johnrob

56 ms·

721.
by johnrob 16y ago
Semantics matter if they affect expectations. For me (at least), charity means giving money away and hoping for the best. Investment means getting involved with something, and making sure the money invested is properly used. The term "in
722.
by johnrob 16y ago
Charity does equal giving people money. If you're not giving people money, then you're making an investment.
723.
by johnrob 16y ago
If this app does indeed take off it will be an interesting statement about modern society. Perhaps it means we have become antisocial, or perhaps it simply means we've found a better ice breaker. I'll hope for the latter ;)
724.
by johnrob 16y ago
Wow. Fred Wilson has written before about seed investment as a way to buy rights to a bigger deal downstream, but treating it as a loss leader never crossed my mind. Makes perfect sense for them, since a deal that won't raise bigger money
725.
by johnrob 16y ago
Proven team + big market = competitive round of funding. Interestingly, it seems like they went with a lot of investors with experience as a founder.
726.
by johnrob 16y ago
Your reasoning can be applied on a micro level also, comparing the name mint to wesabe. The former is unquestionably easier to remember, type, and tell friends. Is it worth spending a lot of money to get a premium domain? The question so
727.
by johnrob 16y ago
If there is a non zero chance of a higher exit, no matter how small the odds, the VCs will take it. Thus 80 million is not the home run exit.
728.
by johnrob 16y ago
YC is meant to be beneficial to founders. It may not always benefit VCs. Complaining about it is a bit self centered in my book. Extreme example: Wealth also prevents quality people from pursuing aggressive startups (yes, there are plenty
729.
by johnrob 16y ago
This is probably not uncommon, and I've always thought that it's a bit of a value theft from shareholders who don't have leverage via large ownership or active employment. It's also a good reason to not exercise startup options unless you
730.
by johnrob 16y ago
(edited for clarity) Maybe notifo could act as a clearing house for all HN events. This way anyone could access new post or new comment events. In other words, my application could use notifo to subscribe to ALL HN events. HN would of cour
731.
by johnrob 16y ago
Sometimes I think the big names startups (and angels, as per that bin 38 stunt) intentionally create soap-opera-esque controversy as a way of distracting the upstarts from the work they need to be doing.
732.
by johnrob 16y ago
If you aren't solving a true, acknowledged pain then you probably won't even get people to use it for free. They may sign up - but they probably won't use it.
733.
by johnrob 16y ago
While there are always extreme exceptions (asshole founders), would YC really turn down a profitable company that had an upstanding & scalable business model (i.e. not a service business, local business, or something porn/vice related)?
734.
by johnrob 16y ago
The biggest problem with SF is that it's in the state of California. A lot of your disappointment resides in that fatal flaw... folks who come from within the state have much lower expectations and higher opinions ;)
735.
by johnrob 16y ago
Getting 70 or so high caliber founders and pooling their respective strengths is a huge advantage. Usually the press talks about the valuable advice and connections offered by the YC partners - this is just as big though. Everyone gets ad
736.
by johnrob 16y ago
Great analogy, considering that it is often significantly easier to beat the competition ('you') than bring a new product to market ('the bear').
737.
by johnrob 16y ago
It's capitalism - not prostitution - that is based, root and branch, on exploitation.
738.
by johnrob 16y ago
True. But skill also. Luck let's you roll a 6 if you need one. Skill makes sure you get to the roll the die 10 times.
739.
by johnrob 16y ago
I share your aversion to debuggers. Everyone is different, and plenty of people like them - but I've always thought that they consume brain cycles that otherwise could be engaging with the code. That's why I like print(); it keeps my head
740.
by johnrob 16y ago
The reason is that the market value of companies who pay 39x is less than those who pay 40x. 40 may not be the perfect number, but the market is working toward finding it. In other words, CEOs get paid X under the premise that they will ca
741.
by johnrob 16y ago
30% per week is an insane growth rate (thefridge.com)!
742.
by johnrob 16y ago
For both wealth and (perceived) beauty, there is often a relatively easy solution: move! For more beauty, move to a location with a greater ratio of the opposite sex. For more wealth, move to a location with a lower cost of living. I don't
743.
by johnrob 16y ago
Don't worry about them . Worry about you. Don't get caught up with where you are now, or what you haven't accomplished in the past. Focus on what you're going to do in the future. Build something you're passionate about, and let that p
744.
by johnrob 16y ago
Do they understand that? I think they believe those options are worth more than they really are.
745.
by johnrob 16y ago
And investing in common stock when the founder controls the company and the exit is not a fair deal. Don't tell that to any employees of your portfolio companies.
746.
by johnrob 16y ago
As an employee, you definitely wanted to be at the company when it was purchased since 48 million was earmarked for the soon to be google employees. It sucks if you're someone who had left the company recently (especially if you paid money
747.
by johnrob 16y ago
Agreed, this test also shows how websites need a certain amount of complexity to seem legit (even if the experts consider the complexity inferior). If the design is too bland it definitely gives me a scamsite feeling.
748.
by johnrob 16y ago
I was thinking about proposing something like a mixer (after reading these threads today), and now that you've mentioned it - why not have regular mixers for hiring YC companies and interested hackers?
749.
by johnrob 16y ago
Hands down the best of his essays, at least among the startup focused ones.
750.
by johnrob 16y ago
I read once that John Doer likes saying "no conflict, no interest" to describe what (among other things) he looks for in investments.

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