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".
I'm not sure about that in the long run (it's easy to make the argument that hosting pieces of this data is the same as hosting all of it), but one thing which does work really well is time shifting -- basically, encrypt your data so it is innocuous seeming and get it widely distributed, then leak the key (much smaller amount of information, much easier to distribute) which then retroactively makes all the previously distributed innocuous data awesome.
Another trick is to make the data you want to distribute "viral" in the social media sense -- make it catchy and funny, or at least easily understood, so people want to distribute it on its own merits. Or, attach the boring thing you want to distribute to something catchy and funny (stego, or just make it an element of it somehow -- like make a cool t-shirt with the secret key on it).
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.
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?
Most definitely the advice of the alumni and the connections which YC would give us. We value the network we'd receive as a result of YC as much higher than the actual investment.
Money is good, but you can work around financial needs much of the time. It is almost impossible to place a real value on advice and connections, though and it's difficult to know what you don't know (if you did, you could figure it out for yourself). Even if you stumble upon the right questions to ask, it's sometimes impossible to find someone who can truly answer it.
Personally, if presented with the option of cash injection or access to an adviser, I'd choose an adviser, every time. Hell, apply this to all aspects of life. The older I get, the more I realize knowledge and experience are the real commodities.
I completely agree. I'm in the planning stages of a startup right now and we think we can get investment from family that will match or exceed what Y Combinator offers. To me what I really want isn't so much money as access to people, smart, well-connected, people that can help get things off the ground.
Of course I understand that typically those people want a piece of the pie in exchange for their advice.
In my case, I really need programming (read: technical co-founder) help to get the project started, that's my primary obstacle right now more than money.
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!
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 :)
We've already booked an apartment for 2 weeks in the Mission District of SF for the interview and to see some of our friends at companies based there. Looking forward to really getting to see SF - I've wanted to go for years!
If we can get a Visa then we'd like to, yes (doesn't have to be the Bay Area though). Most of our users are US based so being there ourselves would make things a lot easier.
