Company still has a significant amount of cash left in the bank that they're returning to investors. Someone below quoted 25m? I wouldn't be surprised if it was even higher.
My personal opinion and standard for customer service (to my customers) is that no matter how rude the customer is (in this case, I personally wouldn't classify Ryan as rude), its my responsibility to be as polite and helpful as humanly possible. Perhaps I just have extra high standards, but for me, the email from Allan reflects pretty bad on Curebit's leadership team.
The actual scan technology is very specific and hard if not impossible (with current tech) to implement on things like a photocopied card. A real card needs to be used.
I 100% agree with your concern, and that is the problem for it extends beyond tech startups to anyone in the world who have this mindset (of which there are many -- the ruthlessly, amorally, ambitious.)
Hey Eric, your site is awesome. I love how easy it is to play music. I had some thoughts from a UX perspective of things I didn't like about it.
Dislike: There’s no sign up, only a Login with Facebook button (which is annoying personally because I don’t like logging in with Facebook http://screencast.com/t/hsKqMkyuR.)
There’s a bunch of white space to the right hand side of the page (http://screencast.com/t/2swhK5EPb2i), which makes the page unsymmetrical and doesn’t feel right.
I don’t like how most of the things on the page don’t have any description beyond an icon. I know most frequent internet users can probably figure it out, but it still requires me to think for a second to make the associations (http://screencast.com/t/6E2ydk3kh) and some older users and perhaps not as savvy internet users may not understand it at all (albeit the site might not be aimed towards them.)
I know this site is for people who like Essential Mixes, but I have no idea what a collection, Essential Mix collection or FACT collection is. Adding a description could add an unnecessary element while removing a confusing aspect, so its up to you to make the choice. I think a description can be made (without hurting user experience) by adding a disposable box next to the collections briefly explaining what they are.
Hope you don't take my thoughts negatively, just trying to help. Overall I like the site, its is simple and has no truly unnecessary elements, that’s good. Also, I like this touch http://screencast.com/t/oWFv5kkU2), adds to the user experience. And I like how easy it is to play songs (just click and it starts playing http://screencast.com/t/MwkkU8musZ).
The product looks great. I'm personally curious about their product roadmap with regards to where they plan to expand on beyond video meetings in the long run. Good luck guys!
"In the end if someone else succeeds with this idea wouldn't that person be stealing the idea as well?"
>> There's an unbelievably huge difference between someone (a complete stranger) realizing this idea by themselves and running with it, versus your friend disclosing his idea/features/strategy to you in good faith and you running with it. MrBurns, there are some things in life more important than money and success, such as not screwing over someone in this way. Shows a complete lack of character. At the risk of sounding condescending, didn't your parents teach you better?
Its not just somewhat immoral, its completely immoral. As my friend who send this thread to me said, "Its one thing to compete with an idea. It's another when someone divulge massive details about everything regarding the idea, and you just come in and try to fuck them over." And yes, while execution is more important than the idea, considering the information was divulged in good faith and you're now just taking the chance to screw him over when he's down, my friend likens your justification to "saying murder is OK because stupid people are making the world dumb." Think about it. It's not OK.
If you really believe this will be a great venture, you should help this guy rather then screw him. And if you really want in on the venture, you should have a serious talk to this person about joining together if you truly realize how bad what you were proposing was, and WITHOUT any ulterior motives. Yes, while he might be too blinded by his passion to make any changes, but you never know until you try.
I can't believe more people haven't stated this, but honestly stealing his idea is an UBER dick move. I can't believe you're even considering this, wow. There's plenty of ideas out there, you don't need to be lazy AND immoral to steal this guy's idea, especially since he trusted the two of you to discuss ideas in good faith. ESPECIALLY since you guys supposedly regularly meet up just to discuss ideas. I would seriously recommend you listen to your conscience and don't do it. It's really a dick move.
Reluctant to comment, since this is circumstantial and may be seen as not adding to the discussion, but for what its worth, I've heard (long before this incident) many cases in which Dan Porter has exhibited this type of behavior (immoral actions), and that this headline in itself is not an isolated incident.
"No way... I've never heard of a start up that had a product with a great potential but didn't manage to pull it of due to bad business strategy"
>> Seriously? Enter any space in web 2.0 and you'll see a bunch of very similar products. Ultimately only a few will succeed and yes, while product is extremely important, another key reason some will win and others will fail is because the business strategy sucked (and by business strategy I don't just mean marketing and BD. I mean product strategy and hiring and fundraising). Have you ever heard the term ideas are useless and execution is everything? Part of that execution is the business execution. Think about it this way -- not any one could have pulled off Twitter (identical product and everything.)
"No marketing/business mimics will do it if you don't have a proper product to offer."
>> Of course you need a proper product to succeed. But a proper product plus bad execution on the business side will more often then not result in failure. On the flip side, a bad product with amazing business execution will also more often then not fail. Business and product are not mutually exclusive.
"I hate to put it this way... but business intelligence is a field that engineers can grasp quite easily while technical knowledge is reserved to those who have the skills it takes. I actually know of companies that only hire engineers to their financial jobs."
>> Be careful using blanket statements like these; some engineers are just never going to be good business people, because they hate it and don't have the mindset for it. Others might be, but everyone is different. Also, because business is a cumulative skill and increases with experience, business is rarely something you can "easily" grasp, unless maybe if its something specific like creating financial models or reading financial statements (and even that is not easy for most. Engineers can pick it up financial knowledge by working at an investment bank, but it is by far easy for most people. Also, engineers are usually good at math, and think logically. I think this is why businesses occasionally hire engineers for finance positions. Other aspects of business such as BD and Marketing may be harder for an engineer to pick up easily.)
However, one of the best engineers I know is also the best business person I know. So yes, some engineers can pick up and do it very well. But just as with learning engineering... its a process, not an easy one, and one which will probably require you to fail many times before you become good.
By the way, this is just my humble opinion and I could very well be wrong.
Until you actually acquire those skills... which is actually really hard to do (it's harder to find a good business cofounder than it is to find a good technical cofounder), you should not be dismissive.
IMO what the "sticker company guy" wrote is actually true. And while I agree most web projects are bullshit, the article as a whole reeked of arrogance, especially the part about the "sticker company guy".
I agree, but to a point. In spaces where there are a ton of competitors doing roughly the same thing, shipping too early can be fatal. The trick is finding the balance. Entrepreneurs, take the article's advice with a grain of salt.
On the other extreme of the spectrum, some companies build a beautiful product but wait too late to ship. I've seen these companies die without ever having shipped.
Don't live either ends of the extreme. Ship fast, but not too fast.