These are the same people who think all digital content should be free - music, movies, games, apps, etc. No matter how technically advanced our society becomes, one axiom will always remain true - there ain't no such thing as a free lunch.
The minute someone says "that's impossible, there is absolutely no way that will happen", someone else begins to devise a way to make the "impossible" scenario/product/achievement possible. Incedentally, the typical HN reader falls into the latter category - so carry on space pirates!
How about introducing viral replication qualities to the content. Instead of malicious intent, snippets of content can be deployed all over the web with some mechanism for a simple retrieve/compile. Ideally, the content packets would not even be stored anywhere but would just constantly travel the "wires".
We had a strange bug that only surfaced on the last day of every month. One of our directors asked what we were doing to troubleshoot this bug. I responded that we were a bit more focused on troubleshooting bugs which occurred every day.
That's really the heart of the issue - no matter how good your social product is, people are only going to make the switch from facebook if a significant number of their "social network" switch as well. I wonder if the next big social site needs to incentivize entire groups to switch rather than just individuals, e.g. promotions that only go into effect after x number of your friends sign up.
Great story! Sure, creating the next world changing product and making millions would be awesome, but when it comes down to it, what I really want is to work on interesting challenges, make my own decisions, and support my family.
If you get the chance, you should swing down to Palo Alto and check out Stanford University. It's the birthplace of silicon valley, the campus is beautiful, and if you're lucky you'll catch some co-eds frolicking in the fountains :)
Best of luck, the bay area is awesome and you can't beat the weather, cultural diversity, and proximity to great geography (beaches, mountains, Monterey/Carmel, Mendocino, etc). Make sure you guys spend at least a couple of days exploring if you do make it out here this summer!
One question I do have, what advantage do you feel Y Combinator gives you over going straight to round A funding? It looks like your product is fairly mature with existing traction and customers. Perhaps connections in the valley?
Although you may be right, if the hackanery gets too bad the gov may have no choice but to step in. I wonder how long it will be before a special ops team from the newly formed Ministry of Information is banging down these kids' doors.
There is a big difference between a manager and a leader. A manager takes the credit for things that go well and looks for people to blame when they don't. A leader understands that they are only successful if their team succeeds. A manager worries about how the team might screw things up. A leader thinks about how the team can exceed their goals. A manager tries to consolidate their power and protect their turf at all costs. A leader knows that the team follows them out of a sense of mutual respect and understands that if they can no longer effectively lead the team than it may be time to step aside. Leaders are not just found at the top of an organization.
The problem with this approach is that engineers are going to build things that other engineers like. Add up all the engineers in the world and it's not that much compared with the rest of the global population. A good comment on the original post stated that what Google really needs is to diversify it's workforce. This is the reason Google fails at social.
I love etsy but this article brings up many good points. I wonder if etsy needs to look at related but new businesses in order to truly scale. Perhaps they need to look more at the physical side of their business, e.g. running custom manufacturing for their clients, supply chain mgmt for their more successful clients who have outgrown the etsy marketplace, etc.
It's interesting to see Skynet posting on HN! How about a government where all citizens get to vote on all bills in real time by texting/tweeting/facebook "liking" yay or nay?
I have many friends and family members who are in k-12 education (mostly teachers but some administrators and executives). Their edu experience ranges from 10-40 years in different socio-economic districts. Every one of them says the single largest factor in determining the success of a student is parental involvement. It doesn't matter if you give a kid the latest smart phone/iPad/laptop if that kid gets home and is never asked about what they're learning in school, how their homework is coming along, when parent/teacher conferences are scheduled, etc. I think it's high time we find a way to motivate parents across the board to take a more proactive role with their children's education (perhaps using some of the state education money per child as a monetary incentive for parents who meet certain "involvement" milestones).