6 ms·

How we got a Y Combinator interview but blew it

97 points by teuobk 14y ago

charlietran 14y ago
Great post. Kudos for having the resolve to follow through on execution and knowing when to move on. Best of luck on your other project!
relix 14y ago
Weird that they were comparing it to Dropbox, while to me it sounds like they should've compared it to Backblaze or Crashplan.
- tghw 14y ago
  Yeah, we were surprised at that comparison as well. Most likely, that means we didn't communicate it well enough.
- avree 14y ago
  They were comparing it to Dropbox because that's the comparison actual users will make. Regardless of whether they want to brand as 'backup' or 'photo storage', people are starting to view those things equally and Dropbox is an EXTREMELY popular backup tool [1] [2] [3]. Dropbox even launched a feature to automatically capture photos from a device [4]. If they can't answer the 'compare to Dropbox' question well, they can't defend the business. [1] - http://www.labnol.org/software/backup-files-dropbox/18634/ http://www.labnol.org/software/backup-files-dropbox/18634/ [2] - http://lifehacker.com/5406806/best-online-backup-tool-dropbox http://lifehacker.com/5406806/best-online-backup-tool-dropbo... [3] - http://workawesome.com/software/data-backup-and-sync-3-dropbox/ http://workawesome.com/software/data-backup-and-sync-3-dropb... [4] - http://techcrunch.com/2012/10/12/dropbox-responds-to-tumblrs-photoset-app-with-new-photo-focused-update-on-android/ http://techcrunch.com/2012/10/12/dropbox-responds-to-tumblrs...
  - davidjohnstone 14y ago
    I suspect that the target market wouldn't compare it with Dropbox, which gets expensive if you want lots of space. They were building something for serious photographers, with one of the mentioned pain points being the time it takes to backup a photo library. I understand this — I have about half a terabyte of photos (shot in RAW) and I don't take nearly as many photos as some. That said, Backblaze works fine for me, although the initial backup did take a while.
  - prof_hobart 14y ago
    I don't know the pricing model they were proposing, but the "it costs $500/year for 500GB on Dropbox" line would have probably been where I started. For me, as a photographer with around that amount needing to be backed up, I'd want to know what their service offered me over the $59/year for Carbonite (that can also back up just about anything else you want).
the_bear 14y ago
I've got to give you credit for not being at all defensive. I have a hard time with that, and it's something that I need to get better at. When someone gives you feedback, you need to take it graciously. Either they're right, or you didn't communicate yourself well enough, and that's why they're wrong.
- rohern 14y ago
  Or they are lying.
rdl 14y ago
On your video, it really is amazing how much better a good mic makes the whole thing -- the video part is kind of irrelevant, but being able to clearly hear you speaking without a ground loop hum, wind noise (people doing videos outdoors for some reason!), fan noise from a computer and built-in mic, etc. is a big improvement over many online videos.
- teuobk 14y ago
  Even I was amazed by how much better the audio became. The camera still recorded audio for sync purposes, and it was remarkable how much more "present" the audio from the Zoom H4n was versus the camera audio. I highly recommend getting some sort of dedicated audio solution for anybody doing online video. Something like the Zoom H1 can be had for less than $100, and it will make a world of difference.
  - rdl 14y ago
    I really like the Blue Snowball ($50-80) USB microphones for a lot of purposes. Not as portable as an H1, but really convenient. (I love my H4ns, though -- I use them for everything. For conferences I usually have cameras with shotguns on L, board audio on R, and a zoom doing the same thing near the board. I still use a Sony HDV with 3 big chips and uncompressed HDMI out to an Atomos Ninja, though, and HDV tapes for backup. Picking the best audio track and getting it all in sync is a pain, though.)
SurfScore 14y ago
It seems to me that this isn't the first YC interview story that ended with rejection, and being too set on a certain idea being cited as a possible reason why...
- unreal37 14y ago
  Also, YC can't accept every applicant, even if that application can accept the solution might change as time goes on. Maybe it's that YC just saw a pitch a few hours/days before about a similar product with a better team/solution. Maybe it's that YC already invested in a few similar companies in the same space. Maybe it's the lack of a track record of the founders in building things. Maybe it's the black shirts. There are a lot of reasons besides being tied to a solution.
djbender 14y ago
I'm still looking for an automatic photo archival service. I was hoping that Snaposit was that solution. Good luck in your future endeavors.
jtchang 14y ago
Why wouldn't you compare it to Dropbox? It makes total sense. As a photographer wouldn't I just drag my photos to a dropbox folder and it would be backed up? I generate a lot of data but not an incredible amount that it can't be backed up through a consumer internet connection. Now the problem that I face and would like to solve eventually is video editing storage and retrieval. Ever wondered how raw video gets sent around today? Through FedEx in removable hard drives. The sheer amount of raw data is staggering when making any sort of film. Then storing it for archival. All a pain. 1TB of video is common these days. I have a few ideas to solve this and I think videographers would want a solution.
- mey 14y ago
  I had this weird idea a few years back when couchdb first came out to slice up A/V into "frames" where each frame was a document, then do document syncs to multiple sites as a transfer mechanism. Problem? Slow as hell....
  - modarts 14y ago
    I could imagine! Were you base64 encoding the frames?
- rheide 14y ago
