MakeSpace, cloud storage for your physical stuff, raises $8M in Series A

http://www.fastcompany.com/3029721/makespace-cloud-storage-for-your-physical-stuff-raises-8-million-in-series-a-funding

by danso • 12 years ago

27 18 12 years ago

brackin• 12 years ago

How is it cloud storage or a "reverse Amazon"? This seems like a worse deal. You pay $300 a year minimum and $29 a delivery for storing small, low value items. Large items cost more (bike is an extra $300/y, ski's are an extra $150).

Their fine print makes the deal look worse.

- They only cover $250 of liability per box and they won't store undeclared expensive items.

- If you don't pay for the service after 30 days they WILL sell all of your stuff. If you do pay to get your stuff back within that 30 day window, they'll be a fee attached.

- However much you pay in the first month will continue for the first 3 months. I.e. If you need to store ski's in your first month (At $25) and return them in that month, you'll pay for the ski's for the following two months.

I live in a city and I could see people maybe using this for unused laptops, etc which I keep in a drawer but the low liability hinders this.

hardwaresofton• 12 years ago

So I think you might be excluding people that are already paying double that per-year (never mind the cost of parking/etc if they actually own a car). Also, this business seems like it might actually work out well in a place like new york, where you don't own a car, but have too much stuff (and enough money to actually keep that stuff)

One of the key reasons people keep cars is because they are very helpful in the case of moving. If you had all your non-essential stuff in a service like this, moving would all of a sudden become significantly easier

callmeed3• 12 years ago

- If you don't pay for the service after 30 days they WILL sell all of your stuff.

This is normal among traditional storage unit businesses.

Dylan16807• 12 years ago

30 days is normal?

ars• 12 years ago

They should probably pre-charge the return fee. That way if you don't pay they just return your stuff and that's it. After all every customer will eventually have to pay it, you might as well collect it upfront.

This service only makes sense in places like NY that are really really short on space. It also makes more sense with seasonal items, 3 or so times a year you rotate your stuff.

It doesn't make as much sense for the random junk people have.

sbierwagen• 12 years ago

http://craphound.com/makers/Cory_Doctorow_-_Makers.html (2012)

  Now the place was spotless—and what’s more, it was 
  minimalist. The floor was not only clean, it was visible. 
  Lining the walls were translucent white plastic tubs 
  stacked to the ceiling.

  “You like it?”

  “It’s amazing,” she said. “Like Ikea meets 
  Barbarella. What happened here?”

  Tjan did a little two-step. “It was Lester’s idea. Have 
  a look in the boxes.”

  She pulled a couple of the tubs out. They were jam-packed 
  with books, tools, cruft and crud—all the crap that had 
  previously cluttered the shelves and the floor and the sofa 
  and the coffee table.

  “Watch this,” he said. He unvelcroed a wireless 
  keyboard from the side of the TV and began to type: T-H-E 
  C-O. . . The field autocompleted itself: THE COUNT OF MONTE 
  CRISTO, and brought up a picture of a beaten-up paperback 
  along with links to web-stores, reviews, and the full text. 
  Tjan gestured with his chin and she saw that the front of 
  one of the tubs was pulsing with a soft blue glow. Tjan 
  went and pulled open the tub and fished for a second before 
  producing the book.

  “Try it,” he said, handing her the keyboard. She began 
  to type experimentally: U-N and up came UNDERWEAR (14). 
  “No way,” she said.

  “Way,” Tjan said, and hit return, bringing up a 
  thumbnail gallery of fourteen pairs of underwear. He tabbed 
  over each, picked out a pair of Simpsons boxers, and hit 
  return. A different tub started glowing.

  [...]

  “Have you ever alphabetized your hard drive? I mean, have 
  you ever spent any time concerning yourself with where on 
  your hard drive your files are stored, which sectors 
  contain which files? Computers abstract away the tedious, 
  physical properties of files and leave us with handles that 
  we use to persistently refer to them, regardless of which 
  part of the hard drive currently holds those particular 
  bits. So I thought, with RFIDs, you could do this with the 
  real world, just tag everything and have your furniture 
  keep track of where it is.

callmeed3• 12 years ago

focused on disrupting what Rosen considers to be an archaic $24 billion storage industry

Lol. Overpriced storage isn't disruptive just because you offer delivery, take some photos and use buzzwords.

I pay $60/mo for an actual 5x10x10 storage unit. Of course there's no app.

andyakb• 12 years ago

OK, and where are you located? how long does it take you to get there and back? what would the cost be if you didnt own a car?

callmeed3• 12 years ago

I am located in a town called "Not New York or San Francisco" (it's a really big place, check the map).

It takes me 10 minutes to get to my storage unit and back.

If I didn't own a car (like the other 5% of Americans who don't) I would borrow my father-in-law or neighbor's truck. And the cost would be the same.

pinaceae• 12 years ago

literally just a fucking box.

biot• 12 years ago

Previous article on MakeSpace's initial fundraising: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6453732

jscheel2• 12 years ago

I'm going to refrain from commenting, as I live in a place where people have more than enough room for all their crap, and driving across town just means hopping in the car in my driveway, not plunking down $30 for a cab. Different worlds... different worlds...

Jonovono2• 12 years ago

AM I crazy or do I see this comment?

jscheel2• 12 years ago

Confirmed, you are totally crazy.

anilali• 12 years ago

what is so unique about these guys...https://angel.co/self-storage ...boxbee/closetly/etc are doing the same thing

cottonseed• 12 years ago

I have a friend who's working on something similar: https://www.cubiq.me/.

dlevine• 12 years ago

An entrepreneur worked hard, did a good job at building a product that users like, and raised a bunch of money. So, rather than hating on him, let's congratulate Sam for what he's accomplished so far and wish him luck with his ambitious goals. Way to go, Sam!!!

MakeSpace, cloud storage for your physical stuff, raises $8M in Series A

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