

Beyond apps: These startups are tackling real-world problems - edrizio
http://news.cnet.com/8301-11386_3-57599422-76/beyond-apps-these-startups-are-tackling-real-world-problems/

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basicallydan
Rather than getting defensive in response to this article let's actually try
and understand what the author is trying to say.

It's nothing to do with "nobody thought that x would take off until it did!"
AirBnB and Dropbox were solving big problems in innovative ways.

> For example, take one of the stars of the show, SpoonRocket, an organic food
> delivery service that charges only $6 a meal and was described exuberantly
> as "fast food 2.0" and the "the Uber of food." While it's a great idea --
> the service cooks only one meat and vegetarian meal a day in bulk and
> delivers with heater-equipped trucks -- the presentation was an almost
> comical display of Valley startup priorities.

What the author is trying to say is that the startups that sell are the ones
that can compare themselves to other, successful companies and talk about
money rather than pointing out how great a product is and what good it's doing
for people.

The startups he's praising are addressing problems which will not only make
the founders some money but also are creating some social good.

> But what was once a springboard for major players in now-colossal markets
> like shared services and consumer cloud storage has of late been consumed by
> the mundane, overdone, or just outright indulgent. This year was no
> exception: there were not one, but two food delivery services; a laundry
> delivery company; a flower delivery company; another supposed email killer;
> and a company that hopes to replace physical restaurant menus with digital
> versions on your tablet. You can hold your applause.

Here, he's despairing at all the copycat companies which are taking models of
existing businesses and modifying them slightly. These companies are adding
value in places where, arguably, no value needs to added. They're not changing
the world, they're just making the lives of people who already have fairly
easy lives easier, because it's easy to replicate and is already tested.

He may not have put his point across very well but I can see why he's upset.
What we expect from YC companies is game-changing innovation, really big
thinking and super cool, new tech. What we often get is the same businesses
copied-and-pasted a few times masquerading as an innovative, <whatever> 2.0
business. That doesn't mean they shouldn't exist or succeed; hopefully they
will. It's just not very interesting or exciting.

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amirmc
_"... it's still difficult to believe that any of the recent startup school
candidates will ever grow into tech darlings like Airbnb or Dropbox did."_

It was once difficult for many people to believe that Airbnb or Dropbox would
become ... Airbnb and Dropbox.

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thecosas
The backlash on "frivolous" apps is refreshing to see on HN :o)

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woah
refreshing to see some real problem solving in the valley, after unrealistic
companies like "twitter" and "airbnb". an entire service based around a
character limit? a site where you rent your spare bedroom to random strangers?
These people are crazy and those things will never work. I'm really glad to
finally see some companies that I can understand. Except for this weird food
delivery one.

~~~
henryaj
This is a joke, right? Airbnb has changed the way I, and many other people,
travel abroad. It's made a marketplace (in holiday accommodation and, perhaps
more importantly, local hospitality) where there wasn't one before.

~~~
Terretta
Hosting has long been a respectable way to travel but its marketing wasn't
scaled.

AirBnB is a very nice looking Craigslist for hosting. It may have created new
behaviors among some millennials, but the _chambre d 'hôte_ crowd has been
doing this since the 1800s.

[http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chambre_d'hôtes](http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chambre_d'hôtes)

I strongly preferred this approach versus hostels. I looked rooms up in dog-
eared books at the tiny local "tourist office" (often sharing duty as post
office or tobacco store). There was always something dirt cheap, though it was
never quite clear what you'd find when you got to the room.

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001sky
The poor, the elderly, etc. is abit of a change from a blinkered focus on
ABC1s and their offspring. It's perhaps not so much the means, but the markets
they are targeting which are notable.