  Digital photography is just about entering the realm of being transportable over the internet. I've enjoyed many trips over the last 5 years and have taken many photos, up to about 1TB worth. Backing that up over my home connection takes about 2 months, which I'd say is just about acceptable for something that doesn't need to be available online immediately, and has already been backed up to a local solution.
- 001sky 14y ago
  It would be great to have a drop-box like solution, but I am wondering if the scale (@ say, ~100GB+) works, though? Consider this guys experience with the data limits on Comcast: http://chris.pirillo.com/comcast-250gb-cap-avoid-dropbox-or-online-backup/ http://chris.pirillo.com/comcast-250gb-cap-avoid-dropbox-or-....
- 14y ago
iomike 14y ago
So, why would you develop something for photogs but do it on windows instead of mac? that seems like a bad step, right out of the gate
- teuobk 14y ago
  In hindsight, it was a blunder. Fortunately, we were able to port Snaposit to OS X fairly quickly due to our having built it with Python and wxPython.
- brudgers 14y ago
  For a prototype, it really shouldn't make a difference. People mock up UI's in Photoshop, after all.
  - avree 14y ago
    That's a mockup, not a prototype. If they're spending development time making a prototype, they should build it for the people who would be using it so they can collect user feedback properly. I do think, however, that their time would have been better spent fleshing out their business plan/idea and creating some nice mockups rather than trying to slam together a subpar prototype.
    - brudgers 14y ago
      So call it what you want. They got meaningful feedback.
- tghw 14y ago
  We're both photogs who use Windows. It was a combination of being more familiar with this platform and being a bit myopic about our target audience, since we figured we were a part of it.
jimbobimbo 14y ago
Sorry for thread-jacking: I have a strange feeling seeing CC-entry form on blurity.com without any indication who processes payments. Yeah, it's https and all, but I don't know blurity. I know PayPal and maybe a few other payment processors, or there could be some badges of third-party security monitors (McAffee, VeriSign, etc.) that could reassure me that the page is safe. Just my 2c.
- teuobk 14y ago
  Good point. The payment processor for Blurity is Stripe, but that's not apparent unless you inspect the page's source. I suppose that might explain why some people bail to the PayPal option. Regardless, I'll look into adding something to reassure potential customers of their payment security. Thanks!
photogger 14y ago
Paying for Blurity? Meh. There are free AND open source implementations out there, including SmartDeblur (http://yuzhikov.com/projects.html http://yuzhikov.com/projects.html) that has been recently publicized all over the net. Here's a detailed article for those who are interested in image deconvolution: http://habrahabr.ru/post/147828/ http://habrahabr.ru/post/147828/
- 001sky 14y ago
  The first sentence is really not required.
- suhastech 14y ago
  Every solution has a free and open source implementation. It's like saying I'll bake a cake at home with the free and open source implementation available online instead of buying it from the store. It about how much you weigh your time and the quality of your product. Of course, there are exceptions, the cake you buy from the store might be bad but, that's unlikely if you buy from a reputed store.
  - deleted 14y ago
    [deleted]
  - netcan 14y ago
    I really like the analogy, especially regarding software that needs to run on a server vs an saas option. Because home baked vs store bought also have some very different qualities, both emotionally and practically. Price is just one difference. Some people just buy cakes. A few make & buy cakes. People who never buy cakes because they can make it themselves are few, opinionated, and kind of cranky in a lovable way.
- nicholassmith 14y ago
  I hate it when people develop software and charge for it. Don't they know there's free, open source versions out there? Who do they think they are, trying to make money? Yes, there's free, open source versions that do the same as Blurity. It looks like Blurity has spent time developing the user experience as well as the algo's used, even comparing with other tools on the market.
rdl 14y ago
I don't think photography workflows are really that difficult (even if you shoot raw D-SLR or DMF, it's not THAT huge). Video is where most workflows break down -- you might need 20TB SAN just for your working set, and there's not really any good way to archive ProRes 4:2:2 footage very well. Mostly I see people with numerous 1-2TB hard drives, many of which are infrequently accessed and may go bad.
SeoxyS 14y ago
Being rejected from YC is not necessarily the end of the world. I speak from experience, when my company first started out, we tried to get into YC S11, got the interview, but did not make it. We continued along bootstrapped for a while, and ended up raising a couple millions in Series A. We haven't had to touch the money, we're profitable and have ~30 people now. Point is, PG is one of the smartest guys around; but don't be discouraged if he thinks your idea is terrible, he's not always right.
- buss 14y ago
  > don't be discouraged if he thinks your idea is terrible, he's not always right I made it to interviews last year, thought we did OK on the interviews but were ultimately rejected. Looking back, it was definitely the right choice to reject our idea. Holy cow was it bad. One of my teammates went on to get accepted for a fantastic idea in the following round, though. I since joined http://counsyl.com http://counsyl.com and am way happier working here than if I was still working on the terrible idea we had (p.s. we're hiring http://is.gd/counsyl_engineering http://is.gd/counsyl_engineering).
- pg 14y ago
  Did you use a different HN id when you applied? I was curious which group you were part of, but there has never been an application including this HN id.
  - SeoxyS 14y ago
    I don't think my HN id was mentioned in the application, but the co-founders were `progolferyo` and `marialegre`. I'd be super curious what you think of us now, actually. We struggled for a bit to find the right approach but I think we've come a long long way; even though we still have a long way to go.
