
Thanks for your patience about all the (YC S12) - pg
I realize the frontpage has been clogged with launches recently.  It's because Demo Day is coming up in a few days.  Every batch I tell the startups not to wait till the last minute before launching, but most always do anyway, with the result that there's a glut of launches a week before.<p>The good news is that the flood should be peaking about now.  In the meantime, thanks for putting up with it.  Although for HN readers the volume of launches probably starts to become an annoyance, for each startup that's launching it's big deal.
======
tptacek
Have we really gotten to the point where we can assume readers on HN are
_annoyed_ by hearing about new company launches? It's sad that this warrants
an apology.

~~~
pg
I think it's not so much the individual launches that annoy people as the fact
that there are so many at once. It throws off the usual mix on the frontpage.

~~~
dmix
I find all of the job posts from YC companies that launched years ago most
distracting.

Launches are interesting to a general audience.

Jobs only to a small niche.

~~~
waterlesscloud
Agreed, the launches are interesting. YC job ads I see one of the ways the
site pays for itself.

But seriously, tech startup launches? As opposed to another shallow-but-
emotionally-intense political discussion? Easy choice.

~~~
aaronblohowiak
When you see the same startup over and over again, it does raise an eyebrow as
well.

~~~
heretohelp
Oooh, ooh, I can play this game! I used to play Guess Who as a kid!

Doooooes their name begin with a number?

Do they wear glasses?

------
Kilimanjaro
Look Paul, I know you don't want to spend time coding and upgrading this site,
your time is more valuable managing your business and dealing with all the new
startups coming down the pipe.

But it would greatly benefit you, the startups and the readers if you had a
section with all the upcoming startups, their founders bio, and a place to
showcase their products.

Something like crunchbase, but better. Organized by batch (YC S12). Searchable
by funders, VCs, etc.

We want to see what your guys are working on and give them props for their
work!

~~~
froo
This. I've been using HN for years now (significant portions of that time as
purely stalking) and I check it rarely, but I'm very interested in these
startups as I've had nothing but praise for the ones who's products I do use.

It would be a great help in trying out their stuff.

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cperciva
I don't mind seeing the launches on the front page here, but I wish I could
see them all together rather than haphazardly like this. Is there any chance
we could have a /yc-s12 list which has all the posts with "(YC S12)" in the
title?

~~~
tptacek
I'm the total opposite. It might be nice to see all the launches in one place,
but the relative position of each YC12 launch on the front page conveys
information about the level of enthusiasm HN has. As long as nothing from
Torrentfreak hits the site at the same time.

~~~
jmduke
on a related note, it feels like anything with a (YC S12) tag in the title
gets an arbitrarily high number of upvotes (ViaCycle, for example, got like 40
upvotes in around 30 minutes.)

I don't mean to profane YC, but I seriously doubt an otherwise uninventive
bikesharing company would get so much attention if it didn't have the S12
brand behind it.

~~~
tptacek
I am interested to know that people are starting bikesharing companies, for
whatever that's worth.

~~~
jmduke
Why?

I don't mean that to be condescending; I really just don't get it. All of the
bikeshare programs to which I've been exposed are more expensive than a bike
purchase by two years of membership, and none of them (ViaCycle included) seem
to mitigate the biggest issue; bike parts are theft-prone.

~~~
Inufu
Sharing a bike is cool if you need it only sometimes, like a few times a month
or less. Or if you don't have space to store your own bike.

~~~
jmduke
My point is that most bikesharing programs I've seen average in the
$50-$75/year range (ViaCycle included), and an entry-level (as in 'this won't
win you any races, but you can ride it to the store') bike costs $100.

The space point is apt, but I can't imagine that the space constraints for
your own bike (any bike rack) is more specific than a viaCycle location.

~~~
1337biz
The main selling point for bikesharing programs is that they deliver some form
of ease-of-mind. The core benefit is, that you don't have to spend any
thoughts on these bikes, they are just there - no maintenance, no charring-
around, no winter-issues (depending on your region), no theft, etc. But then
again I am an avid user of one of these services and might be a bit biased.

~~~
larrys
"The core benefit is, that you don't have to spend any thoughts on these
bikes, they are just there - no maintenance, no charring-around, no winter-
issues"

Exactly. Commonly known as a "turnkey" experience. Something to also keep in
mind when developing products or services.

