

10 startups to watch from Y Combinator’s Demo Day - zende
http://gigaom.com/2012/03/27/ycombinator-demo-day/

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zmitri
I've spoken with a field engineer about building something similar to
PlanGrid, but their concerns revolved around the ability to convert to AutoCAD
automatically. From what I gathered, generally on a site people will draw
everything out on paper, and then take the plans back where people will draft
them up in AutoCAD. Unfortunately, CAD isn't an open source format. If these
guys can make that happen, I think this would be HUGE.

If anyone from PlanGrid reads this, here's another idea that makes this useful
(if you haven't already done this) -- for site checks, right now field
engineers just have to go around and check things off to confirm they are
where they supposed to be on the plan. You can use the camera on the iPad to
snap a shot and attach it to the coordinates in your plan to actually
guarantee it's there.

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rsuttongee
Actually, we just added the ability to attach iPad taken photos to project
drawings in our last version.

You're right that people really wanted the feature - we're getting amazing
feedback on it from our users.

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rachelbythebay
More software defined radios (Per Vices and the Phi)? Yes, please! This stuff
is rather expensive and the field needs more options.

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nchuhoai
> According to founder Ryan Sutton-Gee, the construction industry has some 17
> million people who use blueprints. With an average charge of $35 per person
> per month, that has the potential to translation into a $7 billion
> addressable market.

Yeah, about that ...

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leon_
See, if you charge every facebook user $1 month this makes ... ah ...
nevermind theoretical markets :)

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guynamedloren
Noticed that 50% are primarily mobile[1]. I wonder how this compares to past
YC batches? Obviously this figure does not represent this YC batch, but it
definitely seems like YC is interested in mobile.

[1] iOS: PlanGrid, Pair, iCracked; Android: Sonalight, Kyte

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mattmanser
iCracked is about hardware.

I think there's also some bad choices by the author, both of which are apps.

PlanGrid has been vastly over-hyped by the author, it's an iPad blueprint
viewer. Big deal, tiny market. The construction industry already shares files
electronically, sounds like the author bought into some PR bullshit. Kyte I
also question being included too, a subscription model for a simple family
filter for your phone? They'll be undercut in no time.

~~~
guynamedloren
> _iCracked is about hardware_

Yep. _Mobile_ hardware. So that makes iCracked a mobile oriented startup.

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elmarschraml
Unlike previous YC startups, most of these seem pretty trivial, and do not
really solve any problems.

Perceived problems (e.g. PlanGrid): Do they actually know someone who works in
constructions and has said "If only I could view plans on a computer instead
of paper!". Paper is cheap, easy to use, sturdy and mobile with infinite
battery life, and I'd guess works fine for most folks in construction.

More trouble than it's worth (e.g. Pair): Keep in touch with my SO? There's
these things called phone calls, text messages, emails, skype... If I want to
connect more with my SO, the last thing I want to do is spend time on yet
another social network.

Bad economics (icracked): It's not hard to find somebody who does iphone
screen repairs. The real problem is that the repairs are quite hard and
therefor expensive, and I don't see how adding a middleman would make it
cheaper.

What's missing is the obvious gain in efficiency that came with previous YC
startups like Airbnb or Octopart.

Or maybe with the increased number of YC startups, PG is just throwing more
ideas on the wall to see what will stick, or what the initial concept will
turn into?

That being said, I wish all those guys good luck and success, and after all
they are out there doing it, while all I'm doing is writing snarky comments.

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pmjordan
Oh come _on_. This article is based on 2 1/2-minute pitches. Surely you can at
least imagine that there's more to these startups than 3-sentence
descriptions? Your assumptions are completely arbitrary. More detailed
articles on iCracked and PlanGrid (and maybe others) made the HN front page a
while back. If you're going to criticise, at _least_ do your research first.

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dasmoth
Seems to be a lot more interest in doing hardware than previous batches?

