

Show HN: My post-YC-rejection start-up - greglockwood

http://invincibilitee.com<p>Me and my co-founder submitted an app for YC W11, with a web site that would help college graduates figure out what jobs they could get with their chosen degree. We got a rejection email, and already had this as a back-up idea in case we did get rejected. So in the month between rejection and today, we found a printer, found some graphic designers, and got enough done that we felt comfortable with it as a first iteration. I know there aren't so many non-web app startups on HN, but I thought y'all might like to see how 2 guys rebounded from YC rejection.
======
talbina
You should design some shirts and submit them. Don't wait for users.

<http://www.invincibilitee.com/SearchResults.asp?Cat=88>

Empty page.

When Reddit was starting out, one of the founders was submitting stories all
day for a couple of months, under different usernames. Just saying.

~~~
greglockwood
We have, but they are under the Limited Production page:
<http://www.invincibilitee.com/SearchResults.asp?Cat=101>

The link you posted is for legacy shirts, that have proven to sell well and
will be available permanently.

I know the 3-tier system might be a little confusing, and we are trying to
make it as intuitive as possible. That's why I posted this, so thank you for
the suggestions!

~~~
kertap
I don't think it's that intuitive. After see the awesome shark picture I went
looking for more and clicked the T-Shirts link under invincibilitee.

If you're not going to put something under the first link in your side bar
maybe you should have a message on that page directing the user to the non
immortal tees.

~~~
greglockwood
Very good point. Doing that now. Thanks again everyone for the suggestions!

------
talbina
The stock photo with the Live Chat button. Please get rid of it, thanks.

~~~
SupremumLimit
Yeah, that corporate happy face clashes with the rest of the design.

~~~
greglockwood
Point taken. I'll see about getting it changed.

------
vabmit
<http://www.zazzle.com/> is already very dominant and vertically integrated in
that space. Did you knowingly launch a clone? Or, think that this was an
original idea? How do you hope to compete with them and the others doing the
same thing? What's your value add?

To me, this space seems too cots, low margin, and crowded, to even build a
lifestyle business in. But, good luck!

~~~
greglockwood
Zazzle is a large custom t-shirt company. We do not make custom tees for
people, we are our own brand that offers select designs created by artists
around the world.

If I was to compare us to an already established company, it would be much
closer to Threadless, Design by Humans, or Uneetee than Zazzle. We are aware
that we are not the first to create a shirt company in this manner, but we
believe that there is plenty of room in the market, and that our original and
exclusive designs will help us cave out our own niche in the market.

------
swanson
I checked the FAQ briefly and didn't see this mentioned -- what happens in
regards to the design rights of something I submit? I see that I get a royalty
payment and a one-time lump sum, but do I retain the rights to my own design?
Can I post it on your site and then sell it on my own site or another
(Cafepress, etc). Or is part of the agreement that I am transferring ownership
over to you guys?

~~~
greglockwood
On the submission page, there is a large font link to the Submission Release
form which answers any questions like that.
(<http://www.invincibilitee.com/SearchResults.asp?Cat=125>) As long as it's
just a submitted design (as in we have not accepted to use the design), you
give us a 60 day window of not offering it to other sites or vendors. If we
don't ask to use it within that 60 days, you can do whatever you'd like with
it again. If we reach an agreement with you to use the design, you retain
ownership of the design, but transfer exclusive rights to use it to us. So,
basically, you can't let anyone else use it, but we can't take it and sell it
either.

The Submission Release form explains it in a more "legalese" way. We use
LegalZoom for our legal documents such as the Submission Release form.

------
netmau5
Nice to see you're back at it again and weren't afraid to publish your first
iteration. I prepared some feedback for you at
<http://www.sparkmuse.com/feedback/Invincibilitee>, I hope you find it
helpful.

------
JPK5
Did you give up on your 1st idea just because YC rejected you?

I've had a similar idea in the past, and I think there is a market for a such
a site. I think it's a shame you gave up on something because of one
rejection.

~~~
greglockwood
We have not given up on the college degree idea yet, but we see it as a
longer-term project in terms of setup, so we put it on the shelf while we were
able to get this setup in a relatively quick order (a month).

So no, we haven't given up, and we too think there is a market for the site.

------
greglockwood
Clickable link: <http://invincibilitee.com>

