TechCrunch’s Picks: The 10 Best Startups From Y Combinator Demo Day(techcrunch.com)
techcrunch.com
TechCrunch’s Picks: The 10 Best Startups From Y Combinator Demo Day
http://techcrunch.com/2012/03/27/best-of-y-combinator-demo-day/
11 comments
Strange, a UI wrapper on top of Craigslist isn't very innovative or sustainable once Craislist sends the inevitable cease and desist letter. Maybe I'm missing something.
I like Carsabi, but for some reason their name is really forgetful. I don't know why...but I was looking for a car like 2 months after I saw their post...and for the life of me I couldn't remember what they were called
If they take the 'i' out, it would be easier to remember.
Carsab is dangerously close to CarSaab, which probably infringes on some sort of trademark.
They already started integrating other sources. Just today I got couple of listings from lemonfree.
Interesting, has carsabi partnered with Craigslist? I always thought Craigslist didn't like scrapers and did their best to discourage and prevent them.
Has that changed?
Has that changed?
Yep - Craigslist does not allow scraping and blocks IPs sucking up content. Even AirBnB created their initial listings by scraping Craigslist though. Guess you can do it until they notice - and hopefully by then you have enough traffic of your own.
Really no flutter on this list? These are all great companies but I think flutter deserves a spot as a company with potential to really change how we interact with our devices. It seems like one of the few that is inventing a new space rather than improving on one that already exists (not that there's anything wrong with that).
Agreed. The other one that seemed to fall into/near this category was MatterPort http://matterport.com/
They seem to be utilizing a Kinect for capturing texture-mapped point clouds of indoor environments and objects. If it really does this, with true-to-size dimension measurements, this will be an incredible tool for "surveying" physical objects and spaces.
They seem to be utilizing a Kinect for capturing texture-mapped point clouds of indoor environments and objects. If it really does this, with true-to-size dimension measurements, this will be an incredible tool for "surveying" physical objects and spaces.
Definitely- I was just thinking about whether and how this would be possible the other day- it's like gps on a micro scale.
For those of you who've read joshua foer's 'moonwalking with einstein' about memory competition and memory palaces, I thought this could be a great platform to create an app that builds and maps memory palaces out of your own physical spaces (like your house, friend's houses, office, etc) and uses the maps it creates to train your memory (so you too can memorize the order of two decks of cards in five minutes).
For those of you who've read joshua foer's 'moonwalking with einstein' about memory competition and memory palaces, I thought this could be a great platform to create an app that builds and maps memory palaces out of your own physical spaces (like your house, friend's houses, office, etc) and uses the maps it creates to train your memory (so you too can memorize the order of two decks of cards in five minutes).
Flutter has a lot of potential beyond music, especially if they are looking beyond desktop computers.
I could imagine Android-like "face unlock" for laptops or screensavers that kick in when you're facing away or leave the room. :)
I could imagine Android-like "face unlock" for laptops or screensavers that kick in when you're facing away or leave the room. :)
I actually kind of of don't like techcrunch's coverage of this event. Give us one page with extended coverage or run the risk of being labeled YC's PR department.
Don't get me wrong, I devoured all of it. But part of me likes the idea of the closed door pitch day without the superbowl style coverage. Is YC demo day going to turn into a media circus ala Mac Conventions and the like?
Let the effects of these companies on the market speak for themselves. If they're effective, they'll be written about. Keep coverage like this away from Demo Day, lest this become a "startup Hunger Games."
Don't get me wrong, I devoured all of it. But part of me likes the idea of the closed door pitch day without the superbowl style coverage. Is YC demo day going to turn into a media circus ala Mac Conventions and the like?
Let the effects of these companies on the market speak for themselves. If they're effective, they'll be written about. Keep coverage like this away from Demo Day, lest this become a "startup Hunger Games."
I've been doing Carsabi-style regression analysis to buy cars for years. A little sad that now everyone has access to it, I won't be able to snap up the best deals for myself.
Exec is hands-down my favorite.
Pair is interesting, especially for long distance relationships and the like. I predict:
1) By the end of summer their servers will be hacked and a new celebrity startlet's nudie pics will hit the tabloids.
2) Drama and heartache ensue when people find out they can't pair with their wife AND their mistress. This will create a niche market for a Pair client with multiple partners.
1) By the end of summer their servers will be hacked and a new celebrity startlet's nudie pics will hit the tabloids.
2) Drama and heartache ensue when people find out they can't pair with their wife AND their mistress. This will create a niche market for a Pair client with multiple partners.
The Sonalight demo was impressive, but the app really deserves a better voice. There is no reason the canned messages can't be prerecorded by a human voice actor.
Carsabi is great. I really wish they would have been around a couple of years ago when I was looking for a nice used car. I can't recommend them highly enough.
YCombinator turns its sight towards offline with funding of iCracked, I guess.
Congrats, carsabi! I know I've spent too much time screwing with craigslist' crappy search. I just wanted to search across every craigslist in the US for a certain (rare) car. I had to setup like 200 RSS feeds to accomplish it.
Searchtempest has done this for years.
I also like how the initial listings are populated by Craigslist, but on each panel is laid out cleverly to display the "source: craigslist" as a changeable element. This allows them to piggyback on the volume of listings on craigslist, while subtly suggesting that future listings may come from any source (perhaps maybe an in-house ecommerce system?)