The interview is a bit long (around 45 minutes) with some fluff (what are your favorite gadgets?) but Reznor clearly recognizes in what direction the music industry and online content are going, which I found very interesting. Here's a quick summary of some of the more interesting bits:
- Reznor explains that since music is essentially free due to downloads, he doesn't feel it's necessary to require payment.
- When they offered the option to pay, only 18% of people did so. But, offering limited edition physical products worked out well.
- His feeling is that it's more beneficial for a greater number people to hear his music, even if it's for free, because the result is more ticket sales / merchandise purchases.
- They're looking to build a platform for artists to distribute their music which will give power to the artists. They're still playing with potential business models that are fair for the artist and fan.
- NIN is developing an iPhone app to connect fans by location, and will hopefully create a "live blog" of concerts for those who can't physically be there.
- He has had some interest in live-streaming concerts, and is pushing for venues to have an open-camera policy so that fans all over the world can enjoy the experience, even if they can't physically be there.
I'm not a NIN fan personally, but it's nice to see a prominent figure in the music industry with their head on straight.
For me, the most important trait I look for in a co-founder is trust. If that element is absent, I think building a long-term partnership would be too difficult, no matter how wonderful they may be in other areas. They also need to be reliable, as you need someone who's going to stick it out through the highs and lows. Apart from that, I look for an overall high level of intelligence and someone who compliments my skill set (e.g. someone with a killer sense of design).
As far as telling other people goes, I find that HN comes up most often when I tell my friends about the interesting stories I find here. The reaction from non-technical people is usually something to the effect of: "Where the hell do you find this stuff??" The reaction from technical people is usually something like: "Yeah, I already read that on HN." With regards to the first group, it seems that they always find the stories interesting, but never show any signs that they'll make HN one of their news sources, and I'm fine with that.
For me, things such as the meteor video or an article about the Broken Windows Theory are fine, and I don't foresee any "Karl Rove eats deep fried baby flesh" articles soon, but I'd like to keep it that way. The community at HN is the root of the reason I keep coming back.
My first piece of advice would be this: don't bank on YC funding. Sure, it would be great if you got accepted, but that shouldn't stop you from pursuing your idea. Especially if it is still just an idea - work on it at home, in your spare time, and then evaluate your options once you have done everything you possibly can do on your own.
If you decide that you need outside funding, and even Mountain View is too far, then your options for YC (or a similar program) become more limited. The next YC round will be in Cambridge, but there is TechStars in Boulder, Colorado which is obviously much closer, but may still be too far. The only other programs I have heard of are in the Philly / DC areas.
Like you said though, there are more traditional routes. A Google search for 'arizona angel network' brings up over 2m hits. My point is that, I'm sure there are options, you just need to look for them, and then evaluate.
I found this really interesting, because we covered this exact topic in a psychology course that I took while in university, and I think that it is often mis-quoted / mis-used. The conclusion that was drawn from scientific research was that the vast majority of experts all shared a common trait - they all had at least 10,000 hours of deliberate practice (not that anyone who practiced for 10,000 hours would definitely be an expert). Deliberate practice was defined as practice which: has a goal / task that relates to improved performance, there are explicit instructions as the the best methods of improvement, there is immediate feedback on the performance, and the person repeatedly performs these actions. Obviously his isn't leisurely practice like playing catch in your backyard if you're a baseball player. The experts also didn't practice for 1 hour per day for 30 years like someone in the comments mentioned; the average was about 4 hours per day if I remember correctly. The research had also noted (much like the Matt Maroon article) that this does not mean, for example, that ANYBODY can play in the NBA. What they are really pointing out is that those who are in the NBA probably had at least 10,000 hours of deliberate practice. They also noted that some fields of expertise (such as the NBA) have built-in physical constraints (ex: height) which must be considered. Their study actual dealt with the field of music (violin playing, specifically) which has fewer constraints than something like basketball, and the results were significant.
6 months ago when I put 90% of my savings into CDs, people around me told me I was playing it too safe...let me tell you, right now I am one happy person.
