Comments on: Y-Combinator Demo Day http://www.startbreakingfree.com/1077/y-combinator-demo-day/ Experiments in tech entrepreneurship Thu, 09 Feb 2012 05:07:17 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Greg Moreno http://www.startbreakingfree.com/1077/y-combinator-demo-day/comment-page-1/#comment-2787 Greg Moreno Fri, 28 Aug 2009 05:22:19 +0000 http://www.startbreakingfree.com/?p=1077#comment-2787 I've attended a number of VC-sponsored events where you hear people talk a lot about the importance of business models. What's funny though is at the end of the day, these same investors/VC/mentors would pick proposals that even the aspiring entrepreneur admits doesn't have a clear path to making money except getting more eyeballs. Maybe, there are afraid of passing off that 1 idea that would become the next big thing. Or maybe, this is just how VC thinks - they invest in 10 companies knowing that 8 of them will fail and the other 2 would bring enough money to compensate the losses of the others. I’ve attended a number of VC-sponsored events where you hear people talk a lot about the importance of business models. What’s funny though is at the end of the day, these same investors/VC/mentors would pick proposals that even the aspiring entrepreneur admits doesn’t have a clear path to making money except getting more eyeballs.

Maybe, there are afraid of passing off that 1 idea that would become the next big thing. Or maybe, this is just how VC thinks – they invest in 10 companies knowing that 8 of them will fail and the other 2 would bring enough money to compensate the losses of the others.

]]> By: Oscar http://www.startbreakingfree.com/1077/y-combinator-demo-day/comment-page-1/#comment-2774 Oscar Mon, 24 Aug 2009 08:21:07 +0000 http://www.startbreakingfree.com/?p=1077#comment-2774 Hehe, you could send a link to this post to them Hehe, you could send a link to this post to them

]]> By: Brian Armstrong http://www.startbreakingfree.com/1077/y-combinator-demo-day/comment-page-1/#comment-2771 Brian Armstrong Sun, 23 Aug 2009 17:19:55 +0000 http://www.startbreakingfree.com/?p=1077#comment-2771 Agreed...good point Oscar. Twitter has a high valuation. I'm not sure why they haven't started charging, I think it's a mistake because it leaves their future uncertain. It sounds like they are considering an ad supported model, or charging businesses to have accounts, etc. Personally I think they should do something much simpler: if you have less than 10k followers it's free. From 10k to 100k it's $5/month. More than 100k followers it's $50/month or some simple tiered structure like that. They'd be cash flow positive in no time. You heard it here first! :) Brian Agreed…good point Oscar. Twitter has a high valuation. I’m not sure why they haven’t started charging, I think it’s a mistake because it leaves their future uncertain. It sounds like they are considering an ad supported model, or charging businesses to have accounts, etc. Personally I think they should do something much simpler: if you have less than 10k followers it’s free. From 10k to 100k it’s $5/month. More than 100k followers it’s $50/month or some simple tiered structure like that. They’d be cash flow positive in no time.

You heard it here first! :)
Brian

]]> By: Oscar - freestyle mind http://www.startbreakingfree.com/1077/y-combinator-demo-day/comment-page-1/#comment-2770 Oscar - freestyle mind Sun, 23 Aug 2009 07:26:53 +0000 http://www.startbreakingfree.com/?p=1077#comment-2770 I am, like you, hesitant when I see a startup without a solid way of making money. They usually have a great idea and a lot of visitors/traffic, but they struggle to make some money. On the other side, these companies can really make a difference, like twitter for example, so it's still a good idea to fund them if you have money. I am, like you, hesitant when I see a startup without a solid way of making money. They usually have a great idea and a lot of visitors/traffic, but they struggle to make some money. On the other side, these companies can really make a difference, like twitter for example, so it’s still a good idea to fund them if you have money.

]]> By: Brian Armstrong http://www.startbreakingfree.com/1077/y-combinator-demo-day/comment-page-1/#comment-2763 Brian Armstrong Fri, 21 Aug 2009 23:57:37 +0000 http://www.startbreakingfree.com/?p=1077#comment-2763 Totally agree Kenton. DHH made a great point in that video I linked to above where he said if you charge $29/month all you need it 2,800 customers and you've got a million dollar business. Compare that to Facebook with 250 million users and still not cash flow positive. Great to have another Rails/Slicehoster on here, curious to see what you're working on when it's ready! Brian Totally agree Kenton. DHH made a great point in that video I linked to above where he said if you charge $29/month all you need it 2,800 customers and you’ve got a million dollar business. Compare that to Facebook with 250 million users and still not cash flow positive.

