

I am starting - Indian firm based on the YC framework - Chirag
http://iamstarting.com/

======
_debug_
Feedback : I would like to know the team behind "I am starting" before I can
trust you with my ideas. It's exactly as you say : "people & ideas, in that
order". First, I need to know who you are, and then whether "I am starting" is
for me or not.

~~~
Chirag
Thanks @Debug point taken will work on that section today.

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subbu
1\. src="<http://code.jquery.com/jquery-1.4.1.min.js>. Use
[http://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jquery/1.4.1/jquery.min...](http://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jquery/1.4.1/jquery.min.js)

2\. $(document).ready() twice in the same document. Use only one.

3\. id='pagewidth'. Use id='about'.

My intention is not to point technical problems for the sake of it. But you
should seriously treat this site itself as a little startup, invest your seed
fund (your lowest band of 50k is enough. I know can do it for that amount :)
into it and then start attracting other techies to join you. As part of
knowing more about you, first thing any potential startupper will do in a
browser (at least me) is press ctrl+u.

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colinplamondon
Seriously? It doesn't mention who you actually are, there's spelling problems
all over the place, and the header looks like you're pitching kindergartners.
You should take down the site, nuke this thread, get your stuff together, and
relaunch in six months.

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sushi
Alright no more criticism about designing although I am a web designer.

Now over to serious stuff. The background of the people behind this endeavor
should be the main selling point. I am more likely to share my idea with
someone who has had similar experience, that is of starting and managing a
startup. Money is important and I do find your investment range will go an
extra mile in India but give some reasons to the entrepreneur to believe in
you guys.

Just one advice: Put some more info about this venture and the people behind
this.

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prabodh
"I am starting is a new kind of venture firm specializing in funding early
stage startups "

who are you..? Would be beter to know you before thinking of applying...

Chirag..is it your own venture ?

~~~
Chirag
This is my venture by my friend. and actually this thread was to just to let
people know there is this firm if Indian start up need investment.

~~~
prabodh
and what is your friend name/profile ?

~~~
Chirag
names have been updated, i am working on a small bio.

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ananthrk
Given that you are already in News.YC, I take that you know about YCombinator
and why it is different from other similar firms. (Hint: PG & team) As others
have suggested, having a brief profile of people behind this venture would
greatly help.

~~~
Chirag
We are working on that.

------
chaosprophet
It's good that someone is trying a YC like format in India and I hope you
don't have crappy rules like iaccelerator. However, you seriously don't
inspire any confidence or trust with that website and I would never take
funding from someone who can't get me to trust him.

~~~
Chirag
Its a website you don't inspire trust from a web-page, trust is usually a
function of a human interaction.

~~~
patio11
_you don't inspire trust from a web-page_

You do, actually. It is one of the core skills in building B2C websites, since
a) you'll typically want your user to take some action that requires trusting
you, like putting in their private information or paying you money and b) at
B2C scales, one-on-one human interaction with all users is typically neither
possible nor really desired. If the website doesn't inspire trust, the
business is pretty much doomed.

For example, for my site, I take pains to make sure the language I use matches
the language my customers use, that the graphical design communicates
professionalism, etc. If I don't do this, they'll lump me in with all the
"scam artists and viruses on the Internet."

This fundamental truth might be a good thing to learn prior to investing in or
advising Internet businesses. Just my two cents from a very, very small B2C
business.

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andrewcooke
i understand you don't want feedback on the design, and i like the relaxed
approach, but the inconsistent indentation on the third title (Finally...)
really bugs me. i'd suggest moving it to the right to match the other two (and
"What..." could go left a few pixels too).

also, it's "you can be A student, ..." and "we reply TO all our...". and it's
easier to read if you have "corporate-like, so" (with hyphen and comma).

------
vimalg2
Basically seems like a new pseudo-VC who's roped in a bunch of rich civilians
into this great-YC-idea-you-know-small-stakes-small-investments-but-BIG-
returns Fund.

This is one of the cases where 'Launch Now, Fix later' doesn't really work out
at all with your target audience.

------
prog
It may be good to add some more detail to the "Who we are" section.

The names and expertise are fine, but perhaps something on the
projects/companies these people have worked with. How much experience they
have in the respective fields. E.g who is into economics, who is into
technology etc.

If you have founded (or funded) any startups, perhaps that can be mentioned.
It would make you seem more accessible.

In case of YC, PGs views and history where well understood and respected. You
may want to highlight what value you bring to the table (other than the
money).

------
david927
It's about time. India has everything going for it and I'm excited to see what
this will produce.

Congratulations!

------
ideamonk
Ah the css is so well commented to teach others/waste some bandwidth. +1 Hey
guise so in the reset.css can we also replace

"html, body, div, span, applet, object, iframe, h1, h2, h3, h4, h5, h6,.... {
..."

with a single * ... you know like -

* {
    
    
       margin:0;
       ...
    }

------
Chirag
All,

Thanks for your passionate inputs this is my friends ventures not Mine. All
these inputs are conveyed to concerned teams.

BTW, I am working for NetApp, as a Marketing Manager :).

Don't have a start-up yet. I can understand your anger, I am also an engineer.

------
yannis
The blank gif shows in chrome as a missing image (really ugly)
<http://iamstarting.com/Blank.gif>.

Looks very unprofessional overall - invest in a designer first and relaunch.

------
Chirag
Folks we are not looking for any more comments on the design and how it can be
improved. This just works for us.

If there are more ideas/feedack on rest of the content you are welcome.

Thanks.

