I would like to take this moment to announce PICPC-VC, which is an automatic follow-on investment, structured as uncapped convertible notes, of $50 available to any founder accepted into the PICPC program.
I would like to take this moment to announce PICPC-VC-2, which is an automatic follow-on investment, structured as uncapped convertible notes, of $500 available to any founder accepted into the PICPC-VC program.
People seem to be missing the point. While the $37 is a gimmick, the reality is that this investment, in the form of advertising, is worth perhaps tens of thousands of dollars (I am not familiar with the intimate details of Pinboard's traffic, so I could be high or low on this). Google should adopt this model, since they have more advertising inventory than anyone and have the power to instantly propel promising startups to success. They could quickly obtain equity stakes in a vast number of startups that they deem to be promising, and throttle their "investment" based on analytics.
Can someone more in touch with corporate finance explain what an uncapped convertible note means for ownership and operation of a company? Serious question.
Thinking of applying as a single non-technical founder. All I have is an idea but I am sure with the $37 dollars I could hire an awesome programmer to put it together for me!
EDIT: Seeking technical co-founder to help build out idea. Must be prepared to sign NDA before equity can be discussed.
Just a note on word choices... the "Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere" was the name of the colonial empire that Japan built through conquests and occupation starting in 1940.
I'm fairly confident Pinboard won't be raping hundreds of thousands (millions?) of people, engaging in wars of aggression on its neighbors, or conducting worse chemical warfare and other medical experiments than the Nazis. I can see how one might get confused though.
Noticed this as well... "Co-Prosperity _____" should sound hauntingly familiar to anyone with any amount of knowledge about WWII.
It seems like the "Co-Prosperity Cloud" is a joke, but even if it is, it's a joke in poor taste considering the atrocities committed by Japan, and not even an especially clever one (annexation and abuse for profit is not really the same idea - I hope - that Pinboard is expressing).
It was the name of an empire, but it was also the name of the ostensible ideology behind that empire as well. Did you read the whole Wikipedia article you gave a link to? What Pinboard is trying to do here actually does bear a resemblance to what turned out to be the empty rhetoric of the Japanese Empire, and so I don't think it's inappropriate for people forming a commune to call it "Communist" - despite the horrific atrocities perpetuated by real Communist states.
Check out the book Flyboys, by James Brady. (http://www.amazon.com/Flyboys-Story-Courage-James-Bradley/dp...). It gives some interesting background on why Japan did what they did (their expansion) and it also documents the atrocities committed by both sides. It was a very eye-opening book, and when you are done reading it, you will know why war is hell.
"The project aims to draw attention to the fact that if you have access to technical labor, the startup and operating costs for an online project in 2013 are negligible. The biggest obstacle to creating something useful is finding the time to build it and attracting an initial pool of paying customers."
Good thing that in the brave new future world of 2013 labor and marketing are completely free of all costs, opportunity and otherwise.
First, you should never accept angel investment from non-accredited investors (i.e., individuals with a net worth of at least one million cents).
Second, the real value of the investors is their network. In this case, Maciej Cegłowski's network is a collection of links featured in an indexed, polished, simple-to-use product. Why accept money from him when his network is already available for free?
Third, seeking outside investment prior to building a prototype has been heralded as a path to madness. You should at least have some sort of Bootstrap-based splash page on a .io domain before you accept his sizable investment.
My application: "I'd use the $37 to buy $20 worth of stamps and envelopes, then $17 for a disposable camera and photo development costs. I'd photograph myself putting the stamps on the envelopes and get the photos developed. Then I'd put the photos in the envelopes and mail them to you."
If you manage to get a photo of yourself sealing the envelope with said photo of you sealing the envelope inside of the envelope... then we might have a winner. Could call it EscherGram
"I just received an email that Buddy's Cannabis in San Jose is having a special. 27 different strains are on sale for $29.99 per 3.5 grams. I think I'll go for that, and give the remainder to the first homeless person I see."
Before I joined it sometime this year or last, I thought Pinboard seemed like the silliest, most likely-to-peter-out trifle of a service. But now it stands alone from all the other pinning services I used to use, including Instapaper.
In other words, I trust this guy with knowing how to execute (and to the point, probably recognize) successful minimally-viable products.
It does seem like cost are negligible today, but on deeper analysis theres a lot of costs beyond simply hosting.
Just from memory for my startup (Authy.com), initial costs were:
Domain: $1000+
Design: $3000
Video: $3000
Hosting: $400
Depending on your skills this initial costs will vary. An although I agree you don't need external investment to cover them, you should at least plan to invest $10,000US to cover your initial costs.
