Young entrepreneurs turn a Tweet from Richard Branson into $1 Million

http://smallbusiness.yahoo.com/advisor/young-entrepreneurs-turn-a-tweet-from-richard-branson-into--1-million.html?fb_action_ids=10100137262022753%2C10100137211768463%2C4381961266023%2C10100137295874913%2C10100137272476803&fb_action_types=news.reads&fb_ref=type%3Aread%2Cuser%3Ayo7P_jX-MtPx1x1aimvV0XIDiNE%2Ctype%3Aread%2Cuser%3AdNxYkXFY8RDbENFkZ8cz-oFwOPs%2Ctype%3Aread%2Cuser%3A8WxvqIFAUhtDWjtWTnfik46e8fU&fb_source=other_multiline&action_object_map=%7B%2210100137262022753%22%3A10151032496944835%2C%2210100137211768463%22%3A10151032496944835%2C%224381961266023%22%3A10150969731529342%2C%2210100137295874913%22%3A10151086246274935%2C%2210100137272476803%22%3A10151906558735416%2C%2210100137271788183%22%3A10151022720879675%7D&code=AQDR1t5ao7gGR4OkAlE4PNTI7gXZAqwr_NpJBcAW67r7qpzIzX-Shkw5R2-sdr3LveO52R9KqKdUUO09s-oICChAi1_bq0aBOa1kI1qUK6LQATQMrCKiiSgXtEkYIyta6mzZqTxUpRL1uXg5KxPVqxP_Ui8FtGq_6h0Vwbx6jCw1NiMXmR4Mlub8IZaenWWpm5A#_=_

by ahlemk • 14 years ago

66 62 14 years ago

smallbusiness.yahoo.com

AlexMuir• 14 years ago

Only managed the first paragraph before the bubble-o-meter went off the fucking scale.

- Crap buzzword filled domain name. Check.

- All encompassing vague idea. Check.

- Young computer whizzkids. Check.

- 1 millllion dollars. Check.

law• 14 years ago

Don't forget the obligatory leave-of-absence from NYU.

wickedchicken2• 14 years ago

Drop out of college to make a combo Delicious/LastPass!

samstave3• 14 years ago

Sure, some of that is true - but holy shit, we sit here on HN constantly pontificating about how we need to fail often, pivot, iterate and that investors invest in teams - not ideas.

Then these kids come along and did a msterful job at getting the ear of Richard and others and you guys shit all over them.

The name sucks - the idea, I cant comment on as I havent even looked at their site - but I am sure, being 19 and 20, they have a LONG career ahead of them and lets hope they continue to think up new things and with having a connection with Richard at this early phase of their lives that is fantastic.

kasahmed• 14 years ago

Great story

richardv• 14 years ago

This is ridiculous. I actually started reading with a really positive mind, but Richard Branson is never going to see any of that $1M.

- Scott... got the idea when his computer crashed and he lost a spreadsheet containing all his usernames and passwords.

Using this as a story to explain his startup is awful. So, you are running a tool to manage passwords, where you previously stored everything in a spreadsheet? This guy obviously knows a lot about security. Where can I sign up?

FuzzyDunlop• 14 years ago

As far as moments of inspiration go, I don't think this one would rank very highly in the tech community.

jc4p• 14 years ago

It'd be a great story if it ended with "and that's why I decided to use 1Pass!"

eli• 14 years ago

I agree, but I don't think the product is aimed at us. I would imagine it's aimed at people who e.g. are currently storing their passwords in a spreadsheet.

cperciva• 14 years ago

And how long do you expect the company to last after it loses its first million passwords?

toyg• 14 years ago

That's harsh. I have to say, his pitch resonates with the common man more than you think. How many people keep their passwords in spreadsheets or other haphazard ways? Zillions. How many stop and think "mh, what's gonna happen if I lose this spreadsheet"? Not many -- otherwise they wouldn't store passwords in spreadsheets to begin with. Scott just reminded them that they'll be screwed at some point, and he's here to help. I expect part of the reasoning behind Branson's investment is that the man himself (or some of his minions) must have had the occasional lost-password-crisis here or there.

Clearly, with a bland but fairly descriptive name like MySocialCloud, they are not targeting paranoid geeks (the ones who worry about details like "who's running this service?", and would rather use services going by dorky names with random missing vowels), they are targeting the common man who stores passwords in spreadsheets. They are scratching an itch they themselves had, which is often how you validate your own business plan. I don't see why they should be ridiculed for it.

