7 ms·
Starting a Winamp fund. 100k to join. If >9 other people join me we will make AOL an offer. Contact in profile.
by ewams 13y ago
Starting a Winamp fund. 100k to join. If >9 other people join me we will make AOL an offer. Contact in profile.
- possibilistic 13y agoIf you're genuinely serious, do you happen to have $100k to invest in other projects? Because I have lots of ideas. Website in profile.
- untog 13y agoGood old Hacker News
- ChrisNorstrom 13y agoThat's now how investing works. What you're asking for is a "gamble" with no guarantee of a return on investment. Ideas are everywhere, ideas are endless. Some of the greatest "ideas" make no profit because there's no market for them, consumers don't care for it's implementation, or the team doesn't work well together. So many things have to go just right for an "idea" to become a business. Sometimes you have a great idea, great implimentation, great team, and it all still fails. Investors want you to have already gone and proven you're not a gamble by at least building a minimum viable product, have some sort of team already assembled and working, and have started making some kind of revenue or growth in users. If you have nothing then you're the type of investment that's really a gamble. Winamp has a return on investment (a slow one but still a return), your ideas on the other hand are a gamble. I don't mean to discourage you I just want to save you some time. Also asking random people to invest in your ideas is also illegal. You have to have a pre-existing relationship with someone /or/ join a community like AngleList to solicit investment. Angel investors also must have an income over a certain amount of money. Some of these laws may change in the near future with crowd funding becoming so popular but in the mean time be careful.
- ywyrd 13y ago"asking random people to invest in your ideas is also illegal" 1) You learn something new every day. 2) I don't want to live on this planet any more.
- ajasmin 13y agoWouldn't that rule apply to a Winamp fund as well?
- saraid216 13y agoWinamp isn't an idea.
- ChrisNorstrom 13y agoGood question... I want to say yes, but technically ewam hasn't specified that people in the fund will share equity. It sounds like a donation but it obviously isn't. If you have $100,000 to buy a software mp3 player chances are you're not the type of person the SEC is trying to protect from bad investments. So shhhhhh, we'll just keep quiet.
- ChrisNorstrom 13y agoOh don't worry, you can still do it, just head over to AngleList and you can grab yourself some investors. They all meet the qualifications (have a certain income level) and since it's a platform specifically for investing it's not a random solicitation so you don't have to know them personally before asking. Here's an example: https://angel.co/makespace?ref=startup_card https://angel.co/makespace?ref=startup_card
- ywyrd 13y agoI would hate to see the legislative definition of "random".
- ChrisNorstrom 13y ago
- jreposa 13y agoI get it's a piece of history, but how do you monetize this? Convert it to paid software? Streaming service subscription?
- benologist 13y agoWinamp has a 10,000,000 - 50,000,000 installs android app, that opens up a lot of possibilities.
- cabbeer 13y agoWhat kind of add revenue can you get from that user base?
- benologist 13y agoNo idea but I don't think display ads would be that great since it's mostly passive software. I would think there are better ways to monetize it - premium enhancements, amazon/itunes referrals, cloud backup/streaming your library, even just selling it for a buck ... 'best' trumps 'free' a lot of the time on mobile.
- mistermann 13y agoI swear I was reading a different HN thread on this topic yesterday or even today, and the very idea of paying for a music service was considered extremely offensive.
- rjbwork 13y agoI pay for rdio and SubSonic. Granted my subsonic license is grandfathered in from before the developer changed to a subscription model, but the point remains.
- jdotjdot 13y agoIt already was paid software! (Even if you didn't actually pay for it)
- angryasian 13y agowhat would be the intentions ? With projects like audacious I don't even see how open sourcing would be a good idea ?
- ape4 13y agoThe usual. Require Microsoft login. Move those users to the closest Microsoft products.
- _random_ 13y agoPhew! At least not a Google+ / Facebook profile linking. I am so happy MS (at least) did not join the social war.
- alexwright 13y agoNot sure if serious But if you are, they did try to join the social-war: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/So.cl http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/So.cl And failed.. The site actually seems to be down right now, I don't think they announced it being killed off though.
- ewams 13y agoOpen source was not in my comment nor is it the intention of the Winamp fund.
- libraryatnight 13y agoMakes me wish I had money - I hope others who do take you up on this.
- ChrisNorstrom 13y agoI'll gladly join in as a UI UX Designer for equity, website is in my profile. I also emailed you the numerous ways to monetize Winamp by extending it's functionality into the social space. See my email "Winamp Fund - UI UX Designer seeking to join" There's at least 4-5 ways to monetize Winamp and build it out.
- brymaster 13y agoSweet. The world needs more freemium, gamification, ads, subscription plans and "social."
- ChrisNorstrom 13y agoSweet you have no imagination.
- brymaster 13y agoWhat you're probably imagining: http://cdn0.sbnation.com/entry_photo_images/4243405/microsoft-xbox-e3-2012-_0321_large_verge_medium_landscape.jpg http://cdn0.sbnation.com/entry_photo_images/4243405/microsof... What I'm imaging: http://www.tsemrinpoche.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/200601100626-631.jpg http://www.tsemrinpoche.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/20060... (a world without ads and bullshit) What actual Winamp users really want: http://www.avinashtech.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/winamp-2.JPG http://www.avinashtech.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/winamp...
- ChrisNorstrom 13y ago1) Nope, that's not what I'm imagining at all. In fact I love the Winamp interface just the way it is. No gamification. No points. Only extensions to the product without changing it. I don't want to list them here because I emailed them to the poster who wanted to pitch into a fund to buy Winamp from AOL and we decided to keep them a secret. 2) That's because you're negative & disdainful. 3) If you're not growing you're dying. Keeping Winamp the same without changing anything is exactly what has led AOL to sell the property in the first place. I understand where you're coming from, I've read through some of your past comments. The reason why you've become negative and disdainful is because you're wasting your time arguing with "stupid people" (you know who I'm talking about). Stop doing that because it will destroy you and suck you dry of all your energy. I only had to skim 3 pages into your comment history to see you've been arguing with "people who cannot be changed" (aka "______ fans" and "what's wrong with destroying privacy" type folks) and you have a history of trying to talk them out of their stupidity. Don't do it. Just stop. I stopped and I'm a much happier person.
- ewams 13y agoHave spoken with a few people already. Of those, three others have currently offered support. Need help even if you do not have funds: What we need are contacts at AOL and AOL Music. If you know anyone that works at AOL or anyone that has a relationship with someone at AOL let me know. PS. Had two offers with BTC pledges, unfortunately that would make things more difficult so please just help with USD or personal contacts.
- cpeterso 13y agoDo you think Microsoft is offering AOL less than $1M? Selling to Microsoft would be an easier transaction and a bigger headline. But I do think your venture is much more interesting! :)