naeem

Can't speak for anyone else, but I've found it easier to integrate with my pre-existing layout.

EDIT: I was referring to Skeleton, btw

What about developers who just want to speed up the process a little and enjoy a bit more organization?

I'm giving my personal recommendation for this. It's cut my front-end development times extensively.

I think there's a critical difference between using a product due to familiarity (which is intrinsic with IE given the fact that it was here first) and using a product due to ubiquity and usefulness. One could say the latter is perhaps even scarier than the former - at least the formemr is a matter of habit as opposed to a lack of choice.

Seconded!

Great post! I've been interested in algo trading for quite some time now. It's one of the few ways that actually seem to make trading inherently fun!

I've started using Interstate with my team. The core features are great, and it definitely helps to get organized. The one fundamental problem that I've found early on with the product, which will be a severe detriment unless they can find a workaround, is that there isn't much that keeps me coming back. The only thing that would keep me coming back is a constant stream of updates, but the way that the system is set-up currently, updates come infrequently enough that I'm not concerned enough to regularly check it. This might change with a bigger team and once we get more involved, though. I think one way to improve is to build some type of real-time collaboration platform to supplement the core product. That may be too great a pivot, but the ability to actually use it as a communication suite for my team while building our roadmap is compelling.

Good points. I guess I'm not as concerned about entrepreneurs pursuing ideas which are inherently doomed, as much as entrepreneurs grasping for straws.

I'd like to think the idea I'm working on now has sufficient potential and charm! :-)

I'm worried that a lot of these ideas are taking Paul Graham's adage of solving simple problems a little bit too much to heart. The amount of effort that would be expanded into these ideas - and various other start-up ideas nowadays - generally appears to me to be more than it's worth.

I suppose my point is that entrepreneurs are spending too much time solving mundane, every-day problems which aren't that bad as opposed to looking at the big picture. I mean, don't get me wrong, I recognize that not everyone is going to build the next facebook... but if we don't strive for that, doesn't that eliminate the risk - and ultimately, the charm - of entrepreneurship? Or am I just bitter?

I'm starting to think it might just be the latter.

I think this idea definitely has some legs, but unless you incorporate it somehow with a pre-existing social networking framework or product, it's not really something that can turn into a fully defined product I think.

I worked as a sales manager at a group buying site which is a competitor of Groupon, and it amazed me how well off they were despite playing a domain you would expect to be monopolized by a goliath like Groupon. Just goes to show how much room for expansion there is in the niche.

I agree it's a sad day in US culture, but did anyone really suspect otherwise? How long can you really stay on air in this day and age commercial-free?

It's good and bad to see Apple really joining in to the cloud phenomenon. On the good note, nobody has really built a cloud service worth using yet, so Apple may very well be the first to do that. On the bad side, it's Apple, so it's probably going to come with a cost and interested developers will probably have to handcuff their left hand to a mac.

It's an interesting concept, especially considering his pedigree. I wonder if it's a developer niche that could take off.

A competition is a competition. While Google definitely has the leverage of it's name, it also has pressure to produce which freelance entrepreneurs do not. Ultimately I think good execution is all that matters... the Google brand will attract somebody to the product, but it won't make them use it.

All things considered, this is definitely fantastic. I was watching the TechCrunch TV video of Ashton Kutcher earlier today about his surprise (at the time) investment of Air BNB. Looks like this guy really knows what he's doing when it comes to investing - skype, foursquare, not abnb. Pretty cool.

Anyway, congrats to the abnb team, much deserved!

I'm not sure what the concern about "naughtiness" here is. There's a difference between being somewhat devious and being evil. I think what Paul is getting at is that you need to be willing to pounce on any opportunity to capitalize for your startup. It is a competition after all. Great article overall.