ckjohnston

i had an attny buddy that wanted to use an exercise ball instead of an office chair. ultimately he got made fun of by so many people that he ended up not doing it. i can see startup people using it, but very few will do so in a more professional office setting.

however, i do like the idea of alternative desk arrangements though. i've seen several people with a desk that can be lifted up so that you can stand and work when you want. then there's the treadmill desks which are pretty cool.

i've always thought this would be an interesting idea. it's neat to see someone doing it. if u think about it, the YC program operates under a similar concept (people are more impt than the idea).

Just downloaded it for myself. I figure I've read more than $3 worth of your HN posts in the past to justify buying the app regardless.

Andrew, I don't hike, but a buddy of mine is always hiking. I forwarded him the link. Very cool looking screenshot on the homepage. I almost want to buy the app just to see it work as I walk down the street for coffee. Good luck with the app.

I think the dingitsup.com design is great. I won't use the service, but I appreciate how simple the design is (and I really like the white and grey color scheme). Designs like this make it very easy to understand what's being offered. Although I guess it helps though when the service itself is simple.

I think the idea has promise. I could definitely see larger companies using it to communicate within departments on a real-time collaborative basis (versus in-person meetings or blasting a one-way email to a group and then having to resend any valuable feedback).

And while I'm no design expert, I agree with everyone else about the design. If your target customer is companies & it's going to be a service that they'll ultimately have to pay for, then the design should look professional. The current design doesn't seem like it represents an "Enterprise" offering. And I personally don't like the black background and the logo font/color/image.

Good luck!

This is dead on. But it looks like, to some degree, Twitter Search is solving this problem. Twitter is able to do this because, luckily, Twitter has a base of users that are willing to supply the instantaneous news.

As a real-life example, a couple of weeks ago there was a minor earthquake. It was my first time experiencing one so I searched on Google to see what the deal was. I couldn't find anything. Then I turned to Twitter and saw tons of posts coming in about the earthquake.

vaksel is right. I've seen recommendations on here before about different sites to find tech co-founders and seen the "go to tech meetups" advice. But the real problem is that the programmer you want probably already has his own pet projects. If you want a tech cofounder, you should pay him to develop a prototype.

As a business co-founder you're probably not doing much in the early stages. You come with an idea, which is essentially worthless without the tech guy. So it's only fair that you pay him for the prototype. At that point, both of you will be more comfortable teaming up.

Also, I would make sure you have the tech guy assign any and all IP ahead of time. You'll need this assignment if you want to raise money in the future.

Most investors are going to demand standard terms. Any time you go with non-market terms, you better have a very compelling product. And in a down economy that's even more important.

To some degree negotiating a term sheet is like poker. There's some provisions/terms you feel really strongly about, but there are other terms you're secretly willing to sacrifice (as a negotiating tool). And the cardinal rule to bluffing is not telling the other side your true intentions. If I'm the investor, since Mr. Ressi has already stated he'll waive the provisions if necessary, why wouldn't I just demand the provisions be waived?

Aneesh, it sounds to me like you've been part of the 1% club for a long time. I applaud you for that. Without people like you, HN wouldn't be my homepage.

But the point is that the vast majority of HN users are likely not contributors. Instead, they're passive visitors to the site. With respect to that group, unless you don't want those users contributing, there's definitely a free rider problem.

Although I certainly don't think the barrier is unique to HN (although downvoting adds some pressure to come with something decent). I was just wondering what creative strategies people have used to get people to leave their first post or comment. Because I think once you get that first comment, you get the user hooked (b/c then they experience the added value of the discussion you mention).

I think that's a great idea. And 33% is a hell of a lot more than 1%. I think basically you found a clever way to convince a lof the people that Feld would say are "on the fence" to become active users by breaking down the biggest barrier, the first post.

Unfortunately, I went to business school and remember the Pareto principle (80% of something comes from 20% of the population). The Feld post on 80-19-1 was a great read though b/c it talked about it in the context of user-generated content sites.

Basically the post says, at sites like Judy’s Book or Digg, 80% of users will always be passive, 19% of users sit on the fence, and only 1% of users are active and contribute.

I’m wondering what strategies these sites have come up with to tip that 19% over the fence to actively contribute, if there are any.