Great to have another Rails/Slicehoster on here, curious to see what you’re working on when it’s ready!
Brian

]]> By: Kenton Newby http://www.startbreakingfree.com/1077/y-combinator-demo-day/comment-page-1/#comment-2761 Kenton Newby Fri, 21 Aug 2009 20:40:08 +0000 http://www.startbreakingfree.com/?p=1077#comment-2761 Brian, Great post! Totally agree. I think PlentyofFish is an interesting case study, but is probably more the exception than the rule. Right place, right time, kinda' quirky and got a lot of press (revealing his AdSense earnings and all). I would much prefer the stability of monthly, paying members vs. ad revenue or being beholden to some large company's affiliate program. Case in point, eBay just changed the rules of the game on how they pay out affiliate. Now it's a PPC model tied to the quality of the traffic you send vs. CPA where you got paid for each auction buyer/new user. Besides, when you do the math, if you have a solid app/service, you don't really need THAT many customers to have a viable business, even if the fee is pretty low. Then you can scale it up, sell it, or do whatever else you like...without the need for VC funding (and control). That's the route I'm taking now, with Rails, Slicehost and a few other ideas similar to the path you seem to have moved to. Keep up the good work. Kenton Brian,

Great post! Totally agree. I think PlentyofFish is an interesting case study, but is probably more the exception than the rule. Right place, right time, kinda’ quirky and got a lot of press (revealing his AdSense earnings and all).

I would much prefer the stability of monthly, paying members vs. ad revenue or being beholden to some large company’s affiliate program.

Case in point, eBay just changed the rules of the game on how they pay out affiliate. Now it’s a PPC model tied to the quality of the traffic you send vs. CPA where you got paid for each auction buyer/new user.

Besides, when you do the math, if you have a solid app/service, you don’t really need THAT many customers to have a viable business, even if the fee is pretty low. Then you can scale it up, sell it, or do whatever else you like…without the need for VC funding (and control).

That’s the route I’m taking now, with Rails, Slicehost and a few other ideas similar to the path you seem to have moved to.

Keep up the good work.

Kenton

]]> By: Brian Armstrong http://www.startbreakingfree.com/1077/y-combinator-demo-day/comment-page-1/#comment-2760 Brian Armstrong Fri, 21 Aug 2009 18:17:56 +0000 http://www.startbreakingfree.com/?p=1077#comment-2760 Yep, not sure I'm gonna be on Techcrunch any time too soon, they tend to focus more on VC backed companies which is something I don't really believe in. But it would certainly be nice...press never hurts. Yep, not sure I’m gonna be on Techcrunch any time too soon, they tend to focus more on VC backed companies which is something I don’t really believe in. But it would certainly be nice…press never hurts.

]]> By: Brian Armstrong http://www.startbreakingfree.com/1077/y-combinator-demo-day/comment-page-1/#comment-2759 Brian Armstrong Fri, 21 Aug 2009 18:13:00 +0000 http://www.startbreakingfree.com/?p=1077#comment-2759 Hi Cindy, something probably didn't get fixed when I moved it to a new server. I'm actually in the process of phasing the forum out, it didn't quite work out how I hoped. Hi Cindy, something probably didn’t get fixed when I moved it to a new server. I’m actually in the process of phasing the forum out, it didn’t quite work out how I hoped.

]]> By: College Town Menus (CTM) http://www.startbreakingfree.com/1077/y-combinator-demo-day/comment-page-1/#comment-2758 College Town Menus (CTM) Fri, 21 Aug 2009 16:30:14 +0000 http://www.startbreakingfree.com/?p=1077#comment-2758 Next up, UniversityTutor.com, Feedmailpro.com, and CollegeTownMenus.com to be featured on TechCrunch! haha I agree Brian, it's a project until it generates money. And with that, CTM is still a project in testing =). I'm not really a fan most of the time with these lists, but there are actually some really good new companies/projects/programs on this list! If I had an iPhone, I'd be all over that FlightCaster app; really great idea. Next up,

UniversityTutor.com, Feedmailpro.com, and CollegeTownMenus.com to be featured on TechCrunch! haha

I agree Brian, it’s a project until it generates money. And with that, CTM is still a project in testing =).

I’m not really a fan most of the time with these lists, but there are actually some really good new companies/projects/programs on this list! If I had an iPhone, I’d be all over that FlightCaster app; really great idea.

]]> By: Cindy http://www.startbreakingfree.com/1077/y-combinator-demo-day/comment-page-1/#comment-2757 Cindy Fri, 21 Aug 2009 16:09:37 +0000 http://www.startbreakingfree.com/?p=1077#comment-2757 I was trying to register to participate in the forums but it only comes up with a Wordpress login page. Am I doing something wrong? Thanks! I was trying to register to participate in the forums but it only comes up with a WordPress login page. Am I doing something wrong? Thanks!

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