So You Want to Buy: Startup Office Snacks

http://refer.ly/so_you_want_to_buy__startup_office_snacks/c/984171a826c511e2a4ec22000a1d0d51

by dmor • 14 years ago

19 22 14 years ago

I am using Referly (my YC startup) test this idea, but hopefully it will help some of you as well. One my most frustrating yet fun statup jobs has been trying to order food for everyone (this becomes quite challenging as a company gets to be 40 or 50 people). I tried to compile office snack ideas into a single shopping list along with commentary and advice. Is this useful? How could we make it better?

greattypo• 14 years ago

Would love to see a healthy version next.. :)

Also anyone who buys Diet Coke on Amazon is crazy.

dmor5• 14 years ago

I will work on the healthy version, but have found it is surprisingly hard to come up with at a reasonable price, it has always been a challenge in companies I've worked at. I usually buy Diet Coke at Costco, where do you get yours?

mvkel3• 14 years ago

I've made a similar list directly on Amazon. It's awesome, as I can just click "re-order" when we're running low for the items I don't have a subscription to.

What sucks is Amazon carries nothing but garbage food (like the items you listed); no healthy snacks that don't make a keyboard greasy, or orange.

What I've consistently bought: peanut butter crackers, trail mix snacks, water.

I wish Amazon carried more _naturally_ sugar-free snack food!

dmor5• 14 years ago

I agree, I was really struggling to find healthy stuff on their (at least the almonds and beef jerky are a bit better but still, not by much). I have been considering setting up subscription, but not sure how long stuff is going to last. What do you subscribe to?

mvkel3• 14 years ago

Strictly non-perishables that we can never have too much of. In short, trail mix and water :)

There aren't many subscription options on Amazon, either.

Something that will mature over the next few years, I'm sure.

dgabriel• 14 years ago

In the Boston area, Boston Organics will deliver a tasty assortment of organic fruits weekly. We get this at my office, and it goes fast. http://www.bostonorganics.com/

I'm sure there are equivalents in other cities.

mindslight4• 14 years ago

Ah, so straight-up referral spam becomes acceptable when done by somebody who should know better? Cool!

Next up: Top 5 sites for buying V1agra and C1a1is for ma5sive gr0wth hack1ng at l0w 1ow pr1ces.

dmor5• 14 years ago

This is really interesting to me, because it could be helpful and useful (I mean, I just bought $900 worth of stuff for my startup so it's not just a random collection of crap) but it comes of as spam. Can you help me understand what it is that sets off the "spam bit"?

Also, what does "should know better" mean? If I wrote this as a blog post on Svbtle and it was a story with a bunch of referral links instead would it be different? Is the credibility of it damaged by the fact I could make money if you buy the things I suggested? Or something else...

And lastly, is this unique to the HN community and its acceptable methods of communication, or a broader turnoff you would notice even if you hadn't found this link here?

mindslight4• 14 years ago

So is this the part where you engage with criticism, as the worst that will happen is fanning the flames of controversy which just drives more attention? But I'm not saying that your comment isn't in earnest either - you're wishing to figure out how to categorically make spam look like not spam, as your startup is based on making it easy for people to spam their friends and associates, and so is highly vulnerable to the social repercussions of bad first impressions.

A simple and easy first step to making your site seem less spammy would be to register a whole bunch of different domains composed of relevant keywords. These can be used to mitigate being banned from link aggregator sites and to delay users noticing the pattern. Markov chain generated text surrounding the links would do wonders on the less savvy users, too. I'm sure there are plenty more of such tips if you hang out in the right forums.

What you fail to realize is that credibility has been destroyed by each and every detail of the situation. The earnest blog that has the occasional spammy referral post can be mostly forgiven (although the users that upvote it shouldn't be), as it's clear that the writer has a life purpose besides referral links. I see no such redeeming qualities here.

"Should know better" refers to the fact that you present yourself as part of the tech community, while simultaneously disrespecting the general consensus on spam. Although maybe it's just that the shark that was jumped has died of old age.

Oh, I just remembered it's Sunday - I've got to go do a bit of sanitation hacking.

kdeer12• 14 years ago

Gross, this list is a 1-way ticket to the Cancer Ward!

incomethax• 14 years ago

Maybe it's just a result of us being in the Midwest, but most of the snacks displayed here aren't all that cheap to me. I can get things cheaper if I go to Woodman's (local grocery store) or Costco.

rdl3• 14 years ago

I'm puzzled why people buy popcorn in bags (with nasty fake butter, etc. -- there's actually a disease, Popcorn Workers Lung http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bronchiolitis_obliterans).

You can just use regular paper bags, put some popcorn in, and pop it. It works fine. There isn't a microwave susceptor or anything like that in the bag. (some tv dinners actually do include materials designed to heat up from microwaves to directly cook the food, particularly foods with low water content which would otherwise not get cooked well in the microwave.)

rdl3• 14 years ago

Also, Jack Link's brand beef jerky is disgusting. Really. almost any of the commercial stuff is disgusting.

If you don't make your own, my favorite is http://www.bigjohnsbeefjerky.com/

It's actually made from tolerably good meat, not overly processed, and is cut into nice thin slices which are easy to eat.

natasham25• 14 years ago

The food on there is pretty disgusting. Not sure why startup culture goes together with junk food. It's like buying poison for your team.

kdeer12• 14 years ago

i don't have a problem with the referral links, but all this so - called food is the worst stuff for your health. If you want to poison your employees then go ahead feed this to them. You should learn a little bit about living healthy.

So You Want to Buy: Startup Office Snacks

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