(This said, the whole post is just planted marketing of the lowest quality. Hardly HN-worthy, if you ask me.)

lelele2• 14 years ago

> Scott just reminded them that they'll be screwed at some point, and he's here to help.

Problem is: he doesn't know how to help, yet people are going to trust him because they don't know better. I'd bet they are going to store their users' password on an Excel spreadsheet, but they will take care to backup it often ;-)

There is LastPass already, and they are doing a great job. Competition is good, but why should we support clueless competitors?

That said, I'd bet MySocialCloud.com will succeed. Worse is better, isn't it? And now they have lots of money.

brandoncapecci• 14 years ago

On their how it works page: "When you enter a password it gets emailed to us where we will manually enter it unencrypted into a massive spreadsheet."

mkramlich4• 14 years ago

I had to reread your comment a few times. Because I actually thought it was true and you were serious. Because it sounds consistent with the rest of the vibe I was getting about them. They're punching way out of their weight class, especially for their first venture. You can see it in their writing, their decisions, and I'd argue even their faces. Hopefully they pivot early enough over to something wiser and more nichey.

kinleyd• 14 years ago

Heh, this story was amusing in many ways. Storing passwords in a spreadsheet is eye brow raising, and I'd venture that the first lesson after losing a passwords file should have been to figure out a better backup strategy. Going to the cloud seemed to be quite a reach, but apparently Richard Branson didn't think so. RB's a smart guy, but I'd agree that $1m is history, more or less.

lvh• 14 years ago

Although I agree with you entirely, I can't help but play advocate of the devil here...

Dropbox started because of frustration over college documents that kept getting misplaced or lost. This guy obviously knows a lot about backups. Where can I sign up?

borplk3• 14 years ago

Good lord thanks for pointing that out. Kudos to him to have come up this far but that's certainly one team I'd not leave my passwords with.

coderdude• 14 years ago

There's a lot of over-the-top hating from the peanut gallery in this thread. I'll balance it out:

What a ride this must have been so far. They're doing a great job getting their name out there, that's for sure. An investment from Richard Branson and a co-founder of Photobucket, plus this article in Yahoo Small Business that is now trending the HN front page. I hope they're able to take this massive opportunity they've been given and turn it into a successful business.

natrius2• 14 years ago

From their security page:

We are very secure and make sure to cover many angles to insure your data can never be compromised. Many often ask what exactly we do to make the data so secure. Unfortunately, one of the things that makes the site so secure is that we do not disclose the exact encryption practices.

I just threw up in my mouth a little.

It's also a bit weird that it's apparently two unrelated products in one. Pinterest and LastPass: two great tastes that taste great together?

notJim• 14 years ago

Translation: We know nothing about security, but we still want you to use our site. Look at this padlock. Security.

justauser2• 14 years ago

This is quite an eye-opener too...

"How secure is MySocialCloud.com? From day one, it has been our goal to provide the best security on the web. While we don't expose how we keep MySocialCloud secure (if we told you, it would be unsecured!), we do ensure that not even our employees are able to see any of your sensitive data."

One of their videos shows a bookmarket so I'm going to presume they're using that for somekind of encryption clientside with AES???

tylermenezes• 14 years ago

"if we told you, it would be unsecured!" doesn't sound like AES... It sounds like they're using _entirely_ security through obscurity.

borplk3• 14 years ago

Psst...they are using ROT13 (but don't tell anybody).

beambot• 14 years ago

Wow, that's either cool or the worst word choice ever.

"insure": Provide insurance coverage. Arrange for compensation in the event of damage to or loss of (property), or injury to or the death of (someone), in exchange for...: "the car is insured for loss or damage"

"ensure": Make certain that (something) shall occur or be the case.

collision• 14 years ago

"Insure" can also take the latter meaning; I think it's an American/British thing. The New Yorker uses "insure" for both meanings, and it trips me up every time.

Destroyer661• 14 years ago

The small link "About SSL Certificates" points to Symantecs sale page for certs. Definitely know what SSL certificates are after reading that... /s

johndbritton• 14 years ago

They're just getting started, give them a break. Maybe shoot them an email and set up a Skype call to give them some advice.

samstave3• 14 years ago

THIS is exactly what people on HN should be doing. Embrace and extend. Call these people up - say "Hey! I saw this and I was a little concerned. I am an [expertise goes here] who has done [experience ges here] - I'd like to either give you some advice or connect you with people who are masters of solving this problem.

