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helloanand

39 karma · joined September 8, 2013

founded: clevertap, burrp & askme | lived: mumbai, san francisco, seattle & ahmedabad | techie, entrepreneur, trekker |@helloanand
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helloanand··on Custom Layouts for Your Push Notifications
I think this'll help me make the notifications look better than the default rendering.
helloanand··on Parse is shutting down today
facebook shut it down
helloanand··on Parse is shutting down today
Check out the Parse Migration Guide to migrate away without any downtime - http://www.parsemigrationguide.com/
helloanand··on Sleepless nights with MongoDB WiredTiger and our return to MMAPv1
Yes, we did report the issue to MongoDB. They've acknowledged that the issue does exist, and are working with us to repro/resolve.
helloanand··on Sleepless nights with MongoDB WiredTiger and our return to MMAPv1
We got heard by the powers to be at MongoDB and are now working with them to resolve the issue.

I'm with @clevertap

helloanand··on Ask HN: Which successful startups were rejected by YC?
Typically for a Saas offering, there's always a free trial, an entry level low-price point plan, or a forever free plan - so the percentage of paying customers could be any where from 10% to 25%. The hope/try is to get the free customers convert to the paid tier as they derive more value from the product over time.
helloanand··on Ask HN: Which successful startups were rejected by YC?
we don't disclose that publicly, but here a link to our pricing page - https://clevertap.com/pricing/
helloanand··on Ask HN: Which successful startups were rejected by YC?
Firstly, the interview process was very good. They asked us some very sharp questions. YC said, the reason for our rejection was that our product would only work for large enterprises having many repeat users (think Amazon etc.). So we went back, thought about it hard, and then rebuilt the solution to make it work for small businesses, startups and even large enterprises. Today our customers spans all three segments.

I even wrote a blog post about our rejection - https://blog.clevertap.com/the-future-looks-bright/

helloanand··on Ask HN: Which successful startups were rejected by YC?
CleverTap - integrates app analytics and marketing. We were known as WizRocket back then. We now have 1500+ customers, and raised $9.6 M from Accel and Sequoia.
helloanand··on Facebook is closing Parse
Worth a read - The dirty little secrets of transitioning away from Parse https://medium.com/@suniltom/the-dirty-little-secrets-of-tra...
helloanand··on The dirty little secrets of transitioning away from Parse
Shocking to read that Parse migration guide basically says that there's no support for Analytics or Push notifications for existing Parse customers. They're on their own.
helloanand··on HUVr Board
So, it's a fake? Dammit, it got me so excited.
helloanand··on Ask HN: What do you use for file backups?
Rsync (cron) to a home NAS daily. SVN for code and work documents.
helloanand··on Ask HN: What Linux distribution do you use?
CentOS on production servers and on VMs on local dev machines.
helloanand··on Ask HN: Give me some list of movies about Entrepreneurship and Technology...
I strongly recommend watching Pursuit of Happyness - specially since it's based on a true story.
helloanand··on Ask HN: How do you use Twitter?
I typically scroll back to catch up with overnight tweets unless I have missed a few days worth either due to travel or busy work schedule. I don't follow just to reciprocate and am very ruthless unfollow people who are noisemakers.
helloanand··on Ask HN: Letter for visa for YC interview
Thanks PNR. We got our invitation letters.
helloanand··on Ask HN: Letter for visa for YC interview
Thanks! We just need the invitation letter and not help with Visa per se. All of us have worked/lived in the US before so the Visa shouldn't be a problem, just that we need a letter to make a case for the travel.
helloanand··on Ask HN: Do you cross your legs when working? - Desk Design
I do it all the time, specially when about to focus on a complicated task.
helloanand··on Ask HN: What Coursera/Udacity/edX classes are you taking?
I'm taking Coursera lectures on A History of the World since 1300! by Jeremy Adelman. Not taking them for any credit, just wanted to understand the world history better.
helloanand··on What tweaks do you use in your Macintosh?
#!/usr/bin/env bash

PATH=/usr/bin:/bin:/usr/sbin:/sbin:/usr/local/bin PICTURE_DIR="/path/to/your/directory"

#mkdir -p $PICTURE_DIR

cd $PICTURE_DIR

urls=( $(curl -s http://www.bing.com|grep -Eo "url:'.?'"|sed -e "s/url:'\([^']\)'./http:\/\/bing.com\1/"|sed -e "s/\\\//g") )

for p in ${urls[@]}; do filename=$(echo $p|sed -e "s/.\/\(.*\)/\1/") if [ ! -f $PICTURE_DIR/$filename ]; then echo "Downloading: $filename ..." #wget -q -O $PICTURE_DIR/$filename $p curl -Lo "$PICTURE_DIR/$filename" $p else echo "Skipping: $filename ..." fi done

helloanand··on What tweaks do you use in your Macintosh?
I have a MBPR. - I used QuickRes2 to switch to a much higher resolution 1920x1680 which is not possible otherwise. - Wrote a script to download the beautiful bing.com backgrounds for use as wallpapers
helloanand··on Ask HN: Anyone tried running two start ups at a time?
TL;DR - I've done it. One had a successful exit, the other bombed. Spend all your time, energy and passion into one and make it win.

I used to run two startups in parallel - 1) an online b2c startup - review and recommendation site for local businesses and 2) manufacturing and installation of bird spikes.

Not only were both businesses completely different in all aspects, they were also run out of two different cities. I used to run the online businesses, while the manufacturing one I handed over to a friend and would touch base with him very week to check progress and help troubleshoot sales, marketing etc.

The online startup was a roaring success. We exited successfully in just 3 years of starting up. The manufacturing one failed - the friend lost interest, I couldn't manage the day to day affairs and it ended up being a disaster.

So don't do two things in parallel.

helloanand··on Ask HN: What's the best way to learn about world history?
Loved the suggestion. Travel is something that's close to my heart too. I still think I'll need to read up a bit just to know which places have a historical significance. Don't want to accidentally miss them out of the itinerary when I travel.
helloanand··on Ask HN: What charities do you donate to?
I go a local orphanage (http://www.stcatherineshome.org/) to donate clothes, toys and sometimes even food. Recently, did a one time online donation at http://www.hopemonkey.org (I'm not affiliated with either of them)
helloanand··on Ask HN: What's the best way to learn about world history?
thanks!
helloanand··on Ask HN: What trends do you think will shape startups in the next 10 years?
- Wearable computers - watches, glasses, shoes, gloves etc.

- Massive amounts of data being spewed out of connected everyday devices - refrigerators, cars, etc.

- Curation of content - too much being generated today for someone to consume - photos, videos, news etc.

- Making content reach to the bottom of the pyramid - too much content being generated in english - it needs to be translated to mandarin, hindi, spanish etc.

helloanand··on Ask HN: What email newsletters do you read?
I read the Monday Note - which is sent, as you guessed right, every monday :-)
helloanand··on Ask HN: Applying to YC as foreigners. Visa advice
You'll need an invitation letter from YC before you apply for the visa. While the US visa process is quite unpredictable, it'll improve your chances if you've traveled abroad before. For most of the first timers to the US, they issue a 6 month multiple entry visa.