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I really enjoyed Yishans answer if for no other reason than it was positive about Color. I wish Hacker News members, who have zero vested interest in other peo

by pclark 16y ago

I really enjoyed Yishans answer if for no other reason than it was positive about Color. I wish Hacker News members, who have zero vested interest in other people's startups, would be a bit more optimistic when it comes to publishing comments. Between Color, and various YC startup launches here - the place feels rather mean spirited, frankly.

nickbp 16y ago
Not mean spirited; realistic.
- icey 16y ago
  You can't call it realistic unless you know what the investors know. I have a hard time thinking that Color could be so amazing that it warrants such a huge early investment, but it's not realistic for me to say that Sequoia wasted their money because I don't know what they know.
- alexqgb 16y ago
  You don't need all the details to be unimpressed by creepy data mining operations.
akashs 16y ago
I think I understand where you're coming from, but I don't think people you are referring to are the mean spirited haters you make it seem. I think people are just curious and are honestly just trying to figure out what is so ridiculously special about Color that they were able to raise that much money. I don't think it helps anything that they've had tons of press and the only things that have come up are 1) Bill Nguyen is awesome 2) they recreated some technology from the Dark Knight. If Bill's such an awesome leader, and they have 27 awesome people, and $41M, why is the app still horrible (interface, experience, data mining, etc.) at launch? I'd honestly be happy for them if it takes off and it's the next big thing. And Sequoia usually gets it right, so I think everyone's just curious to know what's so great about this company and this app. But, we just aren't convinced yet.
MJR 16y ago
We have a vested interest in their product because we were supposed to be it's users. Our optimism has been replaced with pessimism when they were honest about what their product does and why they created it(data mining). We're not mean spirited. We're frank and honest. People on HN have no problem being optimistic. I was optimistic when I tried the product. I spent a good hour or so with several people on several devices in different locations using the app. We encountered problems, no instructions, confusing UI, the inability to see photos from users you were sitting next to, and in general we all felt that there was no useful feature in the app. We didn't get the app, then when we heard about the $41M in funding... we REALLY didn't get the app. Speaking for myself, my comments were based on my experiences of using their product, the information they released to the press and my opinions based on the words of their employees. I don't think anyone could ask for much more from a group like HN.
schultzi 16y ago
Thank you. All this negative criticism about Sequoia's investment is kind of like berating a friend for buying a project house. It might need work, it might be a failure, it might be a success. Let's just all sit back and enjoy the ride, whatever it may be.
- MJR 16y ago
  So first, I don't get the analogy of Sequoia as a friend in this scenario. Especially when the project house is a data mining application. Second, I found it difficult to enjoy the ride when the product, as released, was buggy and difficult to understand in both UI and user proposition.
  - schultzi 16y ago
    Sorry, that was probably a bad analogy. Either way, the ride can be enjoyed as a bystander. If you don't like it, don't use it. I totally agree that the UI is so unusable I uninstalled the app, but I am still interested in seeing how things turn out.
webwright 16y ago
I agree. It's kind of a bummer. That said, they set themselves up for it-- I'm amazed that (through a combination of common sense and user-testing) they couldn't anticipate the backlash. They should have either launched something that amazed/delighted users or stayed stealthy until they could. A private beta, some user testing, and a survey or two should've alerted them that they had an app that would confuse/alienate users. The funding or 2-star offering wouldn't have resulted in this kind of backlash alone, but together... Ugh. They've now got years of runway-- Here's hoping the hole they've dug is small compared to the mountain they're going to climb.

by pclark 16y ago

nickbp 16y ago

Not mean spirited; realistic.

icey 16y ago
You can't call it realistic unless you know what the investors know. I have a hard time thinking that Color could be so amazing that it warrants such a huge early investment, but it's not realistic for me to say that Sequoia wasted their money because I don't know what they know.
alexqgb 16y ago
You don't need all the details to be unimpressed by creepy data mining operations.

akashs 16y ago

I think I understand where you're coming from, but I don't think people you are referring to are the mean spirited haters you make it seem. I think people are just curious and are honestly just trying to figure out what is so ridiculously special about Color that they were able to raise that much money. I don't think it helps anything that they've had tons of press and the only things that have come up are 1) Bill Nguyen is awesome 2) they recreated some technology from the Dark Knight. If Bill's such an awesome leader, and they have 27 awesome people, and $41M, why is the app still horrible (interface, experience, data mining, etc.) at launch? I'd honestly be happy for them if it takes off and it's the next big thing. And Sequoia usually gets it right, so I think everyone's just curious to know what's so great about this company and this app. But, we just aren't convinced yet.

MJR 16y ago

We have a vested interest in their product because we were supposed to be it's users. Our optimism has been replaced with pessimism when they were honest about what their product does and why they created it(data mining). We're not mean spirited. We're frank and honest. People on HN have no problem being optimistic. I was optimistic when I tried the product. I spent a good hour or so with several people on several devices in different locations using the app. We encountered problems, no instructions, confusing UI, the inability to see photos from users you were sitting next to, and in general we all felt that there was no useful feature in the app. We didn't get the app, then when we heard about the $41M in funding... we REALLY didn't get the app. Speaking for myself, my comments were based on my experiences of using their product, the information they released to the press and my opinions based on the words of their employees. I don't think anyone could ask for much more from a group like HN.

schultzi 16y ago

Thank you. All this negative criticism about Sequoia's investment is kind of like berating a friend for buying a project house. It might need work, it might be a failure, it might be a success. Let's just all sit back and enjoy the ride, whatever it may be.

MJR 16y ago
So first, I don't get the analogy of Sequoia as a friend in this scenario. Especially when the project house is a data mining application. Second, I found it difficult to enjoy the ride when the product, as released, was buggy and difficult to understand in both UI and user proposition.
- schultzi 16y ago
  Sorry, that was probably a bad analogy. Either way, the ride can be enjoyed as a bystander. If you don't like it, don't use it. I totally agree that the UI is so unusable I uninstalled the app, but I am still interested in seeing how things turn out.

webwright 16y ago

I agree. It's kind of a bummer. That said, they set themselves up for it-- I'm amazed that (through a combination of common sense and user-testing) they couldn't anticipate the backlash. They should have either launched something that amazed/delighted users or stayed stealthy until they could. A private beta, some user testing, and a survey or two should've alerted them that they had an app that would confuse/alienate users. The funding or 2-star offering wouldn't have resulted in this kind of backlash alone, but together... Ugh. They've now got years of runway-- Here's hoping the hole they've dug is small compared to the mountain they're going to climb.