Mentor them and who knows, you may get to meet Sir. Richard someday and gain his interest in your own projects! (but dont make this the goal of reaching out to them)

confluence2• 14 years ago

True on the advice. False on the break.

You don't just "start" on passwords/usernames - seriously it's not a game (but I suppose consumers ask for it if they trust a bunch of kids).

Look at all the password leaks over the last couple of years and you'll realise it's not a damn game - you really need to know what you're doing. Especially if that's your core value proposition.

Security is not a "move fast and break things" start-up.

It's a "don't screw up or you'll get sued into the ground" start-up.

robryan• 14 years ago

According to the terms page because it is a beta product they state that it is not fully secure.

pliny• 14 years ago

He stores your information on a spreadsheet, but the spreadsheet is in the cloud, so it can't crash.

daemon13• 14 years ago

Of course you mean paper spreadsheet? Because it is secure and can't crash.

elmuchoprez• 14 years ago

Regardless of whether this is a good idea or not, to say they "turned a tweet into $1 million" is a bit of a reach.

They saw a tweet advertising an event which Branson would be at, borrowed several thousands of dollars from their parents to attend the event, and used that opportunity to get an email address that was capable of reaching Richard Branson, which they used over a period of time to develop some sort of relationship with him and another (Murdoch), and through a series of pitches both in person and remote, they secured initial funding.

mkramlich4• 14 years ago

... in a time when investors are desperately seeking anything to throw their money at that will get good returns. And it's hard to find software engineers. And, especially to less sophisticated investors, they just know "social" and "cloud" are the hot hot thing so they want to park some bets in something with those words involved. Thus... MySocialCloud.com

gilrain• 14 years ago

...and so we told Richard, "Hey, just sign up for LastPass!" He was so grateful, he gave us a million dollars.

jbranchaud• 14 years ago

Here's a better venture idea based on the experience, "Scott... got the idea when his computer crashed and he lost a spreadsheet containing all his usernames and passwords."

How about designing computers that crash when users try to store usernames and passwords on them. Users will eventually learn to stop doing that.

natrius2• 14 years ago

There's nothing wrong with storing usernames and passwords. There is something wrong with storing them in a spreadsheet.

tkahn6• 14 years ago

The more I see things like this, the more I believe I have no idea how the world works.

codgercoder• 14 years ago

It just reinforces my feeling that it's easier for simple, bad ideas to get funding than complicated, good ones. Modulo the reporting, of course.

waterlesscloud• 14 years ago

Your last sentence is probably the most insightful on the thread. We really have no idea what actually happened.

confluence2• 14 years ago

Indeed - I go forward on this assumption. The world is not consistent, logical or sane. It just exists. Move forward and exploit what you can to survive.

By world I mean human society. Physics/Maths is logical, but the people that inhabit it do not have such restrictive constraints.

Everybody lies. Incentives rule.

jakeonthemove• 14 years ago

I just checked out the service and I don't understand what's with the hate?

It's a Pinterest/Delicious/LastPass mashup, and while I would not trust them with my passwords (they really should rephrase that explanation, or give a real overview of their security measures), there are plenty of people who will (my parents still store their passwords in simple text files :-)).

If they add RSS-reader functionality, I can actually see myself using the site as a home page!

I believe it's got potential - they'll have to work hard on the marketing and keeping even or ahead of the competition, though...

SagelyGuru• 14 years ago

What a ridiculous country. It is OK to lend them $1M but illegal to offer them a cocktail?

waldemarb• 14 years ago

This startup app stores your encrypted passwords on DropBox: http://passboxapp.com/

calydon• 14 years ago

This reads like there is something missing from the story. They already had an office and a 9 person team, but they needed to borrow $4k from their parents to meet Branson?

mkramlich4• 14 years ago

Wow. This has both bubble and disaster written all over it. May things go much better than that for them, though, of course. But it reads more like a parody or a list of warning signs than an article about a real new business.

yaix• 14 years ago

> he got the idea when his computer crashed and he lost a spreadsheet containing all his usernames and passwords.

Sounds like a good idea to entrust him with all your passwords then.

Young entrepreneurs turn a Tweet from Richard Branson into $1 Million

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