tom

This is an interesting approach. Not sure why the title says "like YC" other than as link bait. The only similarities are that they are both helping to start startups.

In any case, this is an interesting approach. They are essentially hired guns who take 20-40% of your company in exchange for "200-250K" of services to help you build it and enough money for living not to be a distraction. Can't be that expensive in Bloomington, IN. Maybe this is the answer to the age old "I'm an MBA and have this great idea, but I my coding skills start at logging into my laptop and end at adding cells in Excel" problem.

While not appealing to me, this could churn out some pretty interesting companies as they are very focused on revenue ... something that many others just aren't. I'm eager to see what they can do.

Yes, they should. That said, lunch / coffee break HN is something I look forward to. I get to keep up on with (some parts) of the startup world and generally learn something new every day. Of course my optometrist would freak if he knew I was using my break time to read HN ...

The fact that so many parents are basing the medical decisions they make for their children on results that have been proven over and over to be wrong, false or misinterpreted and the well meaning, but scientifically unfounded spouting of Jenny MacCarthy amazes me. Unfortunately the main stream media (wow, I can't believe I just typed that) has a tendency to latch on to correlation studies because they are easy to understand and spin, not because they are right.

I've spent much of the last 4 years of my life studying the state of the research of Autism and neurological diseases and disorders. Does Autism scare the crap out of me? Heck yeah! Did I immunize my 10 month old boy - yes. Did every member of my lab immunize their sons and daughters - yes. There's a correlation study for you - 100% of our group of researchers who are better read than 99.99% of the world on Autism and the state of Autism research immunized ALL of their children. I can't wait to be on the cover of TIME!

I can't figure out why there is such a protective attitude about YC around here. Sure, the board is a service (experiment) of pg and YC, but seriously folks, they don't have a mentoring/seed investment patent on this kind of an operation. Why can't folks be happy there are more opportunities out there? Are you claiming that only YC startups can benefit from such a program or that only YC can be beneficial the young company?

A coupon site? That's one of their recomendations? Maybe they should also offer a time machine to go back to 1998. Ok, maybe a bit smarmy, but that is one busy space with a handful of very heavy jitters and no good domains left. Just a bad idea in 2009.

So how are the articles ordered? Does this order change over the course of the day? Sure it's a great way to expose me to tons of info with very easy eye movement, but it's also tons of real estate. How do I re-find an article or is that not really a problem? If they're not going to foster user added content, then no; if they are, then it's a big problem. I sure hope they also have a sortable list view (by post, by title, by author, by location, by popularity over a time period). They have a big challenge and I agree than the present form could be improved, I'm just not sure this is the only best way to go. Nice to see them pushing the envelope a bit though as it shows the get it and want to improve- two plusses in my book.

A few results I think we might see if pg were to try this experiment. 1. Refocus karma on discussion, as opposed to submission. 2. Flatten the karma curve. Not sure what good this would do, though. 3. Help some folks get more work done as I wonder how some folks here get anything done with all the reading of, and posting of articles/content. I'd be interested to see how many, if any, "good" submissions were missed. Sure this is pretty hard to globally quantify, but if you want to post something, and can't as you're still in your 24 hour post post no post window, how long will it take for someone else to scoop you? I wonder if it will actually hurt the community (ie: missed content). I bet little of value would slip through the cracks, but some posts wouldn't attain the point heights that we see now as they'd be posted by regular folks, not the same, always voted up, uber-submitters.

So if it was 5 months ago, why haven't you launched yet? Did getting rejected spoil your motivation? If so, you likely wouldn't have pulled it off anyway. Everyone is rejected at some point, and every idea has been thought, of and many are being developed. As everyone keeps echoing - it's in the execution. Come up with something new and do it - or if you think the folks who just launched aren't doing it right, or well enough, go after them.

Best of luck.

Don't tell me what Netvorx is "for", tell me what Netvork "does" - what it does for me, my company, my friends, my network. What's the benefit of registering, using, promoting, etc.

