7 ms·

Altman says Loopt to be profitable in 2009

28 points by cominatchu 17y ago

eugenejen 17y ago
I believe they really can make it. Though Loopt is not the first one to come up with the idea. But they are so far the most visible one who create a good product that users want! I really want to see their success. This may sound as bragging. I thought idea similar to loopt on 2004 after hearing about dodge ball and asked my then boss the possibility to do this and we decided this was not the focus of the company. Also even I started to do it, I wonder I can achieve the same result as Sam did. I know idea is worthless and the execution and result is the king.) Perhaps chasing one's idea and having the guts to do it in the right place and right time is the true cause for success.
- menloparkbum 17y ago
  Everyone working mobile had this idea earlier in the decade. Most people working in the field knew that the biggest issue was going to be getting carriers to put this thing on their phone, not actually building the app itself. Sam Altman was young and inexperienced enough (i.e. not jaded) to push it through. That said I wonder how loopt is going to respond to the Foursquare thing from the dodgeball people. Out here in early adopter land it seems like Foursquare is the new hotness and people consider Loopt a gay hookup application. Not that a gay hookup application is necessarily a bad market to be in...
  - pg 17y ago
    Everyone working mobile had this idea earlier in the decade. Had it at the resolution of a one-paragraph text description, maybe. At that resolution, Google = Excite. I also think you're doing Sam an injustice by attributing his success to youth and inexperience. Youth and inexperience are plentiful, but they don't seem to produce much except when combined with brains and determination.
    - menloparkbum 17y ago
      I didn't mean to downplay his determination and brains, sorry if it seemed that way.
    - zimbabwe 17y ago
      Why can't it be both? Youth and inexperience may not necessarily mean attempting the impossible, like menloparkbum suggested, but certainly being youthful means having a better grasp on what's going on. So it's right to attribute part of his success to youth: he made a product that appeals to the youthful market. Similarly, youth is a good reason to think that Foursquare could be a threat. The people making Foursquare have already created a successful product in this market. They spent a few years working for a powerful company that didn't understand their ideas. So they're the people who hit the market before Sam did, and they're returning with a more refined concept than they had before. The fact that they're youthful and determined is why I'm watching them and ignoring attempts like Google Latitude, which practically scream sterile.
      - axod 17y ago
        There have been several startups doing the same sort of thing, all failing. I'm still not convinced people want this (Location aware social networking mobile thingy). It's a shame you can't get traffic figures so easily for mobile apps - without user/revenue numbers it's all speculation as to how successful or otherwise loopt is. IPO seems like crazy talk to me.
        zimbabwe 17y ago
        I don't use my cell for networking. I don't like that constant connectivity. But within that market, I would suggest that the Dodgeball team is a force to be reckoned with. Perhaps I'm biased because Loopt is ugly as sin, and Foursquare is slightly better.
    - Alex3917 17y ago
      Someone as smart and determined as Sam could have made 10 million in any number of much easier ways. But the fact is that he chose to do it pretty much the most difficult way imaginable. This seems like inexperience to me, at least when you look at it from the perspective of a business person rather than the perspective of a hacker.
dcurtis 17y ago
What? No double popped-collar neon polos? I thought that was his trademark. On a serious note, please make the website as great as the iPhone app. It's really lacking, and that integration will be really cool.
deleted 17y ago
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28 points by cominatchu 17y ago

I believe they really can make it. Though Loopt is not the first one to come up with the idea. But they are so far the most visible one who create a good product that users want! I really want to see their success. This may sound as bragging. I thought idea similar to loopt on 2004 after hearing about dodge ball and asked my then boss the possibility to do this and we decided this was not the focus of the company. Also even I started to do it, I wonder I can achieve the same result as Sam did. I know idea is worthless and the execution and result is the king.) Perhaps chasing one's idea and having the guts to do it in the right place and right time is the true cause for success.

menloparkbum 17y ago
Everyone working mobile had this idea earlier in the decade. Most people working in the field knew that the biggest issue was going to be getting carriers to put this thing on their phone, not actually building the app itself. Sam Altman was young and inexperienced enough (i.e. not jaded) to push it through. That said I wonder how loopt is going to respond to the Foursquare thing from the dodgeball people. Out here in early adopter land it seems like Foursquare is the new hotness and people consider Loopt a gay hookup application. Not that a gay hookup application is necessarily a bad market to be in...
- pg 17y ago
  Everyone working mobile had this idea earlier in the decade. Had it at the resolution of a one-paragraph text description, maybe. At that resolution, Google = Excite. I also think you're doing Sam an injustice by attributing his success to youth and inexperience. Youth and inexperience are plentiful, but they don't seem to produce much except when combined with brains and determination.
  - menloparkbum 17y ago
    I didn't mean to downplay his determination and brains, sorry if it seemed that way.
  - zimbabwe 17y ago
    Why can't it be both? Youth and inexperience may not necessarily mean attempting the impossible, like menloparkbum suggested, but certainly being youthful means having a better grasp on what's going on. So it's right to attribute part of his success to youth: he made a product that appeals to the youthful market. Similarly, youth is a good reason to think that Foursquare could be a threat. The people making Foursquare have already created a successful product in this market. They spent a few years working for a powerful company that didn't understand their ideas. So they're the people who hit the market before Sam did, and they're returning with a more refined concept than they had before. The fact that they're youthful and determined is why I'm watching them and ignoring attempts like Google Latitude, which practically scream sterile.
    - axod 17y ago
      There have been several startups doing the same sort of thing, all failing. I'm still not convinced people want this (Location aware social networking mobile thingy). It's a shame you can't get traffic figures so easily for mobile apps - without user/revenue numbers it's all speculation as to how successful or otherwise loopt is. IPO seems like crazy talk to me.
      - zimbabwe 17y ago
        I don't use my cell for networking. I don't like that constant connectivity. But within that market, I would suggest that the Dodgeball team is a force to be reckoned with. Perhaps I'm biased because Loopt is ugly as sin, and Foursquare is slightly better.
  - Alex3917 17y ago
    Someone as smart and determined as Sam could have made 10 million in any number of much easier ways. But the fact is that he chose to do it pretty much the most difficult way imaginable. This seems like inexperience to me, at least when you look at it from the perspective of a business person rather than the perspective of a hacker.

dcurtis 17y ago

What? No double popped-collar neon polos? I thought that was his trademark. On a serious note, please make the website as great as the iPhone app. It's really lacking, and that integration will be really cool.

deleted 17y ago

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