by iamjoday on 10/29/14, 5:14 AM with 23 comments
I've just received rejection email from Ycombinator... :( Though I realize, how competitive it gets to get in, its not the start one expect for their product or idea...
I would appreciate if fellow community members can help point out ares of improvement in my product or idea,
http://joday.com
Thanks for your time! I really appreciate it!
Nish Founder, Joday.com
by alexobenauer on 10/29/14, 1:47 PM
When embarking on a new product idea, I pitch the problem to all kinds of different people first, before I even pitch my proposed solution. This allows me to see if the problem I think exists resonates with others, how people think about the problem, and whether or not it's something they actually care about. This sets the best foundation for proposing a solution and how to go about pitching or selling it to people.
by trcollinson on 10/29/14, 4:13 PM
First off, you are a single founder. This isn't always a problem. Though, historically, it is for YCombinator. Founding a company, particularly one which wants to get into a very saturated media aggregation market is not easy. It requires a lot of understanding; business, finance, legal, marketing, sales, and technical. Even if you could bring all of those things to the table, it is unlikely you can juggle that many balls by yourself.
Next, I don't see a clear path to monetization. The answer might of course be "We will gain a large user base and then we will sell to a large media company who wants those users". Which large media company would that be? YouTube, Vimeo, Netflix, Hulu, Facebook, or one of the other giants of the social media industry that can afford to buy a company? They aren't going to be interested because honestly, you'll be selling them back their own users base.
Another option for monetization might be "We are going to build up this brilliant machine learning algorithm, prove out the concept, and sell that to a large media company." Not a bad plan, but remember these companies have the means and reputation to hire small armies of algorithm writers. Are you differentiated enough to get in and show you can beat those small armies?
I'll mention one more way you might be thinking of monetizing. "We'll sell advertising space!" My favorite of all. If you have a user base large enough this can do very well. However, remember, you are showing media that is hosted by other companies who make their money by advertising around other peoples uploaded media. Those companies are not going to be keen to allow you to steal away their advertising dollars.
I could talk about your site design and the professionalism in your presentation, which is lacking. However, I am not trying to discourage you. If you are interested in machine learning (which is what comes out from your entire site), you should continue in that market. There is a TON of space there for people to do very well. I suggest you not get stuck on your first idea. Pivot. Find some good friends who are also interested in using machine learning to solve a problem with skills that complement yours, and work together. Then find a problem that has some clear path to monetization and in which you are passionate and go for it. You have the ambition and you will be successful. Don't give up!
by ishener on 10/29/14, 1:57 PM
by iamnish on 10/29/14, 5:47 PM
I can only improve my product with your suggestions....
please keep it coming.... feel free to directly reach me at, nish at joday
Nish.
by andrewchambers on 10/29/14, 6:10 AM
by gholevas on 11/4/14, 3:43 PM
by catmanjan on 10/29/14, 5:22 AM
by nyddle on 10/30/14, 9:12 AM