I had to look at your blog to get any idea of what might be behind the sign-up. That's bad. In real life (ie: not when voyeuristically looking at someone else's start-up), I'd have not stayed on the home page for 5 seconds and I'd have back-buttoned, or apple-l'd (hey, my MBP is old) away.

Three tips from a young dad: 1. Take photos and videos - lots. watch your white balance ... Seeing how much our boy has changed in his 8 months is amazing. 2. Work less. This is a hard one, but working a 4 day work week (or 6 ...) and devoting an entire day to just George time is the incredible. My Fridays with my boy are worth more than money / success / code. 3. Help out with those late night feedings - diaper, rocking, etc. It's amazing how good you'll get at changing diapers when totally asleep - oh, and um, yeah, make sure he's aiming down when you diaper him. Trust me on that one.

While the iPhone apps are cool (ok, a few are, most are rubbish), the lower hanging fruit is to make your app work in Safari on the iPhone. This is much easier, and can be done now(!). Nail this down, make it known to your users that you have this feature and see what traffic looks like. If you see some real iPhone usage, and really think it's going to improve usage, user experience etc. then go for it. I'm betting it won't though and that there are TODOs that are much more important than an iPhone app.

I've made it clear at every job I've had since college that yes, I take naps. Almost every day. The post lunch, put your feet up, headphones on, 20 - 30 minute siesta does more good than coffee (and I LOVE coffee) ever could for clear, effective thinking later in the day.

I've found the folks that are most freaked out by it are those who (often for good reason) aren't confident in their work and place a very high value on looking busy as opposed to actually accomplishing things.

Yes, but you want it to be YOU that are worrying about it, not every one of your users! Yes, capitals and an exclamation point - I must really mean it.

If someone gains access to your db, what do you want them to find - A: a users table with an email column and a plain text password column or B: a users table with an email column and a salted hash of gobblygook (please pardon my use of such heavy techno-jargon) instead of plain text password?

I'd choose option B - email addresses just aren't as valuable as email addresses and their associated passwords.

Interesting post on an often overlooked filing that has outed more than a few startups.

The part that get's me is about the updated Form D for next year. " ... so that companies no longer need to disclose names of investors that own more than 10% of a class of securities."

So if an investor invests in exchange for more than 10% their info is kept off the Form D? Am I reading this correctly.

Yes, short matters. If you can say the same thing, with fewer syllables / less letters, while keeping 2 - 5 in check, it's a no brainer.

Of course, if you can support your long domain, such as "ISoldMyHouse.com" with hundreds of weekly radio placements featureing a "catchy" tune, you can probably drive home a longer name too.

There are no hard and fast rules, but the guidelines that I mentioned above are tried and true.

Things to considder no matter what.

1. Is it short?

2. a. Is it easy to spell / misspell?

2. b. Can a person tell a friend about it and is there a chance the friend will actually be able to just type it in?

3. Is the .com version available? If not, are you trying to do the delicious thing?

4. Is it really witty, or have you just convinced yourself that it is cause it's all you could find?

5. If you're going for the straighforward thing, is it really straight forward? Or again, have you just convinced yourself it is.

Good luck.

If I could up-vote you a dozen times, I would. Dead freakin on! I'll add, that I read books BECAUSE I spent so much time on the computer. Books are the cheapest, most engaging form of entertainment that you can do alone. And they last longer ... Running a start-up and on a tight budget? There is no greater deal out there in our world of over-priced, poorly written, 60fps elecrtonic based "entertainment" than books. Books fit in your pocket, in your bag, pretty much anywhere. And when you're done, they can do just as much, or more entertaining for someone else. The are like infinite entertainment and knowledge. They are amazing.

Funny (short) story. I used to not read much at all other than what's been described above and computer books. Well, I was out with some friends and brought up a recent episode of a horrid reality show. A very close friend of mine stopped dead, looked me in the eyes and said with just a touch of concern in his voice: "do you know how many good books there are?!" Yeah, I had an idea, but I just didn't read any of them ... Well, the next week, he gave me a copy of Hyperion by Dan Simmons. I've been a voracious reader ever since.