A lot of the things that you seem to think of as mandatory are not.
Domain: or get something longer for $9. E.g., authyapp.com or getauthy.com
Design: http://themeforest.net/ $15-$25, or DIY (depends on how much design matters for your niche--for Pinboard it clearly doesn't)
Video: You don't need no stinkin' video
Hosting: Maciej is recommending http://prgmr.com/xen/ for $32 (but can you actually run a modern app stack on just 128 MB of RAM?) Anyway, even if you need a gig, that's $100.
I agree that getting things done "properly" still costs money. But every single item on your list can be done for at least one order of magnitude less in the MVP stage.
I don't understand people ridiculing him. This funding is for entrepreneurs and business projects with a particular profile. A project like Pinboard.
When Y combinator started the amount of money was also ridicule.
What you get with his funding is visibility and this is rapidly growing in value because everybody will now look with high curiosity what are the 6 selected projects.
It looks like he is attempting to undercut Y combinator and might succeed. Look how he targets a niche market that is discarded by Y combinator : single founder projet. He applies all the advises given by PG himself.
I'm looking forward to see how he will execute, but this is already a very good start.
If I had a close to finished project and no traction because of no visibility I would apply. Because the visibility will be much bigger than with an article in techcruch.
> I have no understanding of the concept of humor...
So it is a joke.. Or at the very least tongue in cheek. (With some exceptions,) I doubt hosting is what most VC funding is spent on.
Edit: as he said, "The biggest obstacle to creating something useful is finding the time to build it and attracting an initial pool of paying customers." If you have access to those you probably have $37. I get that he is trying to say technical costs can be negligible for startups. I fail to see how Investment Co-Prosperity Cloud helps anyone in anyway. And thus, I think it's a joke (even if the funding is real).
>If you have access to those you probably have $37. I get that he is trying to say technical costs can be negligible for startups. I fail to see how Investment Co-Prosperity Cloud helps anyone in anyway.
You've managed to recapitulate his point while simultaneously missing it.
As you say, costs are negligible. Time to build something is hard to find, but nobody can help you find it.
Attention is what's really valuable and really hard to get, as a startup. Maciej is highlighting this by making an offer to startups that puts what's really valuable for building a sustainable business (I'll drive attention your way) front-and-center, while mocking the valley's mentality of take-huge-wads-of-funding-cash-and-bet-it-all-on-winning-the-growth-lottery approach to business creation with his "I'll throw in $37" offer.
This is the value the winners get:
"What else will I get?
I will feature the six successful applicants on the Pinboard blog, and give them whatever additional help I can in making contacts in computerland and attracting an initial pool of customers."
His point is that a lot of money isn't needed, but publicity is (and a cool service of course).
I'll wait for the blog post inviting hardware startups too, followed by a post about how $37 gives founders too much runway, and half as much ought to do it.
I'm announcing microcrowdfunding flush-investment platfrom Flushstart. We all have pockets full of change by the end of the day. To participate in Flushstart you you just flush all the change down the toilet and Flushstart employees collect your investments in the sewers. You automatically get equity in all projects listed in Flushstart. I just started the platform by flushing 10 cents.
[+] [-] tptacek|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] pmarca|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] citricsquid|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] toomuchtodo|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] downandout|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] jarek|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] zdgman|13 years ago|reply
EDIT: Seeking technical co-founder to help build out idea. Must be prepared to sign NDA before equity can be discussed.
[+] [-] zdgman|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] unknown|13 years ago|reply
[deleted]
[+] [-] kanamekun|13 years ago|reply
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greater_East_Asia_Co-Prosperity...
Not sure if this is part of a joke or not, but Japan's history of war-time brutality during World War 2 is pretty extreme.
[+] [-] rdl|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] jonathanyc|13 years ago|reply
It seems like the "Co-Prosperity Cloud" is a joke, but even if it is, it's a joke in poor taste considering the atrocities committed by Japan, and not even an especially clever one (annexation and abuse for profit is not really the same idea - I hope - that Pinboard is expressing).
[+] [-] Symmetry|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] joverholt|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] rmc|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] mrkurt|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] il|13 years ago|reply
Good thing that in the brave new future world of 2013 labor and marketing are completely free of all costs, opportunity and otherwise.
[+] [-] aiurtourist|13 years ago|reply
First, you should never accept angel investment from non-accredited investors (i.e., individuals with a net worth of at least one million cents).
Second, the real value of the investors is their network. In this case, Maciej Cegłowski's network is a collection of links featured in an indexed, polished, simple-to-use product. Why accept money from him when his network is already available for free?