~~~
volida
This is 2010. How come you think image/brand is not important and expect
someone to take you seriously if you don't invest a few dollars in some
professional graphic design?

Your about section doesn't even have a link who is backing up this.

------
Chirag
Design can be overhauled later, and this is not a priority.

As for spelling mistakes @colinplamondon, seriously. I give you a venture firm
and all you can see it spellings, brilliant?

The purpose of this site is to serve as a 2/3 para about the idea, not in for
the webby folks.

~~~
colinplamondon
My company's profitable and I'm American, not your audience.

You aren't a gift, you're a business- your business is making entrepreneurs
think you can further their business. Your website is unprofessional and
doesn't mention who you are, and who you are is the most important.

TechStars and YC aren't about the 15k- most of the companies who get accepted
these days don't need it. TechStars and YC help people build successful
products because the people behind both programs have a background of
launching successful products, with rolodexes to match.

Right now you're some guy with a website. No one cares. To make them care, you
have to show why you're someone they _should_ care about. That's marketing,
and right now you aren't marketing. That's why, in your current incarnation,
you're fucked.

Rethink, redesign, relaunch, and then hopefully you can get this off the
ground.

~~~
zaph0d
Don't sweat over it. It's all because of an attitude which is typical to
Indian pseudo-VCs. They think they are doing startup-ists[sic] a big favour by
investing in them.

So @Chirag is not too queer if he thinks that he can pull off a YC in India by
putting up a stupid website with crappy content, bad design and some random
names of totally unknown people.

It's OK, it's all right. Kindly adjust :)

PS - I am an Indian startup-ist a$$hole.

~~~
plinkplonk
First, a bunch of jokers attempt a YC clone with IAccelerator and now another
bunch of jokers manage to do it even worse.

"You aren't a gift, you're a business- your business is making entrepreneurs
think you can further their business. Your website is unprofessional and
doesn't mention who you are, and who you are is the most important."

Engrave this on a wall and read it aloud every day.

"It's all because of an attitude which is typical to Indian pseudo-VCs. They
think they are doing startup-ists[sic] a big favour by investing in them."

Amen! And we wonder why the world laughs at us. I am an Indian developer and
all I can say to this "venture firm" is .. I wouldn't be caught dead within a
100 miles of you. I would love to see who would, really.

YC works because of PG and his team, not the 20 k $ (or whatever the amount is
these days) that they invest in a startup. Unless you have a fraction of the
credibility he brings to the table, you have no business being a _YC_
"inspired" firm.

~~~
prog
> First, a bunch of jokers attempt a YC clone with IAccelerator and now
> another bunch of jokers manage to do it even worse.

So whats the deal with IAccelerator? This is the first I have hear of it. And
the two comments I see in this thread are no so positive about it.

~~~
plinkplonk
"So whats the deal with IAccelerator? "

<http://news.ycombinator.net/item?id=842150>

