5 ms·

Valleyball

47 points by dmor 12y ago

minimaxir 12y ago
From the sample leaderboard, this seems more like "which startup has the most employees voting for it?" (case in point, dmor: http://valleyball.co/company/mattermark?cheat=1 http://valleyball.co/company/mattermark?cheat=1) instead of "which startup is most likely to succeed?" The problem with a fantasy startup league is the time horizon. No user is going to pay attention for years for an event to occur, whereas in fantasy sports there's an event every day/week. Relatedly, there's no good explicit definition for when a startup fails. (case in point, Yo has been dead for a month but this webpage pretends it isn't)
- gkop 12y ago
  > Yo has been dead for a month Are you sure? They released an update for their iOS app yesterday: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/yo./id834335592 https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/yo./id834335592
  - minimaxir 12y ago
    Yes. http://i.imgur.com/dCgcaWX.png http://i.imgur.com/dCgcaWX.png That first spike in overall ratings was the result of an advertising campaign where Yo literally gave away free car rides, and no one wanted it: http://valleywag.gawker.com/gimmick-app-yo-offered-gimmick-car-service-and-no-one-1625237703 http://valleywag.gawker.com/gimmick-app-yo-offered-gimmick-c... So they tried to give away free Moto 360s, which was a PR disaster: http://9to5google.com/2014/08/28/motorolas-yo-based-moto-360-giveaway-went-exactly-as-planned/ http://9to5google.com/2014/08/28/motorolas-yo-based-moto-360... Neither expensive PR stunt could stop Yo's descent into obsolesce. What would organic usage do?
ghall 12y ago
Hear hear, Buster is awesome! Also wanted to point to a similar project we're building called Sand Hill Exchange (http://sandhill.exchange/ http://sandhill.exchange/ ). By offering a fluid marketplace with real-time changes in price, we provide the daily feedback startup junkies crave.
- eric_cc 12y ago
  It is not immediately obvious what your site is about.
  - ghall 12y ago
    Very true. We're finishing up a redesign that will hopefully make things clearer.
allworknoplay 12y ago
Once in a while I think "hey, wouldn't it be great if people in the bay area loved building great products more than they love raising money and selling companies?" It's obviously a total pipe dream, but wow, maybe we could actually make the world a better place.
- seanflyon 12y ago
  I think the real effect you are observing is that people who love raising money and selling companies are more likely to raise money and sell companies.
aeling 12y ago
FYI - the three links at the bottom (Product Hunt, Yo, and Uber) just link to the home page, rather than the companies' pages.
anonfunction 12y ago
Would be great if you could remove your guess, as I did not know it would publicly add my twitter handle.
- busterbenson 12y ago
  Until I add this, feel free to email me (busterbenson at gmail) and I can delete stuff.

47 points by dmor 12y ago

From the sample leaderboard, this seems more like "which startup has the most employees voting for it?" (case in point, dmor: http://valleyball.co/company/mattermark?cheat=1 http://valleyball.co/company/mattermark?cheat=1) instead of "which startup is most likely to succeed?" The problem with a fantasy startup league is the time horizon. No user is going to pay attention for years for an event to occur, whereas in fantasy sports there's an event every day/week. Relatedly, there's no good explicit definition for when a startup fails. (case in point, Yo has been dead for a month but this webpage pretends it isn't)

gkop 12y ago
> Yo has been dead for a month Are you sure? They released an update for their iOS app yesterday: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/yo./id834335592 https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/yo./id834335592
- minimaxir 12y ago
  Yes. http://i.imgur.com/dCgcaWX.png http://i.imgur.com/dCgcaWX.png That first spike in overall ratings was the result of an advertising campaign where Yo literally gave away free car rides, and no one wanted it: http://valleywag.gawker.com/gimmick-app-yo-offered-gimmick-car-service-and-no-one-1625237703 http://valleywag.gawker.com/gimmick-app-yo-offered-gimmick-c... So they tried to give away free Moto 360s, which was a PR disaster: http://9to5google.com/2014/08/28/motorolas-yo-based-moto-360-giveaway-went-exactly-as-planned/ http://9to5google.com/2014/08/28/motorolas-yo-based-moto-360... Neither expensive PR stunt could stop Yo's descent into obsolesce. What would organic usage do?

ghall 12y ago

Hear hear, Buster is awesome! Also wanted to point to a similar project we're building called Sand Hill Exchange (http://sandhill.exchange/ http://sandhill.exchange/ ). By offering a fluid marketplace with real-time changes in price, we provide the daily feedback startup junkies crave.

eric_cc 12y ago
It is not immediately obvious what your site is about.
- ghall 12y ago
  Very true. We're finishing up a redesign that will hopefully make things clearer.

allworknoplay 12y ago

Once in a while I think "hey, wouldn't it be great if people in the bay area loved building great products more than they love raising money and selling companies?" It's obviously a total pipe dream, but wow, maybe we could actually make the world a better place.

seanflyon 12y ago
I think the real effect you are observing is that people who love raising money and selling companies are more likely to raise money and sell companies.

aeling 12y ago

FYI - the three links at the bottom (Product Hunt, Yo, and Uber) just link to the home page, rather than the companies' pages.

anonfunction 12y ago

Would be great if you could remove your guess, as I did not know it would publicly add my twitter handle.

busterbenson 12y ago
Until I add this, feel free to email me (busterbenson at gmail) and I can delete stuff.