cmcewen

13 ms·

1.
Start With Startups(startwithstartups.com)
1 points by cmcewen 13y ago|0 comments
2.
by cmcewen 13y ago
I think Exec and TaskRabbit share(d) a similar problem in that they are so broad that consumers aren't sure what to use the platform for. Renewed focus on a single service makes sense, but they face competition from Handybook and Homej
3.
by cmcewen 13y ago
I think the author hasn't researched the topic very well - there are a ton of startups who have tried this "stuff-sharing/selling model" and it hasn't really worked out. I wrote a blog post about why a drill is a ba
4.
Reconsider Being a 'User'(cmcewen.com)
2 points by cmcewen 13y ago|1 comments
5.
by cmcewen 14y ago
If you think of it in terms of the 1 or 2 pawn shops you might have access to, eBay's initial audience of 100 or 1000 as well as the usenet groups Omidyar would post to provides significant "single user" utility that most marketplaces can't
6.
Building a Peer to Peer Marketplace: Single User Utility(credport.org)
7 points by cmcewen 14y ago|2 comments
7.
Why a Drill is a Bad Example for the Sharing Economy(credport.org)
5 points by cmcewen 14y ago|2 comments
8.
by cmcewen 14y ago
Shameless plug - trying to help marketplaces with that problem with Credport ( https://www.credport.org/ ).
9.
by cmcewen 14y ago
Airbnb is pretty much the standard: https://www.airbnb.com/safety#features
10.
by cmcewen 14y ago
Trust is a big problem for any peer to peer situation. eBay, Airbnb, and Paypal all had to figure out ways to jumpstart trust in their communities - if Bitcoin can do the same, then the potential is huge.
11.
by cmcewen 14y ago
Sorry - I meant to clarify stickiness when asked to pay. Freemium conversion is like 1-5%, so I'd imagine somewhere closer to 1% with you guys. With 30ish people, let's say you burn $2 million a year. You'd need to get 30,000 people to each
12.
by cmcewen 14y ago
Do you expect those users to be sticky? The barrier to entry for making a to-do list is negligible, and having a long history of completed tasks is of very little value.
13.
by cmcewen 14y ago
There's also plenty of college left to work on after ideas. Maybe taking a break is a better term, but I don't understand why "dropping out" means you will never get a degree.
14.
by cmcewen 14y ago
To me, this just demonstrates the problems that arise when you say you're trying to tackle this huge gigantic problem. There's a ton of building hype, and then people are disappointed/scornful when you can't deliver. It reminds me a bit of
15.
by cmcewen 14y ago
It's awesome that App.net is trying to build something new, but I think the Hacker News market is somewhat saturated considering how many articles have been on the front page lately. If people haven't donated by now, I don't think a few scr
16.
by cmcewen 14y ago
This criticism does seem to be more harsh than is necessary, but I don't see what the problem is in seeking the advice from those with more experience teaching. Khan has created something amazing, but that doesn't mean he is infallible nor
17.
by cmcewen 14y ago
I can't speak from experience about getting acquired, but I definitely see how it could be an attention drain. I was more speaking to the stickiness of the product. Socialcam grew really quickly, but shrunk just as fast because people didn'
18.
by cmcewen 14y ago
Most people seem confused by Autodesk part of this headline. Am I the only one confused by the $60M? Look at the traffic decline: http://www.alexa.com/siteinfo/socialcam.com My understanding is that a bunch of people clicked on Socialcam
19.
by cmcewen 14y ago
I honestly think people focus too much on pain relief/solving problems vs. making people happy. Most ideas can be described in either paradigm, and there's really no reason to argue about it - just make something people want. Maybe they wan
20.
by cmcewen 14y ago
Sorry, should have been a bit more clear. Some of the spaghetti being thrown against the wall (companies taking crowdsourced money) will stick (be successful), but the people who threw it (people putting in crowdsourced money) won't necessa
21.
by cmcewen 14y ago
If you throw enough spaghetti against the wall, some of it will stick. That doesn't mean you get to eat the spaghetti, nor does it mean the spaghetti on the floor has no cost.
22.
by cmcewen 14y ago
I don't see a sticker telling me what kind of processor is in inside, nor do I see a sticker telling me which version of Windows this is. I'm a bit confused.
23.
by cmcewen 14y ago
Might as well have VCs looking at 5th graders instead of NBA scouts. http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2010-03-30/sports/ct-spt-...
24.
by cmcewen 14y ago
This can also be done by using LEDs and smartphone cameras, which actually gives a higher resolution. http://www.technologyreview.com/computing/39685/
25.
by cmcewen 14y ago
"Europe's policymakers have blundered in the control of a delicate machine, the workings of which they do not understand. They're not evil. But they're almost certainly wrong." How does this columnist then believe that he understands the ec
26.
Joseph Kony and the Moral Ambiguity of the Modern World(good.is)
1 points by cmcewen 15y ago|0 comments
27.
by cmcewen 15y ago
Claiming that Klout is "meaningless" is a misleading way to convey his point. The author really means to say that measuring influence in more than one area would be better in some situations than a single score. However, given that a large
28.
by cmcewen 15y ago
I'm not sure if this would work the same way, but I know that some high voltage LEDs are actually just strings of multiple LEDs in series [1]. Though it clearly wouldn't reach the inflated efficiency in this article, this could lead to a ch
29.
by cmcewen 15y ago
So you're saying it's taskrabbit, but for college students? I'm curious as to why you picked this demographic to target. From my own personal experience, college students seem to have less money but more time than your average person. They
30.
by cmcewen 15y ago
It seems like most people agree that "something should be done", but the question remains what can be done? Should there be a day where everyone calls and complains to Congress about copyright issues? Start an Internet Industry Association

More ›