What do they bring to the table and how badly do you need them?
162 karma · joined February 23, 2007
YC is in the biz of banking potential IP.
Its pretty proven that niches can gain substantial visibility ie, a twitter, and the hope is that alone can break off and big a big cash cow, and you better do it while the trend is hot.
Most really good ideas are based around perfect timing around the convergence of technologies and mindsets. Your right about the endless signup fatigue people experience but openid tackled that and still hasnt caught fire probably because its trying to change the behavior of the user, and it hasnt integrated itself into every angle where a user could use it.
Lately I've been seeing web2.0 startups like art. They are expensive art. People are addicted to going to gallery hops to see all the new artists and their related works. Its a big show off fest. With the barriers to create and maintain so low, these pieces of art could be around for a long time, even if they make nada, they can still be there, we see that now. Eventually they will fade or other artists will snatch them up either to destroy that piece of art or to play off of it.
Apple meanwhile is realizing the AIR is not a netbook and cursing every moment of it despite it being a slick machine. They need to get into the netbook offer and they may or may not do that, its not as if they are strapped for cash, but they don't like missing out on the limelight because that sparks trends, and the more people that get cheap netbooks and install osx on them the more they crinkle inside with anger.
iMac sales are stalling, hence the price reduction. Laptop sales are flat. The mini doesn't even count.
The only thing making Apple hotter than Jesus right now is the iPhone and App Store.
Major props for laying the story down, not enough people do that.
Overall I still feel you need 1 or 2 more bankable deals under the table to help you pay off the debt and getting back into the green of things.
Luckily you got into the ad model biz when you did because that is a dying model of profit. Covering operating costs and groceries is good but you should probably try to weave it into a sale or use it as a spring board to get a consultancy gig. Meanwhile the book keeps you a bit above water but well.. you're outa ammo.. start working on book 2 asap and get some additional green in that door or the stress of debt will eat the love of your life.
I think the blog post is a bit in denial because you haven't really said anything about any future out comes you see happening next.
What is the credit card debt? How much do you think you'll make on the book after publisher fees/whatever other costs. The web 2.0 service is cool does it have any plan for profit?
Congrats on the engagement and doing your own thing, I just wonder if you'd do it all over again or if you'd try and bootstrap your own efforts more so that you could avoid the financial black eye ya got here and still make something your truly passionate about.
Digg? Yes.
Is it an essential cant live without it staple in your life? If you can't answer that question easily then its a fad for you.
For me its a fad, a willing participation on my part because so many others part of the fad- its still a fad though, eventually the flock will leap to the next fad, and the next, and the next.
The bigger question here is does anyone pay for news, informational content?
My answer would be no. I only pay to have my content managed- backpackit, flickr, animoto
Both are equally important, but I understand where you are coming from.
Yesterday I walked away from a startup that was created around my initial idea. Sucks to walk away from that but I couldnt trust the players at the table and eventually it would of gone south and I would of stressed my way into heart failure as a result.
Execute your own ideas if at all possible. The barriers to do so get easier and easier every day. Learn accounting, and get as many good biz mentors as possible. Soak it all up- and own your own creativity- because there are millions of people who cant create for #!@$ who are just waiting to pounce on your skinny and walk right out the door with it.
You basically have to put money in and swear not to look at it again until 2013. Because the day by day view of that investment is heart attack unfolding as the bad news isn't going away, the affects of the 700 billion dollar crisis, job losses, sub prime this, abused and reckless that, and so on is going to be on the fear radar for a bit.
You whacked the consumer with $140 oil a few months back saying hard times are ahead, and then you backed it up with current credit crisis, and then you watched wallstreet get bought by the government as everyone in their money proceeded to get to cash as fast as they could. You've told the consumer to stop spending get back to basics and thats happening.
Folks in lots of cash, aka Buffet are in hog heaven right now. He can throw a bunch of money in, go back in cryogenic freeze with Elvis and pop back out in 2013 or so and bathe himself in cristal. Day traders hanging out with cash are making by the minute deals only to cash out and get back in on the highs and lows of the game, cautiously as they are, they are doing that.
If you have funds to play, play, or throw it in there and rent out buffets cryo chamber, probably a good bet really.
We just jump to the obvious answer in our heads without thinking about why, why WOULD someone do this. Why do people participate in social media? Why does the average teen check their myspace page 17 times a day? Who's getting paid to make 2.0 such an interesting place, well we sure aren't. Yet in turk land, the name of the game isn't to wake up and get excited about doing a .02 cent task. Its how fast can I do that so it doesn't feel like I did a .02 cent task. I'm bored, watching tv, why not make a few cents. Crazy, I know, yet, again, hello people are doing it.
Then we jump into the next assumption, well most of these folks have to be indian or chinese. Gold farmers sleeping in cots, that's it, thats gotta be it. Feel better? Wrong, 80% of these turks are not chinese gold farmers. They average joes here in the states buying milk and bacon just like you do. SHOCKING!
The sad thing is we hone in on all the .02 cent stories in turk, and yes there are plenty of them. But most turks I believe endure that cent crap to get to bigger fish. The "it took me less than 30 seconds for a buck" HITS, and I did 50 of those today. Now the money isn't so bad.
For people requesting the work, paying some 2 cents is a great way to get crap data, good luck with that. Course at a large volume of stuff, maybe you don't care, but in general turks don't do 2 cent tasks for 2 cents, they do it cause they are bored, multi-tasking, its interesting or fun- drawing 100 bill rather interesting, or cause its fast as hell to do.
The problem you have is the lens you're looking through. No one paid you to post here, no one paid you to participate in a social network, watch a youtube video, let alone make a blog, yet a whole heck of alot of the folks on the planet do it.
People need to stop looking at turk through the "job" lens because it will never ever make sense. But if you look at it through the multitasking, social media, bored outa my gord, what the hell, yearning to participate in something, be apart of something, advisory and authority lens it makes much more sense.
Meanwhile, read up on turks, get to know their behaviors and find out the why behind their actions.
http://www.floozyspeak.com/blog/archives/2008/08/valley_of_t...
Don't take my word for it, go ask them yourself, make HIT, put it up there and see for yourself. But take the traditional "this is a job" lens off cause that is a classic misguided view of mechanical turk.
He has you, and all that corporate goodness but thats just it, you have him. He needs more.
I think only thing you're missing here is the sheer creation aspect. Creating, manifesting that did not exist before and won't go beyond your napkin sketch unless you take it somewhere.