zkinion

You need to kill more boars to get to the next level, then you can wear plate mail and get your mount. (World of Warcraft) ;)

MIT's OCW is indeed awesome, but most mba stuff in my opinion is aimed at working in management for already established companies (middle managers), and less for startups.

A stats course might be nice.

I'm guessing he did, though I may be wrong. The thread title was "...YC app..." something like that.

I don't see how after that video and that post how he wouldn't be accepted unless the YC people have some pre-existing opinions about the future of online storage.

It looks great man. I know you'll be accepted. The writing is on the wall. Posting your video here just seals the deal, and puts yourself out there. I didn't apply to YC, but if I did, I'd be putting my stuff up here as well. I'm surprized nobody else has posted like you did. That takes some balls and self-belief.

I didn't agree with some of the things you've said before, like IP rules, etc. but you've earned my respect. Best of luck to you. :)

-Zak Kinion

Our society is growing more and more isolated. Most people barely know their neighbors any more. One can have hundreds of friends on myspace but no one to truly confide in.

Don't get depressed about it. Learn how to embrace this and use it to your advantage. Have fun.

Better yet, just simply tell us what you're trying to do...

Also, they're coming out with a bunch of new stuff towards the middle of may.

Feds == evil.

:(

Anybody that can make a dollar using google adsense can make two using other means.

It is just the long history of case law make it a more "definate" legal venue. Most laws in the US are determined by actual cases, in court, and not in the actual written laws.

Nevada is also popular to incorporate in. I've always incorporated in Nevada because of lack of state income tax and it's favors to small business.

But what are the stats for actual revenue/money spent/business done online, for each country?

What is the online buying power/marketability of US/UK/Euroland vs. other countries?

GIVE THEM THE DDOS!!!!

;)

So where is some good data as to how much traffic can convert and how much CPM one can get with various types of traffic? I've been all around googling this to come up with almost nothing. I know one must work on getting users first, but this is not always a viable method, and sometimes one must worry about monetization later on.

Not bad at all. It overcomes some of the inherent problems with internet dating. Basically if you can make an environment where girls won't get bombarded by tons and tons of creepy dudes, you'll get more and more hot girls from different areas, not just in California. More and more desirable, and approachable girls is a winning formula.

Those guys scare me alot more than the terrorists do...

I'm not applying to this cambridge based YC, but I'm going to apply for the next bay area YC. I'm not going to have an entire business built in second life, but will use it as just another way get traffic/users (new approach to online gambling). You might want to make your idea seem more "robust" and not entirely dependent on another platform.

There is certainly not enough attention on this subject, yet it should be a real concern to entrepreneurs.

Basically, you need to be aware of other means needed to kick-start traffic, especially if you have a site who's user experience depends on the other users. The first problem is the chicken or the egg problem, and further on you reach the problem of getting the site into full blown disease mode.

Guerilla marketing, giving incentives to users (paypal), and ethical to semi-ethical spamming (myspace,facebook) are not out of the question. Theres a big difference between using these tactics to get initial traffic, to actually basing an entire business model off of their continued use.

If you have a niche site, or one that isn't as catchy, you're probably going to be doing all and even some new methods of kick starting that aren't even known to you yet.

SUMMARY: Getting a techcrunch article or some alpha blogger love doesn't always fix chicken or egg problem problem and you might very well be doing some of the methods stated above. On the bright side, this can create a minor "barrier of entry" and can keep other startup founders from emulating your idea over night.

My first startup was homebased. It took almost 2 years before it started doing good.

Most canned solutions for homebased businesses are total scams. You really have to conjure up something yourself if you want any chance at success.

Yes, I remember seeing the pbs show on him (pbs is awesome), and thought of him to be more of a salesperson than actual master guru. Alot of what he says is hindsight. Look instead of how he sells his "service" to these large companies for good sums of cash. He invites them into his nice home, gives them good french wine and almost courts them. His accent is a whole bonus in itself. In the end, the companies feel justitifed spending the sum of money, because it is viewed as an upscale expense.

The chicken and egg problem faced by companies who's users gain utility from other users must normally be solved in novel ways. Viral, exponential growth doesn't happen when nobody is "sick".

haha, cute.

I've known most of thos from before, but this presentation puts it in the most simple way possible, and as straight forward as possible. Awesome!

oohhhhhhhhhhh 100th comment :)

I think theres plenty of people out there who want to be part of a startup, but hav no idea whatsoever, or have just vague/pipe dream ideas about starting a company.

Right now I just need a really good flash developer, and maybe another super tech if they could contribute alot. I haven't been able to find one yet, but still have a few leads..

So all they had to do was submit a business plan?

Do these things, such as the disease detection and other medical devices actually work or are just theory?

The more you say in here, the better chance you have of finding a person. Pitch something.

I could see some limited use out of it. Hopefully there will be something more.

Other than that, it seems like chocolate syrup on a yummy hamburger.

Infomercial as inthe kind you see on TV, or just some super dooper presentation whipped up in 3dsmax/premiere?

Aren't you the guy that emailed me? Sorry I wasn't able to meet up with you at startup school.

I still don't think its that dangerous of advice. Sure, if somebody is working in a similar industry, doing actual work on the start up in the work place, then that'd be a problem. Businesses often do have large portfolios of IP, many having not much to do with their business, but I don't think somebody is going to have a problem working on something totally different, at home, on their own machines, on their own time.

Nice. I need to make one of these very soon. I'm looking for co-founders for a new approach to online gambling, and most people don't really understand the casino business that much deep down. Something like this can help out quite a bit.

They're not THAT expensive to start up. I'm sure theres ways to get an LLC or S-corp out of being offshore. Probably the managing partner would be in the US.

Here's some Nevada LLC forms: http://www.sos.state.nv.us/comm_rec/crforms/pdf/NRS86FormDomesticpk.pdf

http://www.sos.state.nv.us/comm_rec/crforms/pdf/NRS78Formpk.pdf

Here's the important one: articles of domestication. It's the same with the LLC. That's your ticket there! :) http://www.sos.state.nv.us/comm_rec/crforms/omni/NRS92ADomestication.pdf

I'd read through those. Obviously, you will probably be incorporating in another state. Nevada is the second most popular, to Delaware.