timjahn

It doesn't matter.

Focus on validating the problem first. Get people to pay you to solve that problem and once you have people begging you for the solution, then figure out something to build.

I've seen (and experienced myself) this mistake too many times. The tech stack does not matter AT ALL.

All that matters is that you're solving a problem for the people that will pay you. Don't spend 3 months perfecting the ideal tech stack and then realizing you have nothing to use it for.

Living in Chicago, the Chicago Loop - Naperville comparison hit me....wow! That's quite an accomplishment.

Exactly. By joining YC, the goal is automatically getting acquired. So the parent is solving the problem temporarily, until they become the problem.

Same. They don't even really know what commercials are.

Start by asking yourself: what do you need?

There are now dozens of co-working spaces in Chicago, with all sorts of amenities, specialties, sizes, etc.

1871 is the flagship, created by and supported by the city/government and rich tech leaders. But it is far from the only community in town available to you.

Think about what you need first and go from there.

You and me both. We must be doing something wrong. :)

I'd venture to guess you're single, a renter, and have no children or relevant financial obligations?

This is exactly why I created Donald (http://getDonald.com). So many clients just default to email and don't use whatever project management system you ask them to. Sometimes even your own team defaults to email above all else.

I agree with you that email is a utility at this point that isn't going anywhere anytime soon. I think it's a matter of successfully integrating and organizing email alongside other apps/systems, and I do think that's possible.

I'm aware of what a SaaS is. :)

Great analogy though!

I know what a SaaS is. :) I'm asking what he built.

What's the SaaS?

You could say the same about television. I don't buy it. I don't see us all watching cartoons only in the future.

Man it feels good to hear somebody else say this. I feel like I'm shooting myself in the foot sometimes business-wise by not participating regularly in Product Hunt but I find that it's just not inviting. I don't feel a part of the club. I browse, find cool products, click through, and that's about it.

But I rarely comment as it just feels forced, like I'm standing next to a circle of people having a conversation at a networking event and I'm a few inches outside the circle, and it's clear I'm not a part of that circle.

"Yes, it still an echo chamber which I believe actually hurts the startup community because it incentives them to work on products which have zero value outside the echo chamber."

This. I hate this. I love the idea behind Product Hunt and I was on there early on. I've discovered some great products from there but I find it increasingly becoming centered around Product Hunt itself and startups in general.

I suppose that's only natural as the community posts for the community, but I feel like there's so much more potential with a site like this.

I'm not in the valley. I'm in Chicago. And Product Hunt increasingly feels like some huddle of startup guys in the valley smiling at each other over the latest do-hickey they made.

Ah, we didn't need dedicated IPs so not familiar with those costs.

Use Sendgrid for my previous company (http://matchist.com) and using Mandrill for my new one (http://getdonald.com).

We used Sendgrid because in additional to transactional email, we needed parsing and events. Sendgrid was just the biggest name at the time so I chose it.

All the Sendgrid competitors offer the same functionality for lower prices now, so there's little reason to choose Sendgrid today, in my opinion.

Launch it. Launch launch launch.

Let customers tell you what features they need.

Nice! Was thinking about building a Gmail counterpart for Donald in the future, looks like this will simplify/speed up development for that.

Hah! I was thinking the same thing. Being based in the US, I was very confused by what the headline meant. Even in the article, they never explain what a "boot" is.

Appears to be the trunk?

Amen.

"disclosing up front that you have a competing product"

You're aware this blog post is posted on the blog of said competing product, right?

Not sure how much more disclosure is needed.

I'm confident you could alter the current design to allow for extremely easy emergency service access to whatever part of the building needed, without having a giant ass road right in front of the building's front door.

Seriously! It's crazy.

We live in such an auto centric society. I often think, why do we have the parking lot in shopping centers go all the way up to the front door (so you have to cross in the path of cars to enter the building)?

Why don't the aisles go directly up to a big sidewalk/walking area in front of the building and that's it? You could have turnarounds every few for picking people up and something dedicated for emergency vehicles, but it's crazy that you have to cross in front of cars to enter the building, when there's 0 reason for those cars to drive right in front of the building!

How are you paying off the mortgage in 1/5 of the time?

I think people sometimes underestimate the increased efficiency of simply switching from driving to public transit (if you're able to). Even if public transit takes slightly longer, you're winning.

40 minutes on public transit getting working done or 30 min driving, completely wasted time?

Same here. A combination of the urgency and complete disconnect from everything else (no internet, etc).

I find I get some of my most focused, solid work done on the L.

I never believed this until I experienced it myself with my 4 year old. LEGOs are damn expensive but the competition simply just doesn't work.

This needs to be standard across companies of all size and it needs to be a reasonable time, as it is at AeroFS. Kudos to them for doing something about it.

If I go into the office, 45-50 minutes door to door by walking/L or by biking.

If I work remotely, 0 minutes.

If you don't mind me asking, what sort of business do you have that requires little graphics made all the time? Genuinely curious.