
YC Office Hours at TC Disrupt [Live] - tilt
http://techcrunch.com/disrupt/
======
emanuer
I was on stage (testranking.com) I completely froze when PG started to fire
questions at me. It is amazing how fast he got to the core points.

It was my first time on stage, it is really hard to prepare for this kind of
experience.

~~~
chaud
I looked at your site after it finally started working again during your
segment. Why is the Macbook Pro ranked #1 for gaming laptops? It has superior
build quality, but gaming performance leaves plenty to be desired compared to
many of the laptops below it. It also costs much more, which doesn't seem to
be factored in to the price.

The ASUS G73SW-A1 listing says this in the Display summary:

"Looking at the screen both indoors and outdoors is a generally enjoyable
experience"

Then this in the Display details:

"The reflections on this screen cause its usability to be close to minimal.
Users will only be able to comfortably view the display in either dark
environment or with the least possible amount of lighting. Outdoor use will
prove to be absurd; patience and continuous focus will be required for any
actual and efficient use of this laptop under medium lighting conditions."

These seem contradictory, and there were little inconsistencies everywhere I
looked.

It is a fun idea/project though!

~~~
Aga
To be fair, the category topped by the MacBook Pro is not "gaming" but
"performance and gaming".

The MBP is known to be a good match for many "performance"-tasks such as video
editing and graphical work.

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toot
Can anyone comment as to the quality of these interviewees in relation to the
proper YC applicants?

It seems that some of the guys wouldn't know their arse from their elbow. I
appreciate how stressful it would be on stage, however a lot of them just
didn't grasp the fundamentals of business or communicate a clear value prop.

Were past YC companies more polished during their first elevator pitches, or
is it something that comes with practice?

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covercash
<http://cardflick.io>

<http://testranking.com>

<http://omniplaces.com>

<http://slides.io>

I think there were 2 others but the stream was on in the background while I
was working. I must have zoned out and missed them.

~~~
durga
just tried out omniplaces.com. works pretty fast, i kinda like it. though when
I looked for burgers near palo alto, i mostly got burger king and in and out,
though that's fixable.

One could potentially build a yelp like website with this search experience -
especially if you don't manipulate reviews :)

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qF
I would've loved to hear some more from Harj, he got some good questions in
but it seemed to me he had a hard time actually hearing the interviewees (and
vica versa). Plus Paul's enthusiasm probably didn't make it easier to get a
question in (not meant as critique towards Paul). \-- It's really interesting
and it has to potential to transfer a lot of startup/business related
knowledge in a short amount of time. But it could definitely be optimized
(better seating arrangement/better sound). Perhaps it takes away some of the
spontaneity, but picking more _suitable_ startups beforehand and perhaps a
5min briefing for the interviewers so you can get to the point more quickly
would go a long way.

I've done a bit of research on how to transfer expertise and I feel that this
(public office hours) really is an effective way to do just that, you can
learn a lot from this, even if you're not the interviewee.

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shawndrost
"Allow me to give some backgrou..." "NOOO we don't have time! Just tell me who
is the user."

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chenli
I am the person talking about OmniPlaces.com. It's an amazing experience and
Paul was right-on with his questions. Given the time limit, I was not able to
answer all the questions. Our site provides powerful search features (instant,
error tolerant and local), which are important for location-based apps and
mobile apps. In addition, we provide aggregated links to other important sites
such as Yelp, Foursquare, and Gowalla. Our core value is the backend
technology and product developed by Bimaple, which are also ready to be used
by other companies.

Chen Li

~~~
durga
Chen,

A few suggestions: 1\. Prepare answers to basic questions about your business
before you go on stage/interview. Practice with someone. 2\. Actively listen
and try to understand what the interviewer is asking for. Don't answer
question B when interviewer is asking question A. 3\. Think about what use
cases your product could quickly become a hit with. Keep some examples ready.

Having said that, I tried out your webapp, and really like the speed of search
as well as the quick zoom in and out based on how many search results you
found. Get someone to help you with interaction and visual design so you can
polish the look, feel and experience. Also try to think through all the steps
a user would go through to achieve their goal when they come to your website.

~~~
chenli
Durga,

Thanks a lot for your suggestions. They are all very valid. (1) I should admit
we didn't do any preparation before the interview since we didn't think we
could get selected. (2) When I watched the video tonight, I also noticed that
I should have let Paul finish his questions before trying to answer them. For
Harj, I had a hard time hearing his questions possibly due to the distance,
even though you guys could hear him clearly through his microphone. (3) We
will improve the UI of our site.

I should emphasize that we currently use OmniPlaces.com to demonstrate our
backend technologies. Our main focus is companies who can use our search
technologies. Our goal is not to compete with Google Local. We want to develop
OmniPlaces as a site that can aggregate information from other sites, such as
Yelp and Foursquare, which can provide valuable information to end users.

Thank you.

Chen Li

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revorad
The first guy had a business with millions of users, a partnership with Apple,
and 20% monthly growth rate. He seems to have gone on stage just to show off!

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bignoggins
Darn, just missed it. Is it available recorded yet?

~~~
revorad
<http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/17234044>

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chaud
I could watch this all day. These people are presenting with such fundamental
problems and it is fun to see them try to downplay them when questioned.

~~~
zach
This is uniquely entertaining. I would love to see this more often.

What this really highlights is that entrepreneurs aren't put face to face with
someone as incisive and BS-resistant as PG or Harj nearly often enough.

Maybe there's an opportunity for an Ask Your Target Market like service which
specializes in reality checks for entrepreneurs.

~~~
dreamdu5t
People at the top of the pyramid almost always suffer from groupthink more
than anyone else, because they have the fewest people both able and willing to
say no to them.

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joshmlewis
If you guys watch a little bit later after the talk with Peter Thiel and his
partner they did a little segment with PG and Harj. It was very interesting.
They talked about the difference of what that was and what interviews and
office hours are like. Not sure if it was recorded are not.

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orky56
Key takeaways or at least the main ideas behind PG and Harj's questions &
comments-

What pain point are you solving? Is it something you dealt with (or the market
deals with)? How do you go about using the product? What is the killer feature
of your product that will allow a user to switch from their current method?

Essentially, do you have product-market fit and an intuitive user experience.

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tilt
Paul Graham and Harj Taggar on stage right now

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suking
This omni places guy is absolutely brutal.

~~~
mkeblx
And that should be a softball question: why are you doing this startup over a
multitude of others you could be doing?

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wavephorm
Did pg say "I worry..." on purpose?

~~~
fbuilesv
He likes to do that a lot, see [http://techcrunch.com/2011/05/25/absolute-
must-watch-office-...](http://techcrunch.com/2011/05/25/absolute-must-watch-
office-hours-with-paul-graham-at-tc-disrupt/)

