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This is ridiculous. I actually started reading with a really positive mind, but Richard Branson is never going to see any of that $1M. - Scott... got the idea

This is ridiculous. I actually started reading with a really positive mind, but Richard Branson is never going to see any of that $1M. - Scott... got the idea when his computer crashed and he lost a spreadsheet containing all his usernames and passwords. Using this as a story to explain his startup is awful. So, you are running a tool to manage passwords, where you previously stored everything in a spreadsheet? This guy obviously knows a lot about security. Where can I sign up?

FuzzyDunlop 14y ago
As far as moments of inspiration go, I don't think this one would rank very highly in the tech community.
- jc4p 14y ago
  It'd be a great story if it ended with "and that's why I decided to use 1Pass!"
eli 14y ago
I agree, but I don't think the product is aimed at us. I would imagine it's aimed at people who e.g. are currently storing their passwords in a spreadsheet.
- cperciva 14y ago
  And how long do you expect the company to last after it loses its first million passwords?
  - wickedchicken 14y ago
    "Unfortunately, one of the things that makes the site so secure is that we do not disclose the exact encryption practices." I don't know dude, sounds super secure to me.
  - pilsetnieks 14y ago
    It will probably fold just as fast as Sony's PSN, or LinkedIn, or Yahoo did, after their breaches.
    - aggie 14y ago
      Those are clearly not the same. This is a password management service; PSN, LinkedIn, and Yahoo are not. They were also well established companies with large user bases.
      - pilsetnieks 14y ago
        My point was rather that if they provide a convenient enough service, a lot of people may continue using it after a breach. As PSN, LinkedIn, and others have illustrated, most people actually don't care about passwords and security all that much, especially their target audience currently storing all their password in a spreadsheet.
toyg 14y ago
That's harsh. I have to say, his pitch resonates with the common man more than you think. How many people keep their passwords in spreadsheets or other haphazard ways? Zillions. How many stop and think "mh, what's gonna happen if I lose this spreadsheet"? Not many -- otherwise they wouldn't store passwords in spreadsheets to begin with. Scott just reminded them that they'll be screwed at some point, and he's here to help. I expect part of the reasoning behind Branson's investment is that the man himself (or some of his minions) must have had the occasional lost-password-crisis here or there. Clearly, with a bland but fairly descriptive name like MySocialCloud, they are not targeting paranoid geeks (the ones who worry about details like "who's running this service?", and would rather use services going by dorky names with random missing vowels), they are targeting the common man who stores passwords in spreadsheets. They are scratching an itch they themselves had, which is often how you validate your own business plan. I don't see why they should be ridiculed for it. (This said, the whole post is just planted marketing of the lowest quality. Hardly HN-worthy, if you ask me.)
- lelele 14y ago
  > Scott just reminded them that they'll be screwed at some point, and he's here to help. Problem is: he doesn't know how to help, yet people are going to trust him because they don't know better. I'd bet they are going to store their users' password on an Excel spreadsheet, but they will take care to backup it often ;-) There is LastPass already, and they are doing a great job. Competition is good, but why should we support clueless competitors? That said, I'd bet MySocialCloud.com will succeed. Worse is better, isn't it? And now they have lots of money.
brandoncapecci 14y ago
On their how it works page: "When you enter a password it gets emailed to us where we will manually enter it unencrypted into a massive spreadsheet."
- mkramlich 14y ago
  I had to reread your comment a few times. Because I actually thought it was true and you were serious. Because it sounds consistent with the rest of the vibe I was getting about them. They're punching way out of their weight class, especially for their first venture. You can see it in their writing, their decisions, and I'd argue even their faces. Hopefully they pivot early enough over to something wiser and more nichey.
kinleyd 14y ago
Heh, this story was amusing in many ways. Storing passwords in a spreadsheet is eye brow raising, and I'd venture that the first lesson after losing a passwords file should have been to figure out a better backup strategy. Going to the cloud seemed to be quite a reach, but apparently Richard Branson didn't think so. RB's a smart guy, but I'd agree that $1m is history, more or less.
lvh 14y ago
Although I agree with you entirely, I can't help but play advocate of the devil here... Dropbox started because of frustration over college documents that kept getting misplaced or lost. This guy obviously knows a lot about backups. Where can I sign up?
borplk 14y ago
Good lord thanks for pointing that out. Kudos to him to have come up this far but that's certainly one team I'd not leave my passwords with.

