I would love to see an AmA with a Color employee to get the inside scoop on what's going on there. It must be devastating for morale for a rumor to spread that everybody assumed was going to happen at some point anyway (was anybody surprised when their shutdown was announced? I didn't even bat an eye) and then have to come out and vehemently deny the rumor. And all the while the absentee CEO is galavanting around the world on some exotic "sabbatical" as his company burns to the ground. Only a matter of time until this news resurfaces again, only next time it will be for real.
I agree that this is a huge opportunity and a fantastic idea; I thought of a similar concept a few months back and came to the same conclusions. It's one of the reasons I'm bullish on companies like Square and Groupon; they have the relationships with the mom and pop businesses that could actually turn something like this into reality. Not to say a startup couldn't do it, it would just take that much more effort to get to the level where they are already.
Yep, right now I'm using Soundcloud and following a user on there who frequently posts new sets from popular artists. But it's just one user; I'd love to see that concept expanded upon and taken to a new site entirely. This site has been bookmarked; I'll be tracking to see where this goes!
And the font is about 10px and 30%K buried in the bottom corner. I can understand that would be desirable if the algorithm was more accurate in filtering bogus reviews, but that's clearly not the case so it just seems unscrupulous.
Wow, those 1-star reviews are pretty scathing too. I had no idea that negative reviews were filtered like that; that pretty much ruins my trust in the review component of the site. From now on, I'll be using Yelp for contact info. and price points...
I've been thinking about this exact idea for the past month or so and still love it. I recently tried Trunk Club, which is a similar service but they actually select the clothes for you and you only pay for what you keep and send the rest back. The inherent ownership problem still remains, though--there's yet one more pair of pants or shirt taking up space in your closet that you'll eventually get sick of (that and it was really expensive--like $175 for a button-down expensive).
I like the idea of having a somewhat curated selection of some top brands like Banana Republic, J.Crew, Gap, etc. and being able to choose a certain number of items to take out at one time. I'd pay upwards of $200/mo if it meant I had an endless rotation of new clothes to try on without having to keep. And if you like the garment? Feel free to keep it and pay retail.
The collaborative consumption model is disrupting industry after industry, and it's only a matter of time before someone gets it right in fashion. I would honestly consider starting this myself, but I just left a startup and joined the Goog less than a month ago--need some stability for awhile.
If you're looking for warmer weather + sunshine, then the Pacific Northwest isn't really going to do it for you as long as you're east of the Cascades (Seattle, PDX, etc). I just moved to SF from Portland, OR myself and the difference in climate is huge. Have you considered Austin, TX? It's pretty much the cultural hub of the south and there are a lot of cool things going on there with both startups and established companies. I lived in Houston for a couple years and the cost of living in TX is really low. It definitely gets hot as heck in the summer, but Austin isn't as humid as Houston so it's manageable. Plus, sunshine is in no short supply!
I remember people saying Google was steep at $85 when it IPOed in 2004. I think at their most basic level, they're fundamentally the same: Google defined search, and now Facebook is defining social. I'll be picking up some shares after the initial spike and resulting dip. Then settle in for years of steady growth (hopefully).
I am much more risk tolerant than most, as I gave up a $100K job to join the startup I mentioned a few months ago. The difference between that startup and this one is that I know one of the cofounders well, and both are very intelligent and accomplished (my friend is ex-McKinsey, the other co-founder is ex-McKinsey, Google, and Microsoft with a Harvard MBA). I definitely prefer a more unstructured, figure-shit-out environment which is one of the main reasons I left Shell in the first place.
Probably the biggest reason I would join Google is for the brand name (and, I think I will enjoy the work and the people too). Having Google next to your bio gives you instant credibility (like the quick summary of the co-founders above). The cofounders already have that, but I don't. The question is is it important enough to hinge a big decision on?
And as for why I want to live in the Bay area, I spent the last 4 months in SF and loved it. The weather, the people, the whole vibe are awesome. Plus my brother is now working in LA so we'd be close, although my parents are in Richmond, VA so I'd be closer to them in Pittsburgh.