Ok, this is actually not bad at all. I like the arrow navigation (though you have to click IN to the content to scroll down, as opposed to just moving the container ever so slightly down). Slick. But, there are lots of things I don't like.

1. What is that domain name? What am I missing? It tells me nothing and will not help your site grown in anyway.

2. Show me, right on the front page, what you mean. I know what a slide show is, SHOW ME what your app does. This isn't that hard, but I want to see it more than read it. Give me an image of a browser window with the next content to the right and the last to the left. I like pictures.

3. Get rid of the word "test" all over your home page. Seriously, it should not be there. Put some real content (even if it's just testing content!) in there so I don't see how young you are.

4. Man, I hate registering for things. Probably not what you want to hear, but do I have to register/login? Can't you just use a cookie to identify me and link me with my list(s) on your end? I'd love to just work as a guest of sorts - forever.

I repeat, why is it news that two people who's company was acquired (for cash!) are not staying with the acquirer (pretty sure that's not even a word) for ever and ever? Because some site writes a sensationalist headline about it? Seriously folks, this is really not a big deal.

I don't think we're seeing the entire picture - even with the additional data Oren brings to the table in his post. While R&D is important, so are bonuses.

I sure hope all those underpaid engineers at Apple were getting options. On June 16th of 2003, Apple was trading at $9.60. Today it closed over $180... The average stock bonuses reported on Glassdoor are $24+K, on top of the average cash bonuses of nearly $6K. Sure, substantially lower than Google, but much higher than Microsoft. Close enough to make the true compensation a dead heat.

Also, I'd love to see the average education level for the Google engineers versus the Apple, Micrsoft, Yahoo, etc folks. My bet, you'd see a lot more PhD's at Google, a lot more. When you have a PhD - and are actually good (!) - you should get paid more.

I'm just saying there's more than base salary to take into consideration. And for some, they want to work at Apple over other company plane and simple - not surprising that Apple would use that point to pay less ...

This pair leaving likely means little more than a couple who don't need to work (for anyone) wanting to do something different. They are in a fortunate position where they can. Good for them. They should take a nice vacation.

Not really Hacker News, but it is about time!

I have received many of their "bills" in the past and every time, been incensed by the scam. I actually received one yesterday for my latest start-up's domain. Incidentally, yesterdays was the first that actually said, in large, bold letters that it wasn't a bill, but was a solicitation. What has had me so incensed is that for folks who don't know better the letter from ILS looks pretty darn official. And given GoDaddy's memorable ads during the SuperBowl, there are a lot of folks who don't have any idea what they are doing who have purchased domain names.

In short, these folks are nothing but scamming jerks and I'm happy to see someone taking notice and action against them.

As much as I respect the opinions and knowledge of much of the HN community, this is really one of those instances where you need professional help. Don't try to "do it yourself" this, it's too important and will have lasting effects on the company, you, and your investors. Seriously, get a CPA or new biz lawyer (local to your state - or where the biz will be legally located) and talk to them. Get some help with the paperwork. Go to someone who can really explain it all to you, as there is a lot and you might find your eyes glassing over (I know mine did). I realize that you're cash poor, and don't want to waste capital, but sometimes you gotta pay to play. A little cash outlay now can save you a lot of heartache later.

Good luck!

EDIT: this is a great resource to go into any meetings with the folks mentioned above knowing what you're talking about though. Knowledge is power! :)

Let me clarify. Spam as defined as unsolicited bulk mail/messages. Often folks even throw the work "indiscriminate" into their definition. I don't consider someone that I know actively sending me an invite to something they find useful unsolicited or bulk. I ignore most of them, but where it came from someone I know, it's not spam. Now, if Facebook (or some craptastic App) sends things to me that are not actually from a friend/contact/someone I know or does so by duping someone into sending the mail, then yes, that's spam. I guess it's kinda the definition of porn thing ...