    - pg 14y ago
      I found it. I vaguely remember the interview, but not what we thought. I asked the other YC partners if anyone else does. As for what I think of you now, at your stage you can use the same test I would: monthly revenue growth rate. If it's over 20% that's impressive.
hnriot 14y ago
Just because you got rejected doesn't mean you should give up or conclude your idea was the wrong solution. Soon all cameras will have wifi capabilities, so my advice would be to consider that if you peruse the idea further. I was very surprised that your rejection email said "you guys", I know YC keep it casual but that's really stunning word usage coming from an investor. As an EIR I saw many acceptance and rejection emails and never have any been written with such sloppy English. I guess it's part if the YC image, but I'm still surprised. Your video sucked, and I'm sure you're far better at math and software than presentation skills, but that stuff doesn't matter if the idea is solid. You can hire those people later. Check out the kickstarter video Brydge for an example of how to make a great video. I would agree with others though, forget Windows, build prototypes for a Mac, because every single photographer uses a Mac. I think your CSI-like unblurr proves you go both have first class skills, keep at it, there's definitely a product that's not yet been built that deals with photographers' needs specifically. Dropbox isn't is for sure.
- tghw 14y ago
  Regarding the video, we were instructed not to spend too much time on it. As it was, we spent too much time on it. Making a great video is difficult, and ours was there just to meet the requirements of the application. Since we got the interview, clearly it was good enough.
btyrad 14y ago
May I ask did PG, Trevor, or Robert have and Ipad or computer in front of them during your demo? -I'd love to know!
- fbuilesv 14y ago
  Not the OP but from our interview: 6 interviewers, two had laptops, everyone else was working from paper or nothing at all.
piokoch 14y ago
Hmmm, they wanted to create Dropbox for photographers... Have they heard about Flicker (as far as I remember they offer unlimited space for a few dollars a year)? What's the big surprise they did not get funding? True, Venture Capital bussiness is totally broken, they throw money into a lot of crap ideas, but not that crap. I guess that Dropbox for storing MS Office documents or Dropbox for storing MP3 files (I have so many of them!) are also weak ideas, given the generic Dropbox can handle that (and Skydrive or Google Drive too).
- retube 14y ago
  Christ your comment is both rude and ignorant. You have no idea what the tech being proposed was. The point is photographers have huge data volumes to deal with. A similar problem exists with media companies who need to transfer around massive video files - and there is indeed a niche indistry that specialise in providing fast file transfers (e.g using UDP not TCP). Your sarcastic and insulting commentary is not needed here.
- nicholassmith 14y ago
  The photography industry is worth fortunes, and whilst Flickr does offer 'unlimited' photo storage it's with conditions (maximum filesizes etc). Dropbox itself can handle photography, it's what a lot of photographers use for sharing shoots back with models but a dedicated one for images only with smart meta data usage and a few other features would make it very attractive to the photographers I know.
davidw 14y ago
Liquor seems to be a common theme in these stories: someone should open a bar outside of YC...
PaulJoslin 14y ago
Perhaps half the reason they kept asking about the business model / trying to compare it to Dropbox was that they were trying to evaluate whether they had a potentially billion dollar + company on their hands, or a niche nice little side business. It has been discussed in detail in one of PG's essays [1] about how it's only the big wins that matter to them these days and trying to determine whether the company has the chance to become that big is all part of the problem. The fact that you didn't get into Y Combinator shouldn't have stopped you continuing with your idea. It is a problem that needs a solution and your solution may have ended up being a multi million dollar idea which would have given you both great success. The problem is, the start up space these days and incubators in particular are on the hunt for the billion dollar ideas - thus they can gamble on many, for the few successes to help break even. At the end of the day, you guys seem really switched on and the effort / level of detail you went through suggests you are capable of success - just potentially you need to re apply with a bigger idea next time, after reading PG's 'Black Swan' essay to understand what they're wanting to hear you pitch. [1] http://paulgraham.com/swan.html http://paulgraham.com/swan.html
- goldfeld 14y ago
  I think ultimately the problem was centering their 'solution' around offsite backup. Most people don't see it as a solution to a real problem, something pressing, but rather as prevention that they might get around to having. Dropbox, on the other hand, solved from day one the nagging problem of syncing between devices, and went further to solve file sharing among people.
debacle 14y ago
The problem with this kind of backup scheme for photographers is that the utility in having a backup is huge, but the cost of doing that backup at the bandwidth the photographers need is ludicrous. We have worked with many designers and photographers, and all of them have the same problem - they can generate hundreds of gigabytes of important resources in almost no time at all, and even with a relatively solid pipe normal backup solutions just don't work. What they really need is a bulletproof storage device that can be transported to a safe location when it needs to be. LaCie has some products in this space, but they don't offer the service that the customer needs - reliable, accessible storage. The real solution is tape drives. Try to sell an Ultrium drive to a designer, though.

