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Comment by booop | Hacker News Reader

YC seems to have taken in a lot of unusual startups this year.

Perhaps its a sign that its getting harder to find ideas with huge growth potential?

With that said, it does look like Nebia is solving a real problem (their shower head uses 6 gallons of water for a shower vs the traditional 20 gallons).

It appears they have a Kickstarter as well: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1499369835/nebia-shower...

Sure, but at $250, I can afford a lot of water before it becomes cost-effective. They look like they're aiming at making a premium shower experience.I'm skeptical that it would take the soap off my body, though.

Their copy on Kickstarter says it pays for itself in 2 years.

Think of it like Tesla for shower heads: Yeah, its expensive. Yeah, they're selling upmarket first. But it has a the potential to save a lot of water across the world if they ramp quickly and can drive the price down. (EDIT: Luckily, you don't need gigafactories for showerheads. It appears that their design can use traditional manufacturing methods, so it won't be terribly capital intensive.)

Places where water is a cost center (Hotels, AirBnB hosts, gyms, etc) would probably be the primary demand drivers to start.

The analogy to Tesla is a poor one; this product is easily reproducible, and the homeware space is rife with imitation products that are notoriously difficult to protect with IP. I feel this product is more suitable for an infomercial than VC investment.

Disagree. Tesla gave its patents away (short answer. long answer is they'll license them to you for no cost if you play nicely). You can still patent things in the US, as well as enforce your trademarks.

Tesla's products are not easily reproducible regardless

Technically, the hardware is easily reproducible (battery pack and electric motors). Its the software and firmware where the magic sauce lies, as well as the supercharger network and their unbeatable service.

I concede that anyone could copy a shower head and that you're relying on the rule of law to protect your invention. I don't see the problem with that, as that's how most manufacturing operates in the 21st century.

> Their copy on Kickstarter says it pays for itself in 2 years.

That is highly dependent on what they calculate for prices and what shower heads they compare to. Their main website shows savings examples of anywhere from $89.05/year (Miami) to $399.68 (San Francisco) for two nine-minute showers per day. This is presumably comparing against a 2.5 GPM head, since their head uses 0.75 GPM and they claim a 70% reduction in water usage. Comparing to one of the many 1.5 GPM or 1.75 GPM heads will obviously lead to significantly less savings.

> Think of it like Tesla for shower heads

Big difference between Tesla and Nebia: Tesla was going after a market where the current participants didn't really care about pushing the state of the art; Nebia isn't. Kohler and Moen in particular have been developing and pushing low-usage plumbing fixtures for a while.

Do the shower heads offered by Kohler and Moen offer flow rates as low as Nebia while still ensuring the person showering "feels" like they're provided enough water?

For at least some potential customers, saving water would feel virtuous, above and beyond any savings on their water bills. And/or the State of California may be negotiating with them to place an order for millions of units...

Unsual is the only market to invest in if you want disruption, or innovation.

10 years ago: "New VC firm funds unsual startups in an unsual program, at an unsual equity."

I do not think there are two people who thought Dropbox, Reddit or Airbnb would be what they are today.

Dropbox, Reddit and Airbnb are not unusual.

Today, but they were. So was 6-7% equity, and $18,000 investment.

If you thought DB, ABNB and RDD would all be worth what they are worth today, then I must say you need to be investing for me and everyone else.

This is a lot more normal than investing in a startup that rents out inflatable mattresses. This saves a lot of water while still allowing people to continue their 30 minute washing rituals, making it somehow feel even more awesome, and it just so happens be around during the ever continuing trend of a horrible droughts.

A lot of startups profess 'to make the world a better place'... this one easily delivers.

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