JustHackIt now for sale on SitePoint within 24 hours of being on TechCrunch
centernetworks.com
centernetworks.com
It hope he has a liquidity event, validating the accelerating pace of business development and shortening of the product life-cycle of today. And when I say "today", I mean of one actual day.
Seriously, it would be awesome if he made out with some cash from this idea. What he's offering is: a cool name, a cool idea (a validated-to-some-extent idea), an implementation, a (nascent) network effect, and publicity in the relevant community.
Of course it seems ridiculous because it is only a day's worth. But that's no real argument against it; it may be an argument against the sale price being very high, but it's no argument against it being worth something.
There is however one very limiting argument against it - the ease of duplication:
If you believed this was a great opportunity, how much would it cost you to catch up? Almost nothing, and you might prefer to start fresh anyway. If it had been going for 3 months, and had 3 months worth of brand recognition, network effect and improvement of implementation, that would be worth something. I don't know how much, but it would take 3 months (approx) to duplicate. And if you didn't buy it, you might never catch up - so not just a few month's worth, but some proportion of a life-time's worth.
Though the similarity of likely gives rise to a case of passing off, or statutory misleading and deceptive conduct (not an infringement of a registered trademark as I doubt one has been registered - he should have protected his IP...)
I definitely can't manage the site by myself (mainly because it's just a bad week--driving to FL in a few hours), and wanted to turn it over to someone who could before all the PR died down. But after the heckling I've gotten(totally deserved), I decided to seek co-founders instead.
So if anyone is interested, shoot me an email. breck7@gmail.com
also, I think your site dovetails with theirs somehow (pre/post formation?), and their background strategy (of building a community - the founders commented on it here) might be relevant to yours.
A week's delay is suboptimal, but won't kill it. It can grow on its own in the meantime.
1. Launch site.
2. Make TechCrunch
3. PROFIT!!!!
Sheer genius. And to think, all these years we were wondering.
Even accounting for your time, expertise, and effort at market rates, $500 would still make you "profit".
These are your 15 minutes, and this is the second wave. Now figure out how to make a 3rd wave, and you will get the number of users your site needs to break through and enter the upwards curve.
FAIL!!
How lame.
Community requires cultivation.