Warn HN: Lots of Launches Coming

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2862067

by pg • 15 years ago

428 92 15 years ago

news.ycombinator.com

Every cycle we warn startups not to wait till 2 weeks before Demo Day to launch if they can avoid it, because there's always a glut of startups launching then. Every cycle they do anyway.

It's now 2 weeks before Demo Day, so there are going to be a lot of new startups launching in the coming week.

Please be nice to them. For you their launch may be "yet another YC startup," but for each individual startup this is their big moment.

peacemaker• 15 years ago

Good luck to all the current YC guys, I'm sure you're all feeling the pain right now only 2 weeks away from the big day!

As for launching around the same time, I'm of the opinion that if your own (non-YC) startup is good enough, it will stand alongside, or even above some of the YC guys and perhaps "cash in" on the startup fervour around at the time.

captaincrunch• 15 years ago

Good luck everyone!

jswinghammer• 15 years ago

It's always exciting to see what's in the works. In every cycle it seems like there is a YC site that I end up using a lot.

Has the culture around here gotten so hostile that a "be nice" request is needed?

Mz4• 15 years ago

FWIW: I didn't read it as "don't be openly hostile". I read it as "please remember they have their heart in their mouth and are drenched in a cold sweat and even yawning indifference can be soul crushing, yet we realize there are so many it will be hard to get all excited about each and every one of them (especially with so many of them announcing their launch at essentially the exact same time)".

pama• 15 years ago

Congrats to Snapjoy, Leaky, and Kicksend for launching today! Keep'em coming!

ryanglasgow• 15 years ago

Good luck guys! Take feedback with a grain of salt and stay focused on your vision.

melling• 15 years ago

Should have a special title tag. Show HN YC: ... or something to that effect.

losvedir• 15 years ago

They probably will. Keep your eyes out for "(YC S11)".

dotBen• 15 years ago

Surely such sentiment should be extended to any startup, not just YC startups?

pg3• 15 years ago

The point is that the arrival of YC startups is spiky, with 2 big spikes a year.

dbz2• 15 years ago

Pg, can you try adding a tab up top for new startups? I personally love to read about them but sometimes the launches etc. This would make it a lot easier to find the latest ones.

pg3• 15 years ago

I don't think most users would want a tab for it, but you can easily get this from HNSearch:

http://www.hnsearch.com/search#request/submissions&q=%28...

dbz2• 15 years ago

Thank you, that is indeed very helpful. Do you think you could temporarily auto-fill that text into the search bar at the bottom of the page for the week leading up to demo_day? I think a lot of users would find that to be both non-intrusive and interesting/helpful.

sushrutbidwai• 15 years ago

Perhaps you should create a launch module like jobs and pipeline the launch stories as is case with jobs stories. will help all startups of YC to get even attention from community.

paulnelligan2• 15 years ago

Hi Paul. I would love to see a tab for people launching new products in general. i.e. a way to submit your startup for review. Since HN is essentially a startup community, wouldn't it make sense to distinguish a 'review my startup' entry from a 'NASA discovers oxygen on Pluto' entry ? ... especially considering that the submitter often has put months and months of time into it, and would REALLY appreciate and value feedback from others, instead of quickly dropping off (or not even making) the front page ...

joeyespo• 15 years ago

I wonder if the creator of this can help with that: http://www.hnshowcase.com/view

I agree, it'd be nice to have them all in one place.

rokhayakebe• 15 years ago

That would be very nice

duck• 15 years ago

I collect all of them each week in my newsletter - http://www.hackernewsletter.com.

ashbrahma• 15 years ago

It looks like Techcrunch is getting the scoop on every single launch.

smoyer3• 15 years ago

"Please be nice to them"

With very few exceptions, I enjoy seeing what the YC crowd releases, but isn't this going a bit to far? Aren't we the perfect audience to provide constructive criticism? On the other hand, if you're asking us to be empathetic at the same time, I couldn't agree more.

Go YC!

brlewis• 15 years ago

Niceness and constructive criticism are not mutually exclusive. They can even coexist in a single comment.

smoyer3• 15 years ago

True ... and the Internet as a whole could use a lot more "nice". It's amazing how much different some people behave when they're not having a face-to-face conversation.

templaedhel• 15 years ago

I'm really hoping to see a YC company launch on the startup foundry or such, but it may not be wide enough exposure yet. Eventually.

