

I changed my opinion on Color after seeing this Interview with Bill Nguyen - arnorhs
http://arnorhs.com/2011/03/30/i-changed-my-opinion-after-seeing-this-interview-with-colors-ceo-bill-nguyen/

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WA
There is a really simple solution to the problem that color tries to solve:
Put your phone away, go to the group of people you want to interact with and
say Hello. This is something that can be practiced and improved over time. You
might feel like an idiot for the first 5 times or 10 times. Or even 50 times.
Who cares? I can go up to anyone and talk to them, so can you. It's a matter
of practice.

Hiding behind a stupid app that lets you see pictures of the people around you
doesn't solve the problem of social interaction in any way, because you are
still separated from them until you walk up and say Hi. What the app really
does is make you complacent in your comfort zone.

It's kind of funny that the author talks about proximity, since proximity
truly benefits the most of having real people around you and interacting with
them in the good old fashioned way. Talking to the guys, flirting a bit with
the ladies. There is really no need for an additional layer of abstraction
(like the Color app).

~~~
th555
I think they're trying to enable "introverts," give them confidence and an
icebreaker to approach people around them. Your solution, "put away your
phone" is easier said than done, especially for introverts. Personally I hate
being glued to my phone in public as many people are, because it reminds me of
how far apart people are by using their phone as a crutch to not interact.

Its hard to predict how color might affect an outdoor street atmosphere, but
their goals are admirable.

~~~
Tyrannosaurs
Introvert and social recluse are not the same thing.

I'm an extrovert (happy speaking publicly, I think out loud and so on) but not
by nature particularly sociable. At least one good friend is the opposite.

Introversion / extroversion is a way of interacting and thinking, not a
measure of desire to interact with people socially.

~~~
epo
You are correct that being introverted and a social recluse are not the same
thing.

Extroversion is the characteristic of being outgoing and comfortable in social
interactions. It has _nothing_ to do with speaking publicly which is more
about controlling performance anxiety, many actors and other performers are
introverted in private life.

People who self declare to be "not by nature particularly sociable" may be
introverts, some of them may be social recluses, what they aren't is
extrovert.

~~~
Tyrannosaurs
I agree with the speaking in public, that's a bad example.

But in terms of people who self declare themselves "not by nature particularly
sociable" not being extroverted, I disagree and offer myself up as an example.

I am an extrovert. Psychological testing confirms this (and I'm a strong
extrovert, not just marginal and this has been tested more than once) and no-
one who has ever met me or worked with me would suggest anything else.

But I am also not by nature particularly sociable. I am an only child and by
default prefer my own company (or that of a small number of close, established
friends). I could happily spend days on end alone and often turn down the
chance to go out because I don't particularly like the experience.

Extroversion is a way of thinking. While it may correlate with sociability,
being an extrovert and being anti-sociable are in no way mutually exclusive.

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nikcub
If you have ever worked with GPS you would know that it is terrible in near-
field applications. for eg. you can't pin a user to an exact location, let
alone which floor of a building they are on. Color's attempt to solve this
problem by using bluetooth, image recognition, the microphone etc. is very
important.

That alone could be a killer application.

Thinking back at the Color launch, I don't know what they could have done
different. They had a lot of coverage, but the lead story was criticism over
the amount of money raised.

This leads me to think that the startup and tech audience today is a lot more
pessimistic when fundraising is involved. Only a few years ago raising $41M
from Sequoia would get a lot of positive attention. It would be something that
every entrepreneur would loved to shout from the rooftops. The lead story
would be 'there must be something interesting here' as opposed to 'wtf are
they smoking'.

The attitude may have changed because of the financial crisis, or general
pessimism, or because the audience is expecting every startup now to be
bootstrapped and funded with $10k.

Color did find themselves in a tough situation with a reaction that they
likely didn't foresee. I wish some of the initial coverage was in-depth and
analytical as some of the follow-up coverage has been. The entire point of
pre-briefing and embargo's is supposed to be to avoid the rash quick
judgement.

~~~
arnorhs
Yes, Color's technology is impressive. Especially if it can detect which floor
you're on etc..

I'm betting they have some hidden tech or application or some sort of insight
which causes the valuation. It's also very possible that Sequoia just really
wanted to get into the space and just needed a team to team up with and make
something epic.

Time will tell

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Tichy
Most of the time when I would use such an app the people locally around me are
not connected to me in any way - like in a bar or a cafe.

Will a social recluse build the next social network? It seems a bit counter
intuitive, but then it's supposed to have worked for Mark Zuckerberg.
Certainly a lot of people would appreciate networking without investing any
work. No more "become my friend" button - just stand next to somebody and
kaboom, you have a new friend.

~~~
sp332
_Will a social recluse build the next social network?_

Quite possibly, if only to mop up the "long tail" left by Facebook.

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moblivu
I think the average person just flipped at the moment they saw the big 42
beside a new software they have never seen. I'm pretty sure if we would have
seen the Color app and idea by its own, we would have taken much more time to
investigate the story and potencial of the app rather than the reason of
funding.

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sequalia
May be i am wrong. But I think that pr funding news will kill early adopters.
Gmail, facebook, twitter early adopters in the most active parts are geeks.
Geeks love cool and new ideas. But when you know that millions are put on the
stake, that will encourage not to use their product. For tech audience stakes
are high and i cannot imagine pressure in colors ofise:) Everyone will expect
kind of "magic". The first product iteration is not enough polished to justify
prelaunch money. After seeing interview it's clear that they didn't have
communication strategy and all information storm got them off guard. There is
another problem with this big funding -the message clearly is we are sure you
wil love it because we are betting big. Bad pr move guys, for company to
succeed, and to get followers you must have mantra for your selves and clear
public message like no evil company in case of google. Perception is reality.
Now the message reads: color.com(domain name for 350 000 usd) have 42 millions
on their hands to change the world by making something useful (social app) and
to have profit by selling data to third parties. Guess what, if facebook was
communicated in public eye like color.com, they will be dead long ago.

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crux
I'll be honest: my experience with Color on my iPhone still sucks mightily,
but Mr. Nguyen is a terribly articulate, charismatic and obviously intelligent
individual, and the interview embedded on that page has really left me a lot
more inclined to check back and see how they're doing as Color iterates.

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jarin
I've said before that the bad PR is by no means a death knell for Color.

After watching this interview, I'm firmly convinced that they're going to find
some way to make it work, or find that one little piece of the app that people
latch on to and build that out. One of the things Bill said got me really
excited, and that was the idea of being able to walk into a room and see
something like "you might like to talk to Jason because you both work in the
technology field, here's his LinkedIn profile".

$41 million gets you a lot of leeway to experiment and make it work.

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extension
Calacanis is right, the launch was a huge success. If you can't cause mass
enthusiasm, the next best thing is mass controversy. Now everyone is falling
over themselves trying to figure out what Color is all about. Whatever they
do, they'll have no trouble getting noticed.

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javanix
_I changed my opinion on Color after realizing that saying as much in a blog
post would get me a ton of page views._