97 points by teuobk 14y ago

Great post. Kudos for having the resolve to follow through on execution and knowing when to move on. Best of luck on your other project!

relix 14y ago

Weird that they were comparing it to Dropbox, while to me it sounds like they should've compared it to Backblaze or Crashplan.

tghw 14y ago
Yeah, we were surprised at that comparison as well. Most likely, that means we didn't communicate it well enough.
avree 14y ago
They were comparing it to Dropbox because that's the comparison actual users will make. Regardless of whether they want to brand as 'backup' or 'photo storage', people are starting to view those things equally and Dropbox is an EXTREMELY popular backup tool [1] [2] [3]. Dropbox even launched a feature to automatically capture photos from a device [4]. If they can't answer the 'compare to Dropbox' question well, they can't defend the business. [1] - http://www.labnol.org/software/backup-files-dropbox/18634/ http://www.labnol.org/software/backup-files-dropbox/18634/ [2] - http://lifehacker.com/5406806/best-online-backup-tool-dropbox http://lifehacker.com/5406806/best-online-backup-tool-dropbo... [3] - http://workawesome.com/software/data-backup-and-sync-3-dropbox/ http://workawesome.com/software/data-backup-and-sync-3-dropb... [4] - http://techcrunch.com/2012/10/12/dropbox-responds-to-tumblrs-photoset-app-with-new-photo-focused-update-on-android/ http://techcrunch.com/2012/10/12/dropbox-responds-to-tumblrs...
- davidjohnstone 14y ago
  I suspect that the target market wouldn't compare it with Dropbox, which gets expensive if you want lots of space. They were building something for serious photographers, with one of the mentioned pain points being the time it takes to backup a photo library. I understand this — I have about half a terabyte of photos (shot in RAW) and I don't take nearly as many photos as some. That said, Backblaze works fine for me, although the initial backup did take a while.
- prof_hobart 14y ago
  I don't know the pricing model they were proposing, but the "it costs $500/year for 500GB on Dropbox" line would have probably been where I started. For me, as a photographer with around that amount needing to be backed up, I'd want to know what their service offered me over the $59/year for Carbonite (that can also back up just about anything else you want).