Animus7• 15 years ago

>Please be nice to them. For you their launch may be "yet another YC startup," but for each individual startup this is their big moment.

I'm usually quite pleased with what comes out of YC. That said, in this competitive market, I don't think that being nice (just because) helps anyone the week after launch.

I personally look forward to the day HN tears apart my project so I can say I truly learned something.

mrkurt• 15 years ago

The biggest lessons I've ever learned from people shredding things I've put in front of them is that the people doing the shredding are rarely helpful, if you discount skin thickening exercises anyway.

I suspect "be nice" is more about how people talk to each other than the content of what they're saying.

hashbo• 15 years ago

I have to agree 100%.

There’s a huge difference between honest helpful critique and semi-bullying criticism which is often a feeble attempt of someone to make people feel better about how little they have risked and achieved in their lives - and if not it’s usually just a simple pissing competition.

‘Shredding’ someone’s work is usually as helpful as breaking someone’s window and trashing their home to show they are at risk of being burgled.

Point out the weaknesses like you would point out to your own offspring because a new business is like a child - it’s vulnerable and needs some protection and love at first. In time it will be able to stand up for itself.

'Shredding' a startup when it’s little is like bullying a kid when it’s young to show them how vicious the world is.

Sorry for the very mixed metaphors :-)

InfinityX0• 15 years ago

He doesn't mean be nice to them even if they have a shitty project. He means don't let the onslaught of launches actually partially sour your perception - use your un-saturated viewpoint that is then cognizant of the bias saturation imbues - to determine your true opinion of their service.

Which - if still bad then - should be correctly harsh and honest.

zackattack4• 15 years ago

No, you're wrong. He means be nice to them because they're WITH HIM.

zackattack4• 15 years ago

"in this competitive market"?

And just what market are you referring to?

patio11• 15 years ago

That said, in this competitive market, I don't think that being nice (just because) helps anyone the week after launch.

There is a difference between false praise and every thread looking like "What's this?! You dare call yourself a startup? You're attempting to solve a problem which other people have attempted to solve before, and your solution looks like something two guys could have made in three months! Why are you in YC and not me?!"

Ideally, we'd be aiming for constructive advice. "I would not use this" can be constructive advice, but it isn't most of the time I have heard it here.

alorres• 15 years ago

I thought it meant something like "don't be a dick to them just because they're one of the many launches." I mean constructive criticism is always good if you're trying to help them, not make them abandon entrepreneurship and the internet.

davidw2• 15 years ago

If you have something negative to say, write it as if you were speaking to someone in person.

Read what you've written again, with the Comic Book Guy voice. Does it sound in-character? Then it's probably unnecessarily harsh.

nhangen• 15 years ago

Thanks for the reminder. It's easy to get jaded about this stuff, but you're right. Good luck on demo day everyone.

ig1• 15 years ago

I'm bit uncomfortable that Techcrunch's coverage of these launches isn't being made with a disclaimer that Michael Arrington is an investor in most of them (via Angel Fund).

daviday• 15 years ago

When I saw two launching today I automatically thought this had to do with the economy souring. I had just read Jeff Clavier's tweet:

Just maybe? The VC industry is going to wake up and go back to value investing - not FOMO throwing cash at everything, no matter the price

But Dave McLure says it's business as usual

http://blogs.wsj.com/venturecapital/2011/08/08/early-stage-i...

blackboxxx• 15 years ago

Be prepared to defend yourself startups. Put on your armor. Some with malice in their hearts will thrust daggers at you. Fight with strength and honor and the crowd will love you.

Win the crowd and you will win your freedom.

To those startups who do not fight with valor? You will be subject to the mob, as was Airbnb. Even the Emperor will not be able to silence the cries for blood!

Startups... I salute you.

LET THE LAUNCHES BEGIN!

canadiancreed• 15 years ago

Oliver Reed parodied for the win.

biot• 15 years ago

Investor: Are you ready to do your duty for the internet?

Founder: Yes, investor.

Investor: You will not be funded.

Founder: Which wiser, older startup is to take my place?

Investor: My funding will pass to others, to hold in trust until a better startup is ready to launch once more. The internet is to be innovative and profitable again.