I had such a service business years ago. The main thing we did was offer
something and not require any thinking on the part of the customer. We limited
their choices, gave them advice, and made things very easy. They liked that.
They had less to think about than with our competitors. (We were able to
charge more and our quality wasn't really that good.) We saved them time and
the stress of making decisions.

------
8ig8
I actually like seeing the launch announcements, but I would prefer if they
didn't come via TechCrunch.

(My main opposition is that the TechCrunch website is like playing Russian
Roulette with my v1 iPad. It crashes frequently.)

~~~
MichaelApproved
I upvoted your comment but I doubt we'll stop seeing the TC announcements.
There's probably an unspoken quid pro quo agreement that TC covers the
launches in exchange for exclusivity and traffic from HN.

~~~
pg
Actually all the other TC-like sites will also cover a launch in return for an
exclusive. The reason most people go with TC is simply that it's the default.

~~~
MichaelApproved
Others would cover for exclusivity but I'm assuming you're going with TC
because they're the most popular for your target audience.

I mistakenly included _exclusivity_ as unspoken when that's likely a standard
agreement when trying to get a story covered.

------
samstave
Can we have a new link at the top of the HN page which wil take me to the: "YC
Batch" section. Then all the YC launches/news can be under that one category -
and the regular news feed can be about the general happenings in our industry?

You could also have historical batches as well. So if I want to find out
anything on YC11 - I go to their batch page?

~~~
rdl
All I really care about is them being very consistent with how they indicate
YC in the title (so it can be searched for); always YC S11 not YC11 or YCS11
or YC Summer 2011 or S11 or whatever.

At some point, having actual tags per-submission could be cool too. Sort of a
stopgap on the way toward Reddit-style subreddits. Tag posts with admin,
security, python, vc, ...

------
kaiserama
I'm curious why there isn't a place on HN where we can see the startups for
each of the classes including their web site, industry, a description of their
service, etc.

I know there are a few resources online, but they don't seem to be kept
completely up to date. Personally, I love reading about the startups and would
prefer to have that information made available here in an organized fashion
than having to read about them on TC or elsewhere.

Anyway, no apologies necessary for me! :)

~~~
gscott
They likely do not have a page because each startup needs to go out and
develop an audience, work at it. Try to solve problems and become popular that
way. Also by not listing the startups, it makes it more mysterious. This way
if a lot of startups fail, it is not like there is a list on the site or that
they suddenly disappear, it would look bad. Better to celebrate success then
mourn the losses.

~~~
kaiserama
Good points for past classes, but I don't see the harm in listing the current
class. On the other hand TC seems to cover them, so I'll lower my hand now :)

------
Raphael
"Thanks for your patience about all the" is quite an unorthodox name for a
company.

------
opminion
For those of us who grew up reading heavily editorialised printed press,
having (voted up) news about hackers in a site called hacker news shouldn't be
too painful.

------
fourstar
Just put a link next to Submit:

ask | jobs | YC S12

------
humbyvaldes
I always found it confusing reading about all of them on the same day on
techcrunch. One yc startup launching per day gives me enough attention time to
learn what they are building and doing. I actually think it's a good strategy.

------
d0m
No apology is needed.. that's among the most interesting articles of HN in my
opinion. As someone else pointed out, I'd prefer to see the post from the
founders rather than by Techcrunch thought.

------
rglover
It's actually exciting to see all of these companies coming to fruition. If
anything, it'd be nice to see an official "who's launched" list so we can
check everything out.

------
huhtenberg
Paul, have you considered making a formal staggered launch schedule? All of
them launching at the same time makes every launch that much less remarkable.

------
rjsamson
I, for one, love seeing all the new companies launching - Hacker News feels
like an even livelier more vibrant place this time of year. Keep 'em coming!

------
netmau5
Don't worry, even if every YC company ever chartered launched today, it would
not outnumber the Twitter me-too posts.

------
dclaysmith
So far so good. Interesting batch.

------
RealGeek
Would it be better to post 'Show HN' with a direct link rather than
Techcrunch?

------
kenferry
Really not annoying at all, they're always interesting to see.

------
staunch
I love to see them, but it is hard to keep up with so many.

------
derrida
I didn't even notice.

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sharingancoder
When is demo day?

------
rokhayakebe
Hey, you welcome!

