
Kozmo is relaunching - peter_l_downs
http://kozmo.com/
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tptacek
This is an in-joke about how there might be another startup bubble, right?

~~~
windsurfer
I put this up years ago:
[http://abielinski.com/startup](http://abielinski.com/startup)

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samstave
What am I missing, that link just says:

 __ _" Too busy coding, follow us on twitter: @crypticstartup(coming soon)"_
__

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windsurfer
That's the joke! So many companies essentially put up a page like that and
submit it to HN.

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asanwal
I used to work at Kozmo launching their facilities and new markets, and I can
say the brand still resonates with those that used it almost 13 years later.

I have a messenger bag from the firm which I use from time-to-time and every
time I do, people stop me to say how much they loved Kozmo and of course point
how dumb it was that they could order a Ben & Jerry's for $3 at 2 in the
morning.

So ,of course, the model was fatally flawed, but for the average consumer who
used Kozmo back in the day, they loved it. And so there is some brand value
and a ton of PR that come with the name that someone could exploit.

Let's hope the biz model is just a bit better this time :)

~~~
samstave
Absolutely!

I LOVED IT.

Once I sat on plane next to one of the founders and told them nt only that I
loved it - but how fantastic it would be to allow for me to define my location
and then search for stuff nearby that I wanted Kozmo to bring: "Show me all
indian restaurants within walking distance of me"

Yeah - that was coming... just not from Kozmo. I will totally support this
resurrection.

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adamnemecek
Seems like they were inspired by Zombo ([http://zombo.com](http://zombo.com))
when making this page.

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tlrobinson
Google Shopping Express, Ebay Now, Amazon Fresh, Instacart, Postmates are all
getting in this space, but with a $5+ delivery fee.

Free might not be sustainable, but if one of them can pull off an Amazon Prime
pricing model I'd probably be sold.

~~~
samstave
ELI5 the prime pricing model?

~~~
tlrobinson
Unlimited 2 day shipping for $79 per year.

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staunch
Perhaps the improved state of marijuana laws will make them successful this
time.

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dvanduzer
Get out of this thread and stay out, under 30s.

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paulgb
There is a documentary on the rise and fall of the original Kozmo called
e-Dreams
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E-Dreams](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E-Dreams)

Wonder if they'll make a sequel? :)

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RoboTeddy
Has instant delivery been made feasible by some underlying change? (e.g. cheap
GPS in phones of deliverers, people being more comfortable buying stuff
online, etc). Or, has it been feasible this entire time?

~~~
bastian
I believe that the ubiquity of smartphones with GPS capability is an important
driver. However at Postmates (I'm a Co-founder), we spent a lot of our time
working on our dispatch algorithm, with the goal to constantly improve the way
we match the current demand to the available supply.

Our challenges are slightly different than the ones Kozmo faced. One huge
difference is that our deliveries are much more distributed since we don't
deliver from just one or two warehouses but from locations all over the city.
This model brings some advantages but also holds some very interesting
challenges at the same time. ;) On a typical day, our couriers operate in the
most efficient way during our peak demand times - during breakfast, lunch and
dinner that is.

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danso
Congrats, but this article from 2001 has some background:

[http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1309&dat=20010426&id=G...](http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1309&dat=20010426&id=GXArAAAAIBAJ&sjid=eHgFAAAAIBAJ&pg=3496,3574410)

If Kozmo had trouble then, with an employee count of 3,300 and with Amazon
barely the logistical superpower it is today, what makes the plan more viable
today, with Amazon and Google reportedly getting into the game?

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jsolson
Kozmo was originally funded, at least in part, by Amazon. My first boss when I
worked at Amazon was a dev for Kozmo (as I understood it, the while staff and
possibly the company had been brought into Amazon).

I don't know if something similar is happening this time around.

~~~
jonnathanson
Ironically enough, Amazon now owns and operates Webvan.

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evv
Ok, I'll be the one to poke fun on a technical level.

XHTML, really?? One big splash image, really? Oh, and this unused javascript:

> onload="timer=setTimeout('move()',2000)"

Is this for real??

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bliti
I was going to mention this. The page is like a trip to the past. Will they
handout free AOL cds at launch? (:

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bastian
As far as i can tell, Kozmo.com is now registered by Yummy Foods LLC which
operates Yummy.com, a chain of mini supermarkets in the Los Angeles area.

I believe that they are either doing a PR stunt, or that they are planning to
offer deliveries under this brand name instead of Yummy.

Funny enough, when we launched Postmates we toyed with the idea to create a
Kozmo themed teaser page but ultimately decided against it.

~~~
colinbartlett
Not so subtle plug.

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itp
I fondly remember sitting in my apartment in Boston sometime around 2001
waiting for Kozmo to bring me a new memory card for the Dreamcast, a pint of
Ben & Jerry's From Russia With Buzz, and an Entenmann's Coffee Cake. This
perhaps does not bode well for my wallet or my waistline.

~~~
discipline
Same here, but in our apartment across the river in Cambridge. Magazine,
movie, and Ben&Jerry's. And it was freakin' cold out, close to zero!

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drone
Loved the concept back then, wished it would've made it (and hit more markets
more effectively) - they folded up shortly after entering my market, and
barely got to use them. Maybe they can make it a worthwhile venture this time
around.

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georgemcbay
I'm holding out for a return of Webvan.

I've moved probably 6 times since they were in operation (including cross-
country) and yet I still have 4 of their old delivery boxes that I use for
storage and could use some more, those things last forever.

~~~
irollboozers
Webvan? Pfft. Some people are holding out for the return of Yahoo.

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neovive
Are the original founders are involved in the relaunch? That would be very
interesting.

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colinbartlett
Will it still will be free delivery within an hour? I'd like to see something
sustainable this time.

Damn, I still wear my Kozmo.com tshirt with pride. I hope this happens.

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allworknoplay
miss the shit out of kozmo, but it's 2013: movies are on the internet and
everything else is seamless, so...

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cortesoft
No, I do not remember them.

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dsjoerg
Look out cause here comes UrbanFetch!

