Now, if you're asking if it's aesthetically pleasing, that's a different story. But we were talking about design, right?
Hmm I think design also includes aesthetics - at least somewhat. Think about UI/UX. Both are design concepts. You're essentially describing the Casio as providing a great UX but not a great UI. I'd still argue UX is more important, but I wouldn't fully ignore UI when talking about design.
"This is awesome, good luck!" or something similarly supportive should be the bulk of comments in here. Cynicism for something like this, especially given the time we're in, is not helpful.
The problem is that Uber can easily be destroyed when that happens. For example, imagine that all the German automakers decide that their fleet of autonomous cars works only for an app that they developed(maximize profits). The same can happen from the Japanese automakers, etc. Another problem is that they will need A LOT of money to buy and maintain all those autonomous cars, something that they don't do now. Personally I think Uber can die under hundreds of scenarios and survive under one or two in the long run.
Executive promises at the time of an acquisition mean absolutely nothing, their main goal is to reduce break-off risk (both of users and employees) due to change of control.
It's far more likely that he was overly optimistic about Mailbox's chances of success at Dropbox. Founders are notoriously delusional about this kind of thing.
Dropbox wasn't worried about maintaining the small existing Mailbox userbase, they were betting they could grow it by millions of users. When it didn't work, it messed up their plans (and promises).
Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity.
A solution is to build a platform that crowdsources such cases to raise awareness AND a call for action. The community would need to be unbelievable but it's not at all impossible. Once there are 100,000 signatures on any petition under 30 days, the White House guarantees a response. There are many great communities with more than 100,000 active users. Why not?
Do you intend to suggest that Ahmed should have gone to jail, and that the teachers, administrators, cops, and prosecutors who tried to send him there were somehow wronged by the "Internet mob"?
Absolutely not. Sending a kid to jail because he brought a clock to school is silly.
However, a kid who bought a clock from the 80s, than repackaged it in a pencil box claiming it his 'invention', and put a timer on it making it beep in class, who was then evasive when answering questions, on the day after 9/11 anniversary, definitely deserves some suspicion.
What I object to is the praise he's gotten, from Obama to Zuckerberg. Without even one look at the facts of the situation.
I don't want to work for a company, I'd much rather start my own. And there are definitely some problems I'd like to solve, but I'm still figuring out which ones will actually add value and how to go about solving them. Any advice? If I just applied with a bunch of ideas and the YC team liked one, would it be considered? I'd imagine there needs to be at least some progress but still thought I'd ask.
My relevant background is that I built a social calendaring app with my college roommate and it was eventually acquired by our university. In my eyes, it was a failure that I learned a lot from.
I'm a college kid, started a startup with my roommate and sold it to our university. We did everything wrong, but learned so much that I could write a thesis on it. If I had to do it again and change ONE thing, though, it would be one of PG's central points in this post: get to know your users. We knew who they were at a big picture (UofM students) but did not do a good job honing on on specific 'personality types' that would enjoy our app nor did we keep in touch with our loyal users as much as we should have. Will definitely do that when a next time comes around. The crazier, and daunting, part of reading this post is realizing that despite how much I learned from my first startup, there will be so much to learn from when I find the next fun thing or problem to work at. Can't wait.
It was a social calendaring app exclusive to UofM students. We uploaded the course database so students could pick the classes they were enrolled in and sync it to a calendar (students could also sync their other calendars) and share it with their friends. It was an easier way for UofM students to see what their friends/classmates were upto throughout the day.
Student at Univ. of Michigan. Just sold my mobile/web app to the University. Looking for work during the school year, willing to do some front-end dev, PM, and/or BizDev/Sales. Can put in at least 20hr/week.
Location: Ann Arbor
Remote: Yes
Willing to relocate: Can't until I'm done w/school in May.
