MediaSquirrel

Same here

@Sama – Your previous failure(s?) is probably (part of) what makes you hungry. If you were already some super-rich, uber successful dude, then why commit yourself so fully to something so hard and so new? You're not some fat happy rich dude like most VCs. You've got something to prove, and that drives you. To me, your past failure is not a liability, but an asset. YC is your chance to make a mark on the world.

(I don't know if this is how you actually feel deep inside, but if it is, I wish you spoke of it so.)

Wow. I know this guy!

If Google wins at ridesharing, it will be worth billions more than anything GV itself could produce.

Do you have kids? Are you a middle-class homeowner?

Because I think that's where the real money is and who these guys are really targeting.

Costco launched in 1980, 30+ years after Wal Mart, and won by offering less selection and lower prices. I believe there's a real opportunity here.

He was fired by his VCs. Then they fired his replacement and brought him back.

It was working, just not enough relative to all the capital they raised. The marketplace was growing 8% month over month, since forever. They wanted faster growth but couldn't get it, so pivoted.

the system which you seek exists and it's called Thumbtack.

You're probably feeling terrible right now. And that sucks. But remember, shit happens. And while ultimately you are responsible for your own success, it's your CEO's job to build the organization and make sure that people––including you––are setup to succeed. And my guess is that the organization itself is losing a lot by losing you. Bummer.

But as you will quickly discover, the past is the past in startup world and the only thing that matters now is what you're doing next. Enjoy the endless possibilities that are future. Be proud of what you've built. And be proud of yourself.

yes, working families.

Article author here...

The critique about comparing P/E's is fair, but my point was really that Sprig & friends are restaurant chains vs traditional tech co's--and restaurant chains actually have decent P/E ratios, which totally shocked me. I was expecting restaurant chains to have P/E's in the 1-10x range, not 30-70x!

From a VC perspective, investing in a restaurant chain looks like a good idea if you can actually make the E in the P/E (ie turn a profit). I don't know about you all, but this was surprising to me.

Also, to address another point that some people made: Sprig & SpoonRocket use the delivery drivers as mobile storage units carrying pre-prepped & heated meals in the trunk. They don't do point-to-point pickup & delivery, which is how they can deliver so fast, cover so much geography and leverage their smaller real estate footprint.

If you have questions, you can talk to us directly in live chat: https://www.hipchat.com/gUlKxkAKq

Actually, EasyFridge sound perfect for you. You don't actually have to add stuff to your shopping list if you don't want to. It's designed to be a "laid back" experience kind of like Pandora.

Sounds awesome!

It sounds to me like the way to solve this problem is to turn OpenSSL into a benevolent for profit company with an actual business model.

Why not give the software away as is current practice but then charge top-dollar to MSFT, Google, et al. for professional consulting? This way they could actually devote real resources to the project and implement some of the obvious process reforms that OP and others are suggesting.

The OpenSSL mission could & would be executed better if it was pursued as a business rather than a hobby. Capitalism doesn't cure all ills, but it might be able to cure this one.

Thoughts? Am I missing something?

Knife and gunshot wounds really just means penetrating trauma. There's a hole and it's bleeding, but otherwise the body and vital organs are fine. If you can fix the hole and stop the bleeding in time, the person will live. If not they die.

Contrast this with a car accident where massive blunt trauma forces have crushed and wounded lungs, livers, bones, etc. There's no one "hole" to fix, just blood oozing from thousands and thousands of micro tears. Surgery won't fix these people.

Make sense?

Learn yourself some code!!!

throw a house party and invite [redacted]. ;)

Are you kidding? The "we can't fund a competitor" VCs are just saying "no" like everyone else. There's nothing particularly noble (or ignoble) about it.

Wunderlist. And it rocks.

We actually use it now inside my company to assign tasks to people and manage projects. Totally awesome.

I was in a similar position with my first company, but waited too long because we were such close friends. I view failing to fire him as my biggest mistake/failing as CEO of my first co.

If you want to talk, drop me a line here and we can hop on the phone. I have a strong opinion on this topic: http://mattmireles.com/contact/

"the preferred stock that a SAFE holder is issued will have a liquidation preference that is equal to the original SAFE investment amount, rather than based on the price of the shares issued to the investors of new money in the financing. "

This point is incredibly important and one of the key downsides of debt from the company perspective, as convertible notes create outsized liquidation preference upon conversion. And when things don't go as well as you hoped, liquidation preference matters a ton.

Kudos PG et al. EXCELLENT work.

See: http://ycombinator.com/safe/SAFE_Primer.docx

10-4. thanks for the note! I will fix.

I created Buttr, a p2p grocery shopping service. We pair people with dedicated buyers who choose their groceries and deliver them to their door. Unlike Instacart, Buttr shoppers decide which items to buy and charge a flat fee, no markups.

Buttr is live with a handful of paying subscribers, buying a few thousand dollars a month in groceries. I hacked the product together myself using Zapier and open source ecommerce software. Previously, I served as the founder/CEO of a funded crowdsourcing company ($1.1M from Google & Mitch Kapor) that was acquired last year.

The ideal partner has co-founded a funded company before and witnessed first hand the bullshit and emotional craziness that comes with the territory, and despite everything, wants to do it again. My goal is to build a big, valuable company with a fanatical customer base. Raising money and impressing VCs is a means, not an ends. Hopefully you feel the same.

You should be extremely technical yet understand that technology is only a means to an end, a tool for man to judged only by how it helps men (and women) achieve. Though able to solve the hardest of problems, you should endeavor to architect solutions in a way that avoids or bypasses the most challenging problems altogether. Operating leverage--your ability to do so much with so little--not technical brawn, should be your claim to fame.

Interested? Email me at matt@buttr.co

Not so! I used to drive a 911 ambulance. We we're told to drive safe and not break various rules, but were punished when we didn't arrive in the allotted timeframe of 9min. The punishment was that workers on 24-hour shifts (who normally had a house to sleep in) were forced to post on street corners and not allowed into their quarters. This made the shift miserable and the lack of sleep was a real safety problem.

We actually live in a small apartment complex. We're be hosting people outside by the pool and in a shared space.

If you're interested, please don't be shy! We'd love to have you.

If you want to come, just email me at matt@buttr.co

You probably don't need a dev. Try Zapier.com

This is the wrong thing to worry about. Scaling problems are EXCELLENT problems.

I think this is the future UI for certain use cases. I'll be curious to see how widely this sort of UI can be practically applied.