4 ms·

I've been following you guys for a bit and wonder did you guys really spend over $1m since inception? (http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/09/24/tipjoy-raises-1-mill

by auston 17y ago

I've been following you guys for a bit and wonder did you guys really spend over $1m since inception? (http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/09/24/tipjoy-raises-1-million-for-its-simple-micropayment-platform/ http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/09/24/tipjoy-raises-1-million...)

ivankirigin 17y ago
We were advised (in retrospect incorrectly) to be ambiguous and say "raised under $1M" when the amount we raised was actually much less. Our burn rate was slightly higher than most poor grad students, but not _that_ high.
- nreece 17y ago
  We were advised (in retrospect incorrectly) to be ambiguous and say "raised under $1M" when the amount we raised was actually much less. Advised?! By whom.
  - medianama 17y ago
    YC?
    - drusenko 17y ago
      I could be wrong, but that doesn't sound like the type of thing YC would advise...
    - ivankirigin 17y ago
      No, not YC. This issue isn't that important. If investors don't like the way we spent their money, that matters. Confusion on a blog doesn't matter.
  - petercooper 17y ago
    You sound surprised but this is extremely common in smaller deals IME.
- vaksel 17y ago
  The company hasn’t disclosed the exact amount of the funding, but says that it is just shy of $1 million. that doesn't exactly say under $1 million, its written more like 800-900K
  - zach 17y ago
    Only by the word "just" which could easily have been inserted by mistake. "How much did you raise?" "It's, um, shy of one million dollars." Reporter writes "Am't raised: just shy of $1M" in notes.
- jacquesm 17y ago
  What a strange advice! You should never play for 'perception', after all, everybody that it matters to will have full disclosure anyway and you set yourself up for being called out at some point in the future. Just say it like it is. I notice that you're still not coming clean about how much you in fact did raise. You're under no obligation to say it but the way it stands right now it could be $100K or it could be $999,999. If somebody misquotes you that is not your problem, if the press embellishes your story, well, that's what the press does more often than not. But if you purposefully engage in the spreading of false (or suggestive) information then that does not really help.
  - pbhjpbhj 17y ago
    "if you purposefully engage in the spreading of false [...] information then [...]" you must be marketing something

by auston 17y ago

ivankirigin 17y ago

We were advised (in retrospect incorrectly) to be ambiguous and say "raised under $1M" when the amount we raised was actually much less. Our burn rate was slightly higher than most poor grad students, but not _that_ high.

nreece 17y ago
We were advised (in retrospect incorrectly) to be ambiguous and say "raised under $1M" when the amount we raised was actually much less. Advised?! By whom.
- medianama 17y ago
  YC?
  - drusenko 17y ago
    I could be wrong, but that doesn't sound like the type of thing YC would advise...
  - ivankirigin 17y ago
    No, not YC. This issue isn't that important. If investors don't like the way we spent their money, that matters. Confusion on a blog doesn't matter.
- petercooper 17y ago
  You sound surprised but this is extremely common in smaller deals IME.
vaksel 17y ago
The company hasn’t disclosed the exact amount of the funding, but says that it is just shy of $1 million. that doesn't exactly say under $1 million, its written more like 800-900K
- zach 17y ago
  Only by the word "just" which could easily have been inserted by mistake. "How much did you raise?" "It's, um, shy of one million dollars." Reporter writes "Am't raised: just shy of $1M" in notes.
jacquesm 17y ago
What a strange advice! You should never play for 'perception', after all, everybody that it matters to will have full disclosure anyway and you set yourself up for being called out at some point in the future. Just say it like it is. I notice that you're still not coming clean about how much you in fact did raise. You're under no obligation to say it but the way it stands right now it could be $100K or it could be $999,999. If somebody misquotes you that is not your problem, if the press embellishes your story, well, that's what the press does more often than not. But if you purposefully engage in the spreading of false (or suggestive) information then that does not really help.
- pbhjpbhj 17y ago
  "if you purposefully engage in the spreading of false [...] information then [...]" you must be marketing something