

Ask HN: [video] Can i get feedback for my YC S13 hardware pitch? - atrajan

would love the community feedback<p>http://youtu.be/bgsWYDCOvA8
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allsystemsgo
Oh dear.

Okay there's a lot of issues.

You say "Uh." a lot. Don't do this.

The video quality isn't very good. Do you have a prototype? Maybe a cad
drawing? If so, you should show this.

It's kind of interesting that you're talking about posture yet you're slouched
over a laptop in your pitch.

This is YC. They have a lot of cash and you need to convince them to throw
this wad of cash at you. The reality is, if you were placed in front of a
potential customer, it wouldn't go well if you spoke the same way you're
speaking now.

I believe that you have great technical skills but, you need to be a salesman
too. I would recommend writing a script in your case.

Also it may be worth investing a few hundred bucks to hire a videographer
[sp?]. You want to put your best foot forward.

You need someone that's pretty creative to market the idea to YC. Based on
what I've seen in this video, you're not really the marketing type. That's
okay though! You can either find someone, or hire them just for this video
pitch!

Good luck! Keep us posted.

~~~
rabidonrails
I'm not sure you're on target here. Your describing everything that PG says
not to do in the video:

"The video should contain nothing except the founders talking. No screenshots
or postproduction wizardry please; we don't want this to turn into a video
making contest. If you're going to spend time making something cool, put it
into your demo/product.

Please do not recite a script written beforehand. Just talk spontaneously as
you would to a friend. People delivering memorized speeches (or worse still,
text read off the screen) usually come off as stupid. Unless you're a good
enough actor to fake spontaneity, you lose more in the stilted delivery than
you gain from a more polished message."

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thetrumanshow
Hi atrajan, I like the concept and I think there are a lot of large companies
who would contract with you to provide those services. Still, the concept
certainly doesn't seem easy to scale. You need ergo experts either jet-setting
across the globe or regional people who can handle major accounts.

Nothing seems self-servicey about this (probably not your intention), which
means you'll need a large investment beyond building the product. And, well,
that's just fine, but it also means that organization and cash-flow is going
to be a big issue, and hopefully your team is prepared for that.

I would say the barrier for you guys is having sales skills out the wazzoo.

Best of luck!

~~~
atrajan
thank you. our current plan is to go the kick starter route. Thereby also
validating the interest in an ergo smart chair. We have a prototype unit built
to test our hypothesis and have got favorable interest by ergo experts. Yes we
are too early to plan to scale ... but just delivering locally in the bay area
can be a good start.

------
mikeruby
Working remotely.. can sometimes work, but when a team is together fighting
the crazy battles to create a successful company from the ground up, you
really need to be together to form the bond and grind all the hard shit
together.

~~~
kohanz
Marissa Mayer, is that you? ;)