Third, seeking outside investment prior to building a prototype has been heralded as a path to madness. You should at least have some sort of Bootstrap-based splash page on a .io domain before you accept his sizable investment.
[+] [-] unknown|13 years ago|reply
[deleted]
[+] [-] pc|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] rtfeldman|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] potench|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] toomuchtodo|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] wilfra|13 years ago|reply
"I just received an email that Buddy's Cannabis in San Jose is having a special. 27 different strains are on sale for $29.99 per 3.5 grams. I think I'll go for that, and give the remainder to the first homeless person I see."
[+] [-] danso|13 years ago|reply
In other words, I trust this guy with knowing how to execute (and to the point, probably recognize) successful minimally-viable products.
[+] [-] danielpal|13 years ago|reply
Just from memory for my startup (Authy.com), initial costs were:
Domain: $1000+
Design: $3000
Video: $3000
Hosting: $400
Depending on your skills this initial costs will vary. An although I agree you don't need external investment to cover them, you should at least plan to invest $10,000US to cover your initial costs.
[+] [-] notJim|13 years ago|reply
Domain: or get something longer for $9. E.g., authyapp.com or getauthy.com
Design: http://themeforest.net/ $15-$25, or DIY (depends on how much design matters for your niche--for Pinboard it clearly doesn't)
Video: You don't need no stinkin' video
Hosting: Maciej is recommending http://prgmr.com/xen/ for $32 (but can you actually run a modern app stack on just 128 MB of RAM?) Anyway, even if you need a gig, that's $100.
[+] [-] c1sc0|13 years ago|reply
* Domain: $9 * Design: $50 (Themeforest) * Video: $5 (Fiverr) * Hosting: $0 (Pick your choice)
I've been thinking semi-seriously about this & I came to the conclusion that with $37 you can actually get a LOT done.
[+] [-] codewright|13 years ago|reply
What does it do exactly? I couldn't figure it out from the website and I churn through a lot of landing pages.
[+] [-] stevewilhelm|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] huhtenberg|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] jere|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] jacques_chester|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] chmike|13 years ago|reply
When Y combinator started the amount of money was also ridicule.
What you get with his funding is visibility and this is rapidly growing in value because everybody will now look with high curiosity what are the 6 selected projects.
It looks like he is attempting to undercut Y combinator and might succeed. Look how he targets a niche market that is discarded by Y combinator : single founder projet. He applies all the advises given by PG himself.
I'm looking forward to see how he will execute, but this is already a very good start.
If I had a close to finished project and no traction because of no visibility I would apply. Because the visibility will be much bigger than with an article in techcruch.
[+] [-] programminggeek|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] lucisferre|13 years ago|reply
> Participants receive almost no money, and are expected to do everything themselves.
So not really all that different than many (most?) incubators.
[+] [-] nthitz|13 years ago|reply
It is not a joke.
> I have no understanding of the concept of humor...
So it is a joke.. Or at the very least tongue in cheek. (With some exceptions,) I doubt hosting is what most VC funding is spent on.
Edit: as he said, "The biggest obstacle to creating something useful is finding the time to build it and attracting an initial pool of paying customers." If you have access to those you probably have $37. I get that he is trying to say technical costs can be negligible for startups. I fail to see how Investment Co-Prosperity Cloud helps anyone in anyway. And thus, I think it's a joke (even if the funding is real).
[+] [-] msbarnett|13 years ago|reply
You've managed to recapitulate his point while simultaneously missing it.
As you say, costs are negligible. Time to build something is hard to find, but nobody can help you find it.
Attention is what's really valuable and really hard to get, as a startup. Maciej is highlighting this by making an offer to startups that puts what's really valuable for building a sustainable business (I'll drive attention your way) front-and-center, while mocking the valley's mentality of take-huge-wads-of-funding-cash-and-bet-it-all-on-winning-the-growth-lottery approach to business creation with his "I'll throw in $37" offer.
[+] [-] skrebbel|13 years ago|reply
I doubt that was the point.
[+] [-] jfb|13 years ago|reply
You might be surprised.
[+] [-] kryptiskt|13 years ago|reply
I will feature the six successful applicants on the Pinboard blog, and give them whatever additional help I can in making contacts in computerland and attracting an initial pool of customers."
His point is that a lot of money isn't needed, but publicity is (and a cool service of course).
[+] [-] justhw|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] itslogic|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] troymc|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] evv|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] cwiz|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] rdl|13 years ago|reply
($1.12 won't even cover the minimum BART or Muni or VTA fares now, I think, unless you're a child or senior or disabled or something)