
Instacat – the kitten delivery service - gregdrm
http://www.instacat.info
======
sciurus
From the footer: "This isn't a real product. Just something I built on a plane
to make Brandon laugh."

~~~
giggles_giggles
It should be pretty obvious it's a joke. The logo is the same as the Instacart
logo, just modified slightly to have cat ears ;)

~~~
ceejayoz
> It should be pretty obvious it's a joke.

Uber has delivered kittens before, so we need a bit of a Poe's Law for startup
concepts.

"Without a winking smiley or other blatant display of humor, it is utterly
impossible to parody a startup idea in such a way that someone won't mistake
for the genuine article."

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ndeme2
I am currently in the middle of a lawsuit with the Instacat service. Instead
of delivering the cat I had selected, I received a hamster in a cat outfit
which bit my child. The cat outfit was also poor quality. My child's wound
became infected and then my husband divorced me. I am only 3 years old.

~~~
gregdrm
We apologize for the mixup ndeme2. There was some confusion in our A/B test
team (we were experimenting with alternative small mammal rentals). Please
email support and we'll provide you a free week of deliveries.

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synaesthesisx
Didn't these guys just close a $30 mil funding round (putting them at ~ $1.2b
valuation now?)

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hitekker
For a joke site, this is pretty well-designed! I was wondering if you used a
ThemeForest design or some other pre-packaged landing page, but, nope
completely unique.

On a side note (and perhaps also a shameless plug) maybe I should consider
renaming the browser extension I showed to HN the other day:
[http://instacats.co/](http://instacats.co/).

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sorenbs
Am I crazy to think this could actually work as a real business? The other day
I was telling a friend how I love the idea of having and walking a dog - once
in a while. Unfortunately my life doesn't allow me to have a dog in the
traditional full comitment way. But maybe there could be a way to get that
dog-owner experience the few days or weeks each month you would have the time.
It's obviously super important that the animals are treated well, so that is
probably difficult to do without making it too expensive to be viable.

~~~
yellowapple
If there's an animal shelter in your area, they tend to be in demand for
volunteers; based on what I've heard from family and friends who've
volunteered for the local SPCA shelter, for example, it sounds like it's right
up your alley.

~~~
magic_beans
They need a cool mobile app..

But also, from their website: "Volunteers must be able to commit to a minimum
of eight hours per month for a minimum of six months. Due to the extensive
training requirements, we are not able to accept short-term volunteers."

Not exactly "occasional dog owner", though I suppose 8 hours/month isn't a
huge commitment.

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venomsnake
It is not worse than some products that got real money behind them. If it got
you even for a second - we are in 1999 mode again.

~~~
fredkbloggs
This idea is significantly less dumb than many that have been funded (people
like cute furry animals, so they're ahead of advertising-supported iOS app
#213742 already). It's been 1999 for a while now. We're just waiting for the
Fed to raise interest rates like they did from June 1999 through May 2000,
with the killer blow being that last 50bp jump. Until then, you are cleared to
party on.

~~~
trhway
>We're just waiting for the Fed to raise interest rates like they did from
June 1999 through May 2000

doing it before elections changes the party in the White House, like in 2000
and 2008. So the question is what movie... err... president Fed would find
more entertaining - Bush 3, Even More Dumber or Clinton 2, I'm Back, Baby.

~~~
fredkbloggs
With an election cycle lasting a full 3 years, it's always "before elections".
The Fed is immune to lawsuits and the FOMC members cannot be removed from
office no matter what. They have been given that independence for a reason,
much like the Supreme Court justices (not that it's a good reason, but it's
still a reason). If they aren't willing to use it, they shouldn't have it.
It's long past time to normalize rates, and doing so will put paid to the VC
mania just as it did 15 years ago. So be it.

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anigbrowl
I don't know about this - it's going to be disorienting for some cats to get
switched around between so many different environments. What will the firm do
about a cat that starts acting out - running away, clawing, or more commonly,
spraying to make territorial markings? Cats prize stability and even a cat
that hasn't been in the habit can suddenly take up such behaviors.

Source: many years of experience of up to 10 cats at once. I wouldn't mind if
this service also offered to pick up excess cats (I have too many due to a
neighbor abandoning hers on me) but I would feel guilty about not setting them
up with a more permanent environment.

~~~
bryondowd
Not to mention, what happens to these kittens when they grow up? Are they put
down? Maybe ground up and fed to the next batch of cuteness to be shipped out?
So many questions!

Note: I took the parent as being tongue-in-cheek. I apologize if I
misinterpreted.

~~~
breischl
I think once they become too problematic, you turn them into Bonsai Kittens.
Still cute, but they really can't be a problem anymore!

[http://bonsaikitten.com/bkintro.php](http://bonsaikitten.com/bkintro.php)

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echeese
Too bad it's fake. I'd pay a lot of money for Maru to be _my_ cat.

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whymsicalburito
How could they not say "Sign up meow"??

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gregdrm
Well it does say "Request Invite Meow"...

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qume
My cat stood on the power button for too long on my keyboard today and killed
my work-in-progress. I think renting might be better than owning as I could be
without a kitty when working.

~~~
jeffbarr
Maybe your cat needs a power button...

~~~
yellowapple
Relevant:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T9TmmF79Rw0](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T9TmmF79Rw0)

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ebiester
I think I'd start with dogs, really. Trained therapy dogs that come with a
trainer for a couple hours to businesses and individuals.

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jankassens
everkitten.com was a similar fake service. Subscription to have a jung kitten.
[https://web.archive.org/web/20140218072828/http://everkitten...](https://web.archive.org/web/20140218072828/http://everkitten.com/)

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steanne
Actually, Uber does this, though not all the time.

[http://newsroom.uber.com/austin/2014/10/uberkittens-is-
back/](http://newsroom.uber.com/austin/2014/10/uberkittens-is-back/)

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opcvx
Who here would pay ~15$ to rent a healthy cat for an hour or two? Seems like
an interesting idea.

 _Guaranteed no toxoplasmosis!_

On a second thought, getting a cat is really not a problem, but this would
provide entertainment without the responsibility.

~~~
Nadya
It's like a Cat Cafe that comes to you. But without the coffee and food.

~~~
shortstuffsushi
That's the second tier of the pricing.

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HenryTheHorse
"Kittens-as-a-service. Now with 9x availability"

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georgeglue1
Is just this a subtle ad? The twitter/facebook on the bottom direct to a
website-maker company.

~~~
gregdrm
It was not intended to be... just a joke :) Any backlinks don't hurt though...

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bjwbell
This would make a great episode plot in HBO's Silicon Valley.

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therealmarv
How was it designed and made? It is well designed at first view.

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kra34
It's currently the #1 Product Hunt startup of the day

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md224
I wish this was real.

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istvan__
An absolute must! I wish there was something for real.

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rshlo
$1B valuation in 3..2..1..

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MichaelCrawford
s/dilvery/deliver/

~~~
gregdrm
Text editor on a plane with a dyslexic writer... not a good combination. And
the scotch... that probably didn't help either. Fixed! Thanks :)

~~~
MichaelCrawford
Are you familiar with the Bonsai Kittens?