the_bear 14y ago

I've got to give you credit for not being at all defensive. I have a hard time with that, and it's something that I need to get better at. When someone gives you feedback, you need to take it graciously. Either they're right, or you didn't communicate yourself well enough, and that's why they're wrong.

rohern 14y ago
Or they are lying.

rdl 14y ago

On your video, it really is amazing how much better a good mic makes the whole thing -- the video part is kind of irrelevant, but being able to clearly hear you speaking without a ground loop hum, wind noise (people doing videos outdoors for some reason!), fan noise from a computer and built-in mic, etc. is a big improvement over many online videos.

teuobk 14y ago
Even I was amazed by how much better the audio became. The camera still recorded audio for sync purposes, and it was remarkable how much more "present" the audio from the Zoom H4n was versus the camera audio. I highly recommend getting some sort of dedicated audio solution for anybody doing online video. Something like the Zoom H1 can be had for less than $100, and it will make a world of difference.
- rdl 14y ago
  I really like the Blue Snowball ($50-80) USB microphones for a lot of purposes. Not as portable as an H1, but really convenient. (I love my H4ns, though -- I use them for everything. For conferences I usually have cameras with shotguns on L, board audio on R, and a zoom doing the same thing near the board. I still use a Sony HDV with 3 big chips and uncompressed HDMI out to an Atomos Ninja, though, and HDV tapes for backup. Picking the best audio track and getting it all in sync is a pain, though.)

SurfScore 14y ago

It seems to me that this isn't the first YC interview story that ended with rejection, and being too set on a certain idea being cited as a possible reason why...

unreal37 14y ago
Also, YC can't accept every applicant, even if that application can accept the solution might change as time goes on. Maybe it's that YC just saw a pitch a few hours/days before about a similar product with a better team/solution. Maybe it's that YC already invested in a few similar companies in the same space. Maybe it's the lack of a track record of the founders in building things. Maybe it's the black shirts. There are a lot of reasons besides being tied to a solution.

djbender 14y ago

I'm still looking for an automatic photo archival service. I was hoping that Snaposit was that solution. Good luck in your future endeavors.

jtchang 14y ago

Why wouldn't you compare it to Dropbox? It makes total sense. As a photographer wouldn't I just drag my photos to a dropbox folder and it would be backed up? I generate a lot of data but not an incredible amount that it can't be backed up through a consumer internet connection. Now the problem that I face and would like to solve eventually is video editing storage and retrieval. Ever wondered how raw video gets sent around today? Through FedEx in removable hard drives. The sheer amount of raw data is staggering when making any sort of film. Then storing it for archival. All a pain. 1TB of video is common these days. I have a few ideas to solve this and I think videographers would want a solution.

mey 14y ago
I had this weird idea a few years back when couchdb first came out to slice up A/V into "frames" where each frame was a document, then do document syncs to multiple sites as a transfer mechanism. Problem? Slow as hell....
- modarts 14y ago
  I could imagine! Were you base64 encoding the frames?
rheide 14y ago
Digital photography is just about entering the realm of being transportable over the internet. I've enjoyed many trips over the last 5 years and have taken many photos, up to about 1TB worth. Backing that up over my home connection takes about 2 months, which I'd say is just about acceptable for something that doesn't need to be available online immediately, and has already been backed up to a local solution.
001sky 14y ago
It would be great to have a drop-box like solution, but I am wondering if the scale (@ say, ~100GB+) works, though? Consider this guys experience with the data limits on Comcast: http://chris.pirillo.com/comcast-250gb-cap-avoid-dropbox-or-online-backup/ http://chris.pirillo.com/comcast-250gb-cap-avoid-dropbox-or-....
14y ago

iomike 14y ago

So, why would you develop something for photogs but do it on windows instead of mac? that seems like a bad step, right out of the gate

teuobk 14y ago
In hindsight, it was a blunder. Fortunately, we were able to port Snaposit to OS X fairly quickly due to our having built it with Python and wxPython.
brudgers 14y ago
For a prototype, it really shouldn't make a difference. People mock up UI's in Photoshop, after all.
- avree 14y ago
  That's a mockup, not a prototype. If they're spending development time making a prototype, they should build it for the people who would be using it so they can collect user feedback properly. I do think, however, that their time would have been better spent fleshing out their business plan/idea and creating some nice mockups rather than trying to slam together a subpar prototype.
  - brudgers 14y ago
    So call it what you want. They got meaningful feedback.
tghw 14y ago
We're both photogs who use Windows. It was a combination of being more familiar with this platform and being a bit myopic about our target audience, since we figured we were a part of it.

