is my try, bootstrapped but not yet generating revenue (still in Beta RC), it targets mobile devices and webkit browsers with the goal of bringing the web/blogs to mobile devices.
- spokey 16y agoHi Mark. You've already covered my startup, a bike reference for cyclists (VenturePimp writeup at at http://venturepimp.com/post/673622703/brightspoke http://venturepimp.com/post/673622703/brightspoke; my site lives at http://brightspoke.com/ http://brightspoke.com/) but I'd like to thank your for your kind writeup. For what it's worth, your post sent a few hundred visitors my way, and they seemed more engaged than those from some other blog links we've had. Thanks for your blog, it's great to have a feed of new stuff people are working on, especially when presented in such a clean and straightforward way.
- markchristian 16y agoThanks — that's great to hear. :)
- joshschiffman 16y agoHi Mark, Xtify - http://www.xtify.com http://www.xtify.com - We're bringing the supposed "holy grail of marketing" to a smartphone near you - efficiently (and judiciously) delivering a notification to a consumer based on that person's location. Xtify provides application developers (publishers, marketers) with a platform for creating and managing mobile push notification campaigns across multiple smartphone platforms - and offers the ability to trigger those messages based on rules including user preference and location. We are based in NYC and backed by Acadia Woods and Seventy-Six Ventures. Many great businesses live and coming live soon (real estate, retail, web publishing). Thanks! Josh
- udfalkso 16y agohttp://isitnormal.com http://isitnormal.com - Niche Q&A site that's been around for a while. Recently added a lot of cool features and it hasn't gotten much press in a long time.