Founder: Investor?

Investor: Yes. My decision disappoints you?

Founder: You wrote to me once, listing the four chief virtues: Novel concept, challenging problems, technical excellence, and forging new streams of revenue. As I read the list, I knew my startup had none of them. But I have other virtues, investor. Group purchasing. That can be a virtue when it temporarily eases the deal fatigue that everyone's experiencing. Social sharing, perhaps not in a way that generates revenue, but... there are many ways to measure value. Mashups copying one site but adding a single tweak from another site, because it's been done before so must be good. But none of my virtues were on your list. Even then it was as if you didn't want me for your investment.

Investor: Oh, Founder. You go too far.

Founder: I search the faces of other apps... for ideas to copy, to make you proud. One seed investment, one small round... where you wrote out a check for more than the $150K I've already received. Would have been like feeding a third world family for a thousand years. What is it in my idea that you hate so much?

Investor: Shh, Founder.

Founder: All I've ever wanted was to be like all the other apps out there.

Investor: [Gets down on his knees] Founder. Your derivative idea of a startup is my failure as an advisor. Come [Gives Founder a hug]

Founder: [Founder hugs Investor and cries] Investor. I would have copied all the apps in the world... if you would only invest in me!

[Founder begins to asphyxiate Investor while they hug, Investor grunts]

bulte-rs• 15 years ago

Please don't do this again this early in the morning; I had 10 people eyeballing me for strange laughing behaviour.

earbitscom2• 15 years ago

Your newsletter, I would like to subscribe.

istvanp• 15 years ago

For those who don't get the reference: it's from Gladiator (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0172495/quotes?qt=qt0404384).

brandnewlow• 15 years ago

Off-topic, but this is the scene that separates Gladiator from your average action flick. I'd also say it's a pretty good spot-on depiction of angry nerd rage.

Commodus was a nerd whose dad wanted a jock son...like Maximus.

bfe• 15 years ago

I wonder if there's any observed correlation between earliness of launch (per pg's advice) and likelihood of future success?

helwr2• 15 years ago

I'd just say it here, once and for all - YC startups suck

walrus2• 15 years ago

Yup, every last one of them :)

I doubt you really stand behind that. Maybe you really mean, for example, that a majority of the YC startups make things that aren't useful to you.

Mz4• 15 years ago

I get the impression I am missing some "in" joke. :-/

keke_ta• 15 years ago

Congrats to everyone.

bakbak• 15 years ago

Pg, is there any way you can make your demo day a live event (may be on justinTV) - and to add the spice you should also make it interactive where viewers can rate each startup with proper scoring system - and if you and startups are comfortable then you should let all the VCs and Angels be able to see scores & ratings coming in live from all over the world (however this may also have negative impact but nothing wrong to try it).... this way investors would right away know what is HIT & HOT !!!

pdenya• 15 years ago

I'd like to see a live stream minus all the American Idol extras if possible.

davidw2• 15 years ago

Some of the startups demoed have not actually launched, and in any event, I think they like to cultivate something of a feeling of exclusivity around the event. Not to the point of snobbery or anything like that, just to make it kind of important.

vaksel• 15 years ago

alternative suggestion...if you are about to launch a new startup...hold off for a month or so.

no sense in wasting the launch PR boost when everyone is getting swarmed with pitches

dterra• 15 years ago

Nice! Its always good to see them. Tip: Dont launch your product if you are not in YC. Chances of getting coverage are none. They will get it all!

jcr4• 15 years ago

pg, can you ask the YC founders to stop announcing their new companies as the "The This of/for That" for example (from the front page):

"Leaky (YC S11) is Hipmunk for Car Insurance"

I honestly don't care if your new company is "* (YC S11) Is The Facebook for Unicorns," since it really tells me nothing. I have to figure out what a Hipmonk is before I can understand what they do. Hold on while I call the Dalai Lama to ask about the difference between a monk and a hipmonk.

Of the YC S11 batch with announcements up, it seems the Snapjoy folks are doing it right (from the front page):

"Snapjoy (YC S11) Will Organize Your Photos For You"

Now the Snapjoy announcement above provides concise and useful information about what they could do for me, the potential customer.

bvi• 15 years ago

You're absolutely right. I was able to tell from the Snapjoy link what the startup did, and whether or not it was a thread worth browsing through. In 2 seconds.