jimbobimbo 14y ago

Sorry for thread-jacking: I have a strange feeling seeing CC-entry form on blurity.com without any indication who processes payments. Yeah, it's https and all, but I don't know blurity. I know PayPal and maybe a few other payment processors, or there could be some badges of third-party security monitors (McAffee, VeriSign, etc.) that could reassure me that the page is safe. Just my 2c.

teuobk 14y ago
Good point. The payment processor for Blurity is Stripe, but that's not apparent unless you inspect the page's source. I suppose that might explain why some people bail to the PayPal option. Regardless, I'll look into adding something to reassure potential customers of their payment security. Thanks!

photogger 14y ago

Paying for Blurity? Meh. There are free AND open source implementations out there, including SmartDeblur (http://yuzhikov.com/projects.html http://yuzhikov.com/projects.html) that has been recently publicized all over the net. Here's a detailed article for those who are interested in image deconvolution: http://habrahabr.ru/post/147828/ http://habrahabr.ru/post/147828/

001sky 14y ago
The first sentence is really not required.
suhastech 14y ago
Every solution has a free and open source implementation. It's like saying I'll bake a cake at home with the free and open source implementation available online instead of buying it from the store. It about how much you weigh your time and the quality of your product. Of course, there are exceptions, the cake you buy from the store might be bad but, that's unlikely if you buy from a reputed store.
- deleted 14y ago
  [deleted]
- netcan 14y ago
  I really like the analogy, especially regarding software that needs to run on a server vs an saas option. Because home baked vs store bought also have some very different qualities, both emotionally and practically. Price is just one difference. Some people just buy cakes. A few make & buy cakes. People who never buy cakes because they can make it themselves are few, opinionated, and kind of cranky in a lovable way.
nicholassmith 14y ago
I hate it when people develop software and charge for it. Don't they know there's free, open source versions out there? Who do they think they are, trying to make money? Yes, there's free, open source versions that do the same as Blurity. It looks like Blurity has spent time developing the user experience as well as the algo's used, even comparing with other tools on the market.

rdl 14y ago

I don't think photography workflows are really that difficult (even if you shoot raw D-SLR or DMF, it's not THAT huge). Video is where most workflows break down -- you might need 20TB SAN just for your working set, and there's not really any good way to archive ProRes 4:2:2 footage very well. Mostly I see people with numerous 1-2TB hard drives, many of which are infrequently accessed and may go bad.

SeoxyS 14y ago

Being rejected from YC is not necessarily the end of the world. I speak from experience, when my company first started out, we tried to get into YC S11, got the interview, but did not make it. We continued along bootstrapped for a while, and ended up raising a couple millions in Series A. We haven't had to touch the money, we're profitable and have ~30 people now. Point is, PG is one of the smartest guys around; but don't be discouraged if he thinks your idea is terrible, he's not always right.

buss 14y ago
> don't be discouraged if he thinks your idea is terrible, he's not always right I made it to interviews last year, thought we did OK on the interviews but were ultimately rejected. Looking back, it was definitely the right choice to reject our idea. Holy cow was it bad. One of my teammates went on to get accepted for a fantastic idea in the following round, though. I since joined http://counsyl.com http://counsyl.com and am way happier working here than if I was still working on the terrible idea we had (p.s. we're hiring http://is.gd/counsyl_engineering http://is.gd/counsyl_engineering).
pg 14y ago
Did you use a different HN id when you applied? I was curious which group you were part of, but there has never been an application including this HN id.
- SeoxyS 14y ago
  I don't think my HN id was mentioned in the application, but the co-founders were `progolferyo` and `marialegre`. I'd be super curious what you think of us now, actually. We struggled for a bit to find the right approach but I think we've come a long long way; even though we still have a long way to go.
  - pg 14y ago
    I found it. I vaguely remember the interview, but not what we thought. I asked the other YC partners if anyone else does. As for what I think of you now, at your stage you can use the same test I would: monthly revenue growth rate. If it's over 20% that's impressive.