Again, aren't we, as web app folks / eutrepeneurs /start-up peeps only talking about legitamate uses of sending email? I know I sure am and protecting my companies name / ability to send such mail and keep as much out of spam boxes and filters is of utmost importance. For folks who don't know much about the subject and want to know more, the OP is a good post to get rolling. Surely not the be all and end all though, but a good starting point.

Actually, it's not spam at all. It's just a system (let's not go down the "evils of giving someone my email user/pass" road again) that allows users to more easily send to their contacts.

To look at it another way, if you like our widget.com site, we at widget.com are trying to make it as easy as possible to tell your friends. Re-entering your contacts into our system manually is such a pita, that almost no one does it. I don't know about you, but I have never received spam from MySpace, Facebook, LinkedIn, or Yelp. I have received invites from friends/associates/folks I kinda know. This is not spam, this is email from a someone I know using a different sender. Is it always welcome? No. Do I really mind it? No. If you do, you should have a filter on your mail that trashes all mail from addresses other than those in your contact list.

We all know that the centralized contact model with API's and public/private keys would just plain rock, but it's not here yet, and companies are just trying to live with what we have (long enough to get their next round).

Ok, and one more thing - for those of you who try to send emails, this post is a nice summation of the things you should do, have to look out for, should know about, and the sites you need to visit to improve the chances of your legitimate messages getting through.

This guy's reading choices aside, this is further proof that Amazon takes their recommendations very, very seriously and understands that good recs = revenue. B&N - I'm not sure what they understand. B&N just doesn't seem to get it. Their Book Clubs could be great communities - if they were about community, not selling books (the sales will come folks!). And frankly, think outside the box folks. A recycled forum is just so lacking. The good thing about B&N is that they can often get the book there faster than (non-prime) Amazon. But when it comes down to it, I still do most of my nerd purchasing at bookpool. They don't try to recommend or sell me anything, but what I buy from them, they get right, and get it to me fast.

At first it bothered me that I could make a comment on something, maybe not a comment that everyone would agree with, but a comment that I believed, and yet I'd be down-voted. I'd watch my karma tick away and be like "What are these folks doing? What on earth is wrong with what I said? How does it lessen the quality of the conversation?"

Then I realized, it just doesn't matter. This isn't a contest, it's a community. All this measures is the general vibe of the comment. Higher numbers = better vibe. A fuzzy value at best.

More useful I think would be to see the total score, but also be able to mouse over the score to see how many down-votes and how many up-votes something received. But that would very likely require a big change by PG to maintain three scores, not one.

You need to reach a threshold of karma. Once you do, you'll see a down arrow on comments.

You should read the FAQ here: http://ycombinator.com/newsfaq.html

A couple more then I have to clean the kitchen ...

1. Use that valuable h1 tag (and h2) on every page to tell me something (and Google) about that page - something good and rich. Don't waste it on my name - or if you do, I should be allowed to say something about myself. Or there should be something else there. Just an important tag that I'd hate to waste.

2. Your image alt tag for your log needs improvement. Also a text tag line would be a good thing.

3. Set up a custom route and a field in your db where you make a friendly url for all the courses. "/course/2" should be "/course/how-to-use-brainbank". This should also be your page's title "How to Use BrainBank by _your_name_"

Out of curiosity, will the courses be reviewed? What's stopping me from having you send out something bad for me to anyone who signs up?

Ok, the kitchen won't clean itself.

Don't real users rock? Ok, here's a bit more feedback.

1. Please don't send plain text passwords. This might just be me, but man, that bums me out to EVER see my password.

2. Ok, so I just activated. Tell me better what to do here.

3. You can register for a class twice.

4. Remind me that once I enroll, the stuff is coming via email.

What's your plan going forward time wise? Still four hour chunks? Will you be keeping the blog up to date with that sort of info? I personally find it interesting.