If all YC (and non-YC) startups describe what they do in the title in 10 words or less, everybody wins.

jcr4• 15 years ago

I think the most important part of my previous post was not emphasized enough, and probably because my sense of humor got in the way.

The important part is, from the Snapjoy announcement I was able to identify myself as a potential customer. Though I do have a car and car insurance, for me they are already solved problems, so I did not identify myself as a potential customer of Leaky (even if I actually am). If I told my mom that "Leaky is the hipmonk of car insurance," can you imagine the resulting conversation? My mom's hearing isn't great so you could be certain that hilarity would ensue, along with repeating myself and doing a lot of unnecessary explaining.

If I told my mom that "Snapjoy can organize your photos," the resulting conversation would be far less entertaining, but far more useful and far shorter.

schiptsov2• 15 years ago

Why you're telling them how to use their own marketing/PR tools? ^_^

This site is about making good PR (with some rare mistakes, such as in airbnb's case, but there is really big money involved at the time of the next giant bubble bursting =) and promoting their business and ways of making money, as almost every other site on the net.

So, honestly, why they should provide you with the content you like for free? ^_^

BasDirks• 15 years ago

You make no sense.

"This site is about making good PR"

Parent adresses what is (not) good PR.

"So, honestly, why they should provide you with the content you like for free?"

Because they want us (early adopters) to use their product.

Which part of that is difficult for you to understand?

jkaljundi• 15 years ago

I personally like that kind of one-liners. For those using Angellist, that's what we are all used to. Related: http://venturehacks.com/articles/high-concept-pitch

jcr4• 15 years ago

Angellist and all related Angel/VC pitching is a totally different situation, with a totally different audience and runs with totally different expectations; you are trying to attract investors, not customers.

A "High Concept Pitch" one-liner is an excellent device to employ, but like everything, it can be done well or it can be done poorly. Both of the examples I cited from the front page are one-liners, but one is done poorly (e.g. very narrow scope), and the other is done well (e.g. very broad scope).

Maybe Leaky (YC S11) is looking more for investors than they are for customers? If so, then they are using the right language to target the desired narrow scope of knowledgeable investors. But with better aim, could they kill more than one bird with that stone? A new startup announcement on techcrunch is an important opportunity.

The provocative question is, "Would you rather invest in a company actively acquiring investors or a company actively acquiring customers?"

(thanks for the link)

mikeleeorg• 15 years ago

Just to be fair, wasn't it TechCrunch that gave Leaky that "Hipmunk for car insurance" tagline?

http://techcrunch.com/2011/08/08/yc-backed-leaky-is-hipmunk-...

I didn't see any mention of Hipmunk at all on Leaky's website. There's a small mention of Square though:

All design inspiration credit goes to Square. We think their design is the bee's knees.

EDIT: Ah, they do have a referential line, though it's not Hipmunk:

We're like Orbitz for insurance.

Perhaps TC thought Hipmunk was more catchy than Orbitz ;)

kristiandupont2• 15 years ago

It makes perfect sense to me. Obviously, if you don't know what Hipmunk is it's hard but on the other hand, knowing Hipmunk, that sentence conveys more information than a generic one ever could.

div• 15 years ago

Leaky (YC S11) takes the pain out of finding the best car insurance.

That would work for those who know about Hipmunk and those who don't.

krschultz• 15 years ago

I think you are overestimating how many poeople know about Hipmunk. But it's kind of a moot point, TC picked the title. Leaky compares themselves to Orbitz which is very well known.

pg3• 15 years ago

They don't pick the story titles; Techcrunch does.

amirmc• 15 years ago

Then for the sake of HN readers can we allow the titles submitted here to be different?

Edit to add: I know it's possible but I've seen a couple of cases recently where a submitter changed a title (for clarity) but a mod changed it to match the original article.

freddealmeida• 15 years ago

@jcr "the facebook for unicorns" FTW

int3rnaut• 15 years ago

Does anyone know of any blogs from YC founders that cover the personal struggles and conquest of these final 2 weeks before Demo Day? I think it would be a great read (even if they were bit sized entries) to find out what it's like to be under such enormous pressure but on the precipice of your big moment.

Warn HN: Lots of Launches Coming

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