hnriot 14y ago

Just because you got rejected doesn't mean you should give up or conclude your idea was the wrong solution. Soon all cameras will have wifi capabilities, so my advice would be to consider that if you peruse the idea further. I was very surprised that your rejection email said "you guys", I know YC keep it casual but that's really stunning word usage coming from an investor. As an EIR I saw many acceptance and rejection emails and never have any been written with such sloppy English. I guess it's part if the YC image, but I'm still surprised. Your video sucked, and I'm sure you're far better at math and software than presentation skills, but that stuff doesn't matter if the idea is solid. You can hire those people later. Check out the kickstarter video Brydge for an example of how to make a great video. I would agree with others though, forget Windows, build prototypes for a Mac, because every single photographer uses a Mac. I think your CSI-like unblurr proves you go both have first class skills, keep at it, there's definitely a product that's not yet been built that deals with photographers' needs specifically. Dropbox isn't is for sure.

tghw 14y ago
Regarding the video, we were instructed not to spend too much time on it. As it was, we spent too much time on it. Making a great video is difficult, and ours was there just to meet the requirements of the application. Since we got the interview, clearly it was good enough.

btyrad 14y ago

May I ask did PG, Trevor, or Robert have and Ipad or computer in front of them during your demo? -I'd love to know!

fbuilesv 14y ago
Not the OP but from our interview: 6 interviewers, two had laptops, everyone else was working from paper or nothing at all.

piokoch 14y ago

Hmmm, they wanted to create Dropbox for photographers... Have they heard about Flicker (as far as I remember they offer unlimited space for a few dollars a year)? What's the big surprise they did not get funding? True, Venture Capital bussiness is totally broken, they throw money into a lot of crap ideas, but not that crap. I guess that Dropbox for storing MS Office documents or Dropbox for storing MP3 files (I have so many of them!) are also weak ideas, given the generic Dropbox can handle that (and Skydrive or Google Drive too).

retube 14y ago
Christ your comment is both rude and ignorant. You have no idea what the tech being proposed was. The point is photographers have huge data volumes to deal with. A similar problem exists with media companies who need to transfer around massive video files - and there is indeed a niche indistry that specialise in providing fast file transfers (e.g using UDP not TCP). Your sarcastic and insulting commentary is not needed here.
nicholassmith 14y ago
The photography industry is worth fortunes, and whilst Flickr does offer 'unlimited' photo storage it's with conditions (maximum filesizes etc). Dropbox itself can handle photography, it's what a lot of photographers use for sharing shoots back with models but a dedicated one for images only with smart meta data usage and a few other features would make it very attractive to the photographers I know.

davidw 14y ago

Liquor seems to be a common theme in these stories: someone should open a bar outside of YC...

PaulJoslin 14y ago

Perhaps half the reason they kept asking about the business model / trying to compare it to Dropbox was that they were trying to evaluate whether they had a potentially billion dollar + company on their hands, or a niche nice little side business. It has been discussed in detail in one of PG's essays [1] about how it's only the big wins that matter to them these days and trying to determine whether the company has the chance to become that big is all part of the problem. The fact that you didn't get into Y Combinator shouldn't have stopped you continuing with your idea. It is a problem that needs a solution and your solution may have ended up being a multi million dollar idea which would have given you both great success. The problem is, the start up space these days and incubators in particular are on the hunt for the billion dollar ideas - thus they can gamble on many, for the few successes to help break even. At the end of the day, you guys seem really switched on and the effort / level of detail you went through suggests you are capable of success - just potentially you need to re apply with a bigger idea next time, after reading PG's 'Black Swan' essay to understand what they're wanting to hear you pitch. [1] http://paulgraham.com/swan.html http://paulgraham.com/swan.html

goldfeld 14y ago
I think ultimately the problem was centering their 'solution' around offsite backup. Most people don't see it as a solution to a real problem, something pressing, but rather as prevention that they might get around to having. Dropbox, on the other hand, solved from day one the nagging problem of syncing between devices, and went further to solve file sharing among people.

debacle 14y ago

The problem with this kind of backup scheme for photographers is that the utility in having a backup is huge, but the cost of doing that backup at the bandwidth the photographers need is ludicrous. We have worked with many designers and photographers, and all of them have the same problem - they can generate hundreds of gigabytes of important resources in almost no time at all, and even with a relatively solid pipe normal backup solutions just don't work. What they really need is a bulletproof storage device that can be transported to a safe location when it needs to be. LaCie has some products in this space, but they don't offer the service that the customer needs - reliable, accessible storage. The real solution is tape drives. Try to sell an Ultrium drive to a designer, though.