FuzzyDunlop 14y ago

As far as moments of inspiration go, I don't think this one would rank very highly in the tech community.

jc4p 14y ago
It'd be a great story if it ended with "and that's why I decided to use 1Pass!"

eli 14y ago

I agree, but I don't think the product is aimed at us. I would imagine it's aimed at people who e.g. are currently storing their passwords in a spreadsheet.

cperciva 14y ago
And how long do you expect the company to last after it loses its first million passwords?
- wickedchicken 14y ago
  "Unfortunately, one of the things that makes the site so secure is that we do not disclose the exact encryption practices." I don't know dude, sounds super secure to me.
- pilsetnieks 14y ago
  It will probably fold just as fast as Sony's PSN, or LinkedIn, or Yahoo did, after their breaches.
  - aggie 14y ago
    Those are clearly not the same. This is a password management service; PSN, LinkedIn, and Yahoo are not. They were also well established companies with large user bases.
    - pilsetnieks 14y ago
      My point was rather that if they provide a convenient enough service, a lot of people may continue using it after a breach. As PSN, LinkedIn, and others have illustrated, most people actually don't care about passwords and security all that much, especially their target audience currently storing all their password in a spreadsheet.

toyg 14y ago

That's harsh. I have to say, his pitch resonates with the common man more than you think. How many people keep their passwords in spreadsheets or other haphazard ways? Zillions. How many stop and think "mh, what's gonna happen if I lose this spreadsheet"? Not many -- otherwise they wouldn't store passwords in spreadsheets to begin with. Scott just reminded them that they'll be screwed at some point, and he's here to help. I expect part of the reasoning behind Branson's investment is that the man himself (or some of his minions) must have had the occasional lost-password-crisis here or there. Clearly, with a bland but fairly descriptive name like MySocialCloud, they are not targeting paranoid geeks (the ones who worry about details like "who's running this service?", and would rather use services going by dorky names with random missing vowels), they are targeting the common man who stores passwords in spreadsheets. They are scratching an itch they themselves had, which is often how you validate your own business plan. I don't see why they should be ridiculed for it. (This said, the whole post is just planted marketing of the lowest quality. Hardly HN-worthy, if you ask me.)

lelele 14y ago
> Scott just reminded them that they'll be screwed at some point, and he's here to help. Problem is: he doesn't know how to help, yet people are going to trust him because they don't know better. I'd bet they are going to store their users' password on an Excel spreadsheet, but they will take care to backup it often ;-) There is LastPass already, and they are doing a great job. Competition is good, but why should we support clueless competitors? That said, I'd bet MySocialCloud.com will succeed. Worse is better, isn't it? And now they have lots of money.

brandoncapecci 14y ago

On their how it works page: "When you enter a password it gets emailed to us where we will manually enter it unencrypted into a massive spreadsheet."

mkramlich 14y ago
I had to reread your comment a few times. Because I actually thought it was true and you were serious. Because it sounds consistent with the rest of the vibe I was getting about them. They're punching way out of their weight class, especially for their first venture. You can see it in their writing, their decisions, and I'd argue even their faces. Hopefully they pivot early enough over to something wiser and more nichey.

kinleyd 14y ago

Heh, this story was amusing in many ways. Storing passwords in a spreadsheet is eye brow raising, and I'd venture that the first lesson after losing a passwords file should have been to figure out a better backup strategy. Going to the cloud seemed to be quite a reach, but apparently Richard Branson didn't think so. RB's a smart guy, but I'd agree that $1m is history, more or less.

lvh 14y ago

Although I agree with you entirely, I can't help but play advocate of the devil here... Dropbox started because of frustration over college documents that kept getting misplaced or lost. This guy obviously knows a lot about backups. Where can I sign up?

borplk 14y ago

Good lord thanks for pointing that out. Kudos to him to have come up this far but that's certainly one team I'd not leave my passwords with.