[Dave_Rosenthal]

I worked with pg in a three-person startup in a basement in Harvard square just before he started YC. I was an undergrad at MIT and met him after arguing with rtm (who was a TA for my class) about TCP backoff. It was called Aspra and we were trying to build an app development platform for mobile phones. The idea was that you could build an application that could "render" to either an IVR system, for dumb phones, or the kind of web page that a Motorola "smartphone" of the day could view. Ahead of its time, like Paul. It didn't go far, and not long after he started YC. Good thing he did, for the industry and many of the folks here! Anyway, the "20 years" got my attention because I didn't feel that old, and thought someone might like the little story.

[knuckleheadsmif]

In the mid 90s (1996?) So myself and 3 others worked for Intuit and we traveled, from Mountain View CA, to your tiny office near Harvard to look at acquiring the company. I believe Intuit made a lowball offer and eventually you sold yourselves to Yahoo for twice the price. At Intuit we did not offer you guys money for the product, it really was not that special at all, but for the people—I thought only 3 folks at the time? The product was a web store front builder (Viaweb?) I don’t think we actually talked to Paul that day but I remember Trever and the tiny ‘server’ room.

It possible we may have met you too. It was a long time ago.

[Dave_Rosenthal]

You were talking to a slightly earlier company--this was post Viaweb.

[jimhi]

Wow! I've read all the essays and thought I knew all the startups ideas he had tried by now. This is a new one.

[racedude]

Love this story. Thanks for sharing. I learned about YC/HN via my tools course at Purdue, and it continues to be a great resource.