Looming question at large: Is a brand name like Google necessarily better than being the first biz-dev hire at a promising startup? The startup isn't "sexy" like an airbnb, but they're already profitable and are getting more incoming leads each week which is great to see.
I can't imagine that it was. Having worked at a deals startup myself and spoken with many business owners who have done Groupon/LS, all they have to tell the company is "Well [insert competitor here] is giving me 70/30". They'd rather lower their commission than walk away from the deal. This will be a slow race to the bottom, although I'm encouraged to see Groupon experimenting with loyalty and analytics components. Regardless of popular sentiment, the SMB space has been underserved for awhile now and if they do figure out how to make it work, then they'll own local. I wouldn't count them out just yet.
I used to work at a "Groupon for X" startup and I can say that only closing 1 deal per month would be catastrophic results for a salesperson. I can't speak for Groupon, but I would put their targets at around 10-12 closed deals per month.
As a sales professional myself, I find it disheartening that so many view salespeople in the manner described. One of the cardinal rules of being a truly great salesperson is to believe in what you're selling (Zig Ziglar talks about this often). If you don't, customers and prospects will not only be able to smell it from a mile away, but your passion and desire to succeed will be nonexistent and you'll have to fight for every closed deal because you won't have anything convincing to say when the person on the other end decides to call you on your bullshit. Being a truly great salesperson means fundamentally understanding the needs of the customer and working together to discover ways that your product or service can deliver them benefit and a positive ROI. Sales is about asking questions and listening intently, and I believe the truly great people find a way to effectively sit on the same side of the table as the customer while at the same time delivering the objectives that their company requires. Honesty and integrity play a huge role in selling and business relationships, and any company that understands the value of maintaining long-term business relationships will work this into their sales incentive structure.
I just left a startup that was doing pretty much the opposite of every point made on this list. After 4 months of 90+ hour weeks, I woke up one day and asked myself "Why the hell am I doing this?" Work environments like that are neither healthy nor sustainable, but unfortunately I think a lot of it stemmed from the mindset that there's nobility in killing yourself at work and anything less than that makes you a p*y. Needless to say, turnover was ridiculously high and morale was terrible.
Create a simple landing page describing your service and include a sign-up field to notify people when it becomes available. Then, run an AdWords campaign on Google targeting keywords relating to your service that people may be searching for. You'll get a decent idea of interest by assessing your click through and conversion data after about a month.
You should definitely capitalize on the time of year and get your name out right around New Years resolution time (as in, now). Maybe put together a short write-up on a few similar apps in the space (including yours) and shoot it over to TC, Mashable, etc. and see if they'll do a New Years resolution app post. I was going to suggest cutting the price in half if you had priced it anything over $1, but perhaps you could offer it for free over the next few days just to increase adoption and capture the New Years resolution crowd. I can see this app going in several different directions (leaderboards for popular commits, holding friends accountable for commits, etc) and really like the concept! Kudos and good luck!
I think of a startup as a hypothesis, much like you'd find in science. Take problem X, apply Y solution, and make money by doing Z. The process of failing fast and often is akin to performing different experiments on what works and what doesn't. The major difference is that science is science and the results are clear cut and objective; with a startup, your results will depend on the quality of your team, the original idea, ability to get funding, market timing, etc.
As a former employee of a startup targeting college students, I can say based on experience that students just don't care about this stuff. Good luck though!
I'm not really a fan. The name doesn't lend itself to the type of site that you have. Also, try to get something that's 3 syllables or less; it will be easier to speak, type, and remember. The "tus" suffix makes me think of a disease or germ or something nasty; not exactly the feeling you want to convey when you're trying to get eyeballs on a tech blog. I actually spent a brief period of time consulting with new businesses on their company names, so I have a little experience in this area. To get the ideas flowing, take a piece of paper or open doc and start writing down words that have anything to do with your concept, directly or tangentially. Then, start playing around with prefixes and suffixes and coming up with combinations that look and sound good. My favorite name to come along recently is Quora, it's short, sweet, and applies directly to the type of site they have. Plus, it's unique and original. My two cents. If you'd like any further advice feel free to shoot me an email (it's in my profile). Good luck!