tzier

9 ms·

31.
by tzier 11y ago
Digital health is difficult since: 1. [B2B] Providers/enterprises aren't willing (or able) to integrate into legacy systems 2. [B2C] Consumers see their futures selves as strangers [1], and most aren't willing to put in time
32.
Preparing for the Y Combinator Interview(medium.com)
7 points by tzier 11y ago|0 comments
33.
by tzier 11y ago
Agreed - this is one thing YC also recommends (not getting caught up in "not work", like getting an office, going to conferences, etc). But YC is good if (a) you want to learn how to do this prioritization and (b) if you aren&#x27
34.
by tzier 11y ago
Absolutely, that post is linked to in this YC one. Startups are incredibly hard. For our particular situation, returning money and closing down was the option I decided on after talking to our investors. More in those posts, though. I wo
35.
Why You Should Apply to Y Combinator(medium.com)
14 points by tzier 11y ago|5 comments
36.
by tzier 11y ago
The issue rates aren't as high as the media leads you to believe. For example, Airbnb has a policy with Lloyds for any catastrophic events, but they actually don't have that many issues and so just pay for them themselves when the
37.
by tzier 11y ago
The biggest reason is because it's extremely difficult to find cost effective labor in SF and LA, due to (a) higher than average cost of living, (b) difficult geographic structure [e.g. most people who do deliveries in SF live 1+hr awa
38.
by tzier 11y ago
> On the other hand, by having Amazon control the to-the-door experience, that gives them incredible granular controls over how things are done, when, by whom, and how they do it, including how they are supposed to treat you at the door
39.
by tzier 11y ago
$0.575/mi isn't a good indicator of actual cost. It's a method the IRS created to reduce the complexity of tracking all car expenses separately (good for both taxpayer and IRS). In most cases it's very generous. For exam
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How to Shut Down Your Startup(medium.com)
1 points by tzier 11y ago|0 comments
41.
Why Zen99 Shut Down (Part 1): Challenges of the Contractor Market(medium.com)
1 points by tzier 11y ago|0 comments
42.
by tzier 11y ago
Keep in mind, being an employee doesn't automatically entail the "benefits" people think of (e.g. health insurance). Instacart is only allowing their in-store employees to work up to 30hrs/week, since that's the cut
43.
by tzier 11y ago
Uber also does this now, where they take a lower commission to encourage driving more hours.
44.
by tzier 11y ago
Just to clarify: only Instacart's in-store shoppers are employees (and only in a few cities right now), since most of those are shift based roles ('shifts' screams employees under the law). I wouldn't be surprised if the
45.
by tzier 11y ago
Most of the value is in the site. You don't see people fundraising for their friend's family on Kickstarter - it's known as being a hub for products. Venmo's situation is also different, since they use ACH to move money
46.
by tzier 11y ago
Agreed that everything in any media source (not just from Uber) should be taken with a grain of salt :) Technically, Uber is not "lying" here. They're just talking gross wages, before driving expenses. Cab salaries are lower
47.
by tzier 11y ago
Why would Uber want to incentivize drivers during high demand periods, versus just taking that additional money themselves? The driver has little bargaining power as an employee, so would be forced to work Uber-defined shifts anyway. Uber h
48.
by tzier 11y ago
It's a mix. Most know they have tax obligations and want to pay them, but are overwhelmed with figuring out how much and how to pay. Not a ton know about smaller tricks, like writing off health insurance premiums (hence why people pay
49.
by tzier 11y ago
Keep in mind Uber has reported that 80% of their drivers don't do it full time ( http://techcrunch.com/2015/01/22/uber-study/ ). Also, as minimum wage increases, then those employee jobs become more a
50.
by tzier 11y ago
Very valid point. My point was just to dispel the myth that "employees automatically make more". I could get into things like (a) how most Uber drivers get to write off $0.575/mi as an expense when they actually only incur ac
51.
For Uber Drivers, Maybe Becoming Employees Is Worse(tryzen99.com)
9 points by tzier 11y ago|12 comments
52.
by tzier 11y ago
+1. The media has gone wild with the "Uber drivers are employees" headline since it sells. The reality is that this is an individual case from basically an arbitration board. The most important point is that it affects public perc
53.
New report dispels 5 myths about the on-demand economy(tryzen99.com)
2 points by tzier 11y ago|0 comments
54.
by tzier 11y ago
100% agree on "willingness to reach out" solving most problems. However, people should at least be aware that humans rely on heuristics [1] to make sense of the world. In a positive sense, this means we don't have to stop and
55.
by tzier 11y ago
+1...just make sure you ship before everyone forgets about you :). I've heard 10% conversion from signup list isn't unrealistic when products finally ship.
56.
by tzier 11y ago
See Philosophical #1 - at idea stage, you should focus on these things instead since you likely don't have a product/traction. (You may if you've hacked/MVP'd something.) If you have a track record of building produ
57.
by tzier 11y ago
Appreciate the kind words!
58.
by tzier 11y ago
Good point, I could have made that clearer. Wasn't meant to be specific to "meanness", more so just personality. This can obviously be complicated by things like language barriers/etc, so isn't a catch-all. In gener
59.
How to Prepare for the Y Combinator Interview(tryzen99.com)
69 points by tzier 11y ago|18 comments
60.
How much do on-demand companies spend in the fight to source workers?(tryzen99.com)
2 points by tzier 12y ago|0 comments

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