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mchristoff

141 karma · joined September 7, 2007

founder of Mixwit (yc w08) founder of cloud.tv founder The Developer Union founder Papermotion
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mchristoff··on How to Kill a Startup Idea with Google Keyword Planner and AdWords: A Case Study
This model seems to ignore ideas that could be big if you could find a cheaper distribution strategy other than ads, ie social, virality, etc. It also ignores ideas that don't have demand yet.

By this analysis you guys would have likely killed AirBnb and Dropbox.

mchristoff··on Music for Programming
This is cool and all, but I encourage you all to just find artists you like and follow them on soundcloud / mixcloud / youtube. There is a ton of great electronic music out there that aids in concentration but is actually fun to listen to. I'm not sure how everyone settled on really slow and droney music being great for programming. I find it pretty boring (no offense to the author).

Try Dixon or Four Tet to start:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7LU18BJunVk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ca6pjR2TLns

mchristoff··on After raising $125M at my last company, I’m bootstrapping this one
He got to 7m in revenue before raising in his last business.
mchristoff··on Ikea's flat-pack refugee shelter is entering production
Have you thought about marketing them as burning man shelter as well?
mchristoff··on Comcast: Simulating shitty network connections so you can build better systems
This is great. I would love mobile support.
mchristoff··on Instacart Is Raising North of $100M at a $2B Valuation
I'd say the lesson here isn't just execution, it's timing.
mchristoff··on Fabric – Mobile developer platform by Twitter
And Fabric the night club: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fabric_(club)
mchristoff··on 100 day goals
100 day goals are pretty effective when you make the right goals. They are pretty dangerous if you're aiming the wrong direction.
mchristoff··on Helios
android support coming?
mchristoff··on Weeks after adding Trader Joe’s, Instacart now supports Whole Foods
Even with a car it can be pretty annoying going to TJs. The one near me always has a massive line and is super hectic. ZenCart FTW.
mchristoff··on The Chromebook Pixel
Can you wipe it and install Android?
mchristoff··on Google Announces $1,299 Chromebook Pixel With 2560×1700px Touchscreen
Or Linux? or BeOS? or [insert operating system that can run more than a web browser]
mchristoff··on Google Announces $1,299 Chromebook Pixel With 2560×1700px Touchscreen
Can you wipe it and install Android?
mchristoff··on Build an iOS App in 10 Minutes with Heroku
android coming?
mchristoff··on SodaStream Economics
I love SodaStream despite the razor blade model. For me it is not really about cost saving, it's about time and energy saving. Making on demand sparkling water is just much easier than lugging 3-6 1.5 liter bottles of sparkling water up to my 3rd floor apartment ever trip to the market. Maybe this is different for people who can drive right up to their door, but for those of us who live in cities that's often not an option.
mchristoff··on Kim Dotcom loses new domain in preemptive strike by Gabon government
branding
mchristoff··on Asus says Nexus 7 sales are close to 1 million per month
Let's not forget all of these N7s come with a $25 Play credit. This is great for Android devs. We've seen a big increase in sales since it went on sale this summer.
mchristoff··on Ruby on Rails Tutorial screencasts, 2nd edition
This is great. Congrads Mike!
mchristoff··on Android's Overblown Fragmentation Problem
I make a living off of Android, and I don't think fragmentation is overblown. Sure, you can make the argument that the PC world has dealt with different screen sizes and hardware specs for a long time, but at least MS was the sole vendor of Windows.

As Android developer you have to deal with myriad of manufacturer and community developed permutations of the OS - TouchWiz, Sense, Cyanogenmod, MIUI to name a few. If you make a widget app like us, you not only have to deal with HTC, Samsung, etc's launcher you have to deal with 3rd party launchers too - ADW, Apex, Launcher Pro, GO, etc.

How about when HTC decides to break multitasking in favor of better battery life?

http://www.theverge.com/2012/5/16/3024854/htc-one-x-multitas...

Personally, I think it's a bit of a double edged sword. A lot of the issues that make Android hard to develop good apps for make it a fun platform, ie the ability to choose whatever launcher or rom you want. That said, you're kidding yourself if you think fragmentation is not a major issue.

mchristoff··on Show HN: I love Essential Mixes. So I made this.
Rad! This is great.
mchristoff··on The Dream Is Over: Music Labels Have Killed Their Digital Future
We figured this out at the end of 2008 when we closed our digital music startup, Mixwit (yc w08).

Not soon after we shutdown the founder of a similar service, Favtape, was sued. Yes you read that correctly, Favtape the business wasn't sued, the founder (Ryan Sit) was sued personally. I'm not sure what ever came of that lawsuit, but I'm fairly convinced our name was on their too until we shutdown since we had received threatening letters from the same label a few months previous.

At the time we looked up to imeem as a beacon, thinking if we made a kickass product we could be be on crest of a new wave of successful digital music startups. Fast forward a year later, at 16m users strong Imeem was "acquired" by Myspace for $1m (compared to $50m+ invested) and turned into a redirect to MySpace Music.

Looking back I'm happy we figured this out when we did.

mchristoff··on The backstory behind 37Signal's "Draft" iPad app
I think it's debatable whether colors and brush controls in a sketching app are "needless" even though they may be needless for 37signals very narrow internal use case.
mchristoff··on 37signals Draft for iPad: Simple sketching and sharing
2 colors... Are you kidding me? Are more than 2 colors really too complex for our small brains? This app is lazy passed off as "simple".
mchristoff··on How I Almost Got Acquired By Apple And Then Snubbed
When someone drops out of communication with you for more than a week it almost always means they're not that interested. This is true for potential employers, investors, mates, etc. While its unfortunate that people aren't more direct, the fact is, rejection takes work and provides very little upside for the person doing the rejecting.
mchristoff··on The Big Game, Zuckerberg and Overplaying your Hand
Wait, am I missing something or is Jason really labeling fb's clamp down on crapville spam as a stab in the back? Not a zuck defender by any means, but defending zynga... Come on.

Guess it takes a spammer to defend a spammer.

mchristoff··on HTC Incredible vs. Nexus One
I just switched from my iphone yesterday and luckily best buy has a 30 day return policy because I'm returning incredible tomorrow. I just find myself smacking my head every 15 minutes using this thing. I think sense has a good deal to do with it, but I just can't help feeling this is like stepping back to the pre-iPhone era of smart phone design.

I'd like to give the standard android os 2.1 a try because I completely agree with the review, sense is disaster. Unfortunately, I don't think I can hold out...

mchristoff··on How To Live (Comfortably) on $36 A Month For Food
i'm interested to hear more about having a nutritionist. would you mind expanding on that a little?

where exactly do you go about finding one? how much does it cost? what exactly do they do for you - plan meal by meal?

mchristoff··on Maker's Schedule, Manager's Schedule
pg, you nailed this one. nough said.
mchristoff··on My Personal Credit Crisis
if it's a major city on either coast it's pretty easy to pay $1000+ for rent. most 1 bedrooms in sf go for $1500+
mchristoff··on Obama proposes no capital gains tax on qualified small business stock
thx for clearing that up
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