Aza Raskin is developing some really cool technology over at Mozilla, dealing with things such as user interface and intuitive design. I expect that some of what he is producing now will be standard within the next couple of years, for example Geode, which was discussed yesterday (http://labs.mozilla.com/2008/10/introducing-geode/).
I'm not confusing anything, just restating what he said in his interview with Jessica. The actual quote is "When you get very, very tired -- and I had been up for four nights all night long; Steve and I got mononucleosis -- your head gets in this real creative state and it thinks of ideas that you'd normally just throw out."
I just started reading 'Founders at Work' and find it kind of funny that they cite Steve Jobs in this article, when during his interview, Woz said that some of their best ideas (when building Apple) came after several days of not sleeping.
does anyone know if the updated version is only available in paperback? i've been meaning to read f@w for a while, and went to order it today, but i would really prefer the updated version in hardcover...
The final exam of one of my friend's electrical engineering courses required students to program an elevator system (or at least part of one) - he received extra marks from the professor, because he factored in a significant delay when someone hit the button too many times in a short period (7 times within 2 seconds, I think). I guess the professor found the concept very amusing in an actual application. Nonetheless, very cool story in its simplicity.
i really love playing ARGs myself when i can find the time, and i have some ideas on the back-burner for making one someday down the road -- in the mean time i have another project i'm working on, but i would imagine making/executing an ARG would be rather fun -- if you're looking for more info, the people at unfiction.com are great and despoiler.org is a great resource as well...good luck!
Did anyone else hear Calacanis freaking out on someone (my best guess is 5-10 F-bombs in 30 seconds) during an intermission when his mic wasn't turned down?? I had the live stream running in the background, and during a song they had playing, some sort of swear-frenzy started breaking through which was pretty hilarious.
try this out: with your hands fairly far apart (so as not to alert the fly), clap very hard (and quickly) about 4 inches above where the fly is -- whether their escape route is front/back/left/right it almost certainly involves going up...this works great, seriously.
I think the redesign is absolutely terrible, and I'm not talking about visuals. The emphasis of the UI is on advertising / sponsorships, and not on content; for a content-focused company, this doesn't work. I can't help but think of a tirade that David Cross goes on about Arrested Development where he basically ridicules the network for shortening the length of the show, minutes at a time, in order to increase ad revenue at the expense of the show and its viewers. Techcrunch appears to be doing the same thing, albeit in a different medium.
I think you're absolutely right about needing a large amount of visitors (and the Amazon suggestion, obviously) but that's why I put so many ifs -- I'm talking more about the idea itself -- I think it's really neat, and if Amazon were to do this on college textbooks for instance, I think it'd be great.
Personally, I was most impressed with the concept of BuyPlayWin -- the current design isn't great, but I think the idea is very novel -- if the prices are right, and they can reach a critical mass, I could see this becoming quite popular, especially with the college-aged crowd. I'm pretty sure every kid would think they were guaranteed a win, and I could see the process becoming somewhat addicting. Plus, who doesn't want a shot at something free?
- Reznor explains that since music is essentially free due to downloads, he doesn't feel it's necessary to require payment.
- When they offered the option to pay, only 18% of people did so. But, offering limited edition physical products worked out well.
- His feeling is that it's more beneficial for a greater number people to hear his music, even if it's for free, because the result is more ticket sales / merchandise purchases.
- They're looking to build a platform for artists to distribute their music which will give power to the artists. They're still playing with potential business models that are fair for the artist and fan.
- NIN is developing an iPhone app to connect fans by location, and will hopefully create a "live blog" of concerts for those who can't physically be there.
- They're continuing to work on Year Zero with either a serial TV show or graphic novel, which will integrate the album and ARG [ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Year_Zero_(alternate_reality_ga... ] that they produced.
- He has had some interest in live-streaming concerts, and is pushing for venues to have an open-camera policy so that fans all over the world can enjoy the experience, even if they can't physically be there.
I'm not a NIN fan personally, but it's nice to see a prominent figure in the music industry with their head on straight.