mikikian

This is the declaration Of David A. Brandon, Chairman Of The Board And Chief Executive Officer Of Toys “R” Us, Inc.

For those interested, here's a "How I Built This" podcast for Angie's list that I found interesting.

https://www.angieslist.com/articles/angie-hicks-npr-s-how-i-...

Here's the declaration by Lisa J. Donahue, Managing Director and the Leader of the Global Turnaround and Restructuring Group at AlixPartners LLC, describing the circumstances leading up to the bankruptcy [1].

[1] https://pdf.inforuptcy.com/pacer/nysbke/273388/dockets/4/1-C...

Looks like the IP will be for sale soon.

"68. Second, the Debtor will pursue a competitive auction and work to close a sale transaction. The Debtor intends to file a sale procedures motion shortly after the Petition Date to initiate that process. The Debtor has received indications of interest from a number of potential buyers of its intellectual property portfolio and believes that its planned 363 sale will realize value from the portfolio. Due to the potential loss of value to the IP if it goes stale, the Debtor hopes to expedite the closing of any transaction. "

Here's the court filing [1] describing the circumstances that led up to the bankruptcy.

[1] https://pdf.inforuptcy.com/pacer/debke/167122/dockets/2/1-A0...

To learn about the facts leading up to the bankruptcy, a great resource is to read the declaration in support of the first day motions. This is filed under penalty of perjury so there is a reasonable expectation it is factually accurate. From the filing, here are the financial details [1]:

"For the year ended January 31, 2015, the Debtor reported revenues of approximately $85.0 million, gross profit of approximately $34.0 million and EBITDA of negative $6.3 million. For the year ended January 30, 2016, the Debtor reported net revenues of approximately $77.1 million, gross profit of approximately $22.8 million and EBITDA of negative $15.4 million. Through August, 2016, the Debtor has reported revenue of approximately $41.1 million, gross profit of approximately $17.7 million and EBITDA of negative $3.3 million.

The Debtor projects that, for the year ending January 27, 2017, it will generate net revenue of $77.0 million, gross profit of $33.3 million and EBITDA of negative $1.4 million."

[1] https://pdf.inforuptcy.com/pacer/cacbke/1768567/dockets/4/1-...

Dropped Oracle, using MySQL. Why not use AWS Aurora instead?

I agree that queue size should not be the only measure but would like to propose an alternative solution, namely M/M/c queue (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M/M/c_queue) that takes into account arrival rate and service time.

And for those interested, here's the sale process and purchase agreement fro their bankruptcy filings ( https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B5k5SQee7k5pT3ZGVGZiU01jSE0... )

This would work if the lowest bidder failed to perform, they would have to pay back the second lowest bidder. For example, if they bid $1, but the second lowest bid was $1000, they would have to pay back $1000 for not performing. They should probably also establish a floor to eliminate this $1 gaming mechanics.

If you want a more fun science based kit, I would recommend Yum Science ( http://www.yumscience.com/ ). It combines cooking with science. Kids love it.

Purchasing lawsuits / judgments is commonplace in bankruptcy. It is considered an asset for the estate. Here's a list of past sales on our site, Inforuptcy.com:

https://www.inforuptcy.com/marketplace?f[0]=im_taxonomy_vid_...

For those interested, here's the voluntary petition ( https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B5k5SQee7k5pcW0zUmlYdmFKc1k... )

Chapter 11 Voluntary Petition . Fee Amount $1717. Filed by American Apparel, Inc.. (Attachments: # 1Board Resolutions # 2Top Creditors with Certification # 3Creditor Matrix # 4Verification of Creditor Matrix # 5Corporate Ownership Statement) (Jones, Laura Davis) (Entered: 10/05/2015)

and the docket ( https://www.inforuptcy.com/filings/debke_160493-1-15-bk-1205... )

Wink business is being sold. See my comment above.

For those interested, here's their sale motion ( https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B5k5SQee7k5pT0hrMTNqVC0ybFU... ).

09/22/2015 | #17 | Motion to Approve (Debtors' Motion for Entry of (i) an Order (A) Approving Bidding Procedures and Bid Protections in Connection with the Sale of Certain Assets Related to the Wink Business, (B) Approving Procedures for Assumption and Assignment of Executory Contracts, (C) Approving the Form and Manner of Notice, and (D) Scheduling an Auction and a Sale Hearing, and (ii) an Order Authorizing and Approving the Sale of Certain Assets Related to the Wink Business)filed by Jeffrey L. Cohen on behalf of Quirky, Inc.. (Cohen, Jeffrey) (Entered: 09/22/2015)

Here's the voluntary petition ( https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B5k5SQee7k5pamZfRHBXZ2EtNFk... ) and a link to the docket for those interested ( https://www.inforuptcy.com/filings/nysbke_261303-1-15-bk-125... )

This looks very cool. Congrats on shipping. As a non-developer, (honest question) how does this compare to Airbnb's Chronos? I noticed you used Golang, and I'm guessing they have a better frontend. They taut "managed distributed solution". Any other differences?

For the finance geeks on HN, this is a sealed bid auction of life insurance proceeds.

@Sama, is YC still encouraging founders to use SAFEs for their seed round or is that dead?

On an unrelated note, does anyone know if YC is investing their $[18]k using their SAFE security or will they continue using Series AA?

In the past YC invested with Series AA ( http://ycombinator.com/seriesaa/ ). Will it now use SAFEs ( http://ycombinator.com/safe/ )? If not, would you mind elaborating why?

Thanks!

Here's a docket to follow the filings in the court for those curious: https://www.inforuptcy.com/filings/txnbke_411806-3-14-bk-312...

Or an alternative could be a blind date game show if an in person meeting with a stranger is a bit much. We just launched a dating game show that solves many of the shortfalls of online dating. HN thread http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5060477 (disclaimer, co-founder)

Co-founder here. We are launching the first online dating game show that will be cast, produced and broadcast all online. Our game is called Blind Video Date. Blind Video Date is an amalgam of The Dating Game and Love Connection-–famous dating television shows from the 1960s and 1980s. Final contestants will be awarded $100 prize each. We have a couple of early auditions you can vote for at the end of the videos:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mecsbe1y9Bs

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ev3Pp0tiRJg

We try to solve some of the pitfalls of traditional dating sites.

- No fake profiles since we rely on videos.

- No crazy algorithm. We rely on the power of the crowd (friends and strangers). This is supported by research that finds that dating algorithms are not effective at finding a true match. Better predictors according to research rely on your conversational habits and your problem solving tendencies.

- No crazy, blind, in person dates

That's how we solve online dating with our fun, risk-free, crowd-sourced dating game.

If interested, please audition here: http://quickauditions.com/dating It takes one minute to complete. Just answer one question on video, "If you were granted one wish, what would that be?"

For those interested in following along in the case, here's a free docket, https://www.inforuptcy.com/filings/debke_147087-1-12-bk-1339....

Our platform, Gickup, lets developers create interactive game shows, which I believe is what you are asking for. Here's a recording of one of our games: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TxJZtEL8LZM. You can read our longer response here: https://plus.google.com/104744911050510468464/posts/GRfzgSuS...