By: Tyler
I have been following YCombinator’s News section almost since its inception. I have seen the YC community in action; from the switch of “Startup News” to “Hacker News”, to the disappearance of nickb and his return. It is one of the best sites on the web for startup information. The members are passionate about the community they have built, the articles are often right on par and spam is kept to a minimum.
I recently noticed a shift of the material making its way to the front page. Almost a quarter of the Top 30 submissions were “Ask YC” questions (aka Ask HN and Ask PG). Instead of posting an article from the web, members ask each other startup advice. This is why YC News is a step above other article submission sites. Digg, Reddit, Yahoo Buzz and Sphinn all have a dedicated community, but not the level of involvement and support that YC members provide.
At a time when sites are doing whatever they can to grow, Paul Graham and the YC community make an effort to keep the population small and focused. This allows the material on the site to remain at such a high level instead of bogging it down with volume. That in it self is a lesson to every founder on the site. Volume instead of quality is a common objective that startups focus on that led them down the wrong path from the beginning.
No Comments • May 8th, 2008
By: Tyler
I have been against using twitter since its inception. The only basis for this was information overload. Do I really need another site to see what my friends are doing? Between MySpace, Facebook, personal blogs and countless IM services, I already know every move my friends make.
Last Friday one of the programmers at a startup I work at wanted to join twitter, and asked if I would join as well. I decided to do it and break my personal twitter ban. The first thing I noticed was many more people that I knew were using twitter than I thought. While only half of them were actually active, I was still stunned.
The other big surprise was the involvement from the general twitter community. Outside of your friends, which are the majority of those that follow you and that you follow, other people would respond to my updates. Twitter provides a window to view the most recent updates from everyone using the service. I catch myself reading the “Everyone” page on twitter, and while I have never responded to someone I don’t know, I have got a few responses to my updates. The community aspect is much stronger than I had anticipated. I figured I would only read and view my personal friends, which is why I saw no point in the first place.
I am completely against spam, completely. One has to contemplate the thought that thousands might be reading your updates at any one time, and if you happen to slip the occasional link or message about your startup, that couldn’t hurt. If that is all you use twitter for then that would be spam, which is a big no-no.
One application that has made twitter as usable is not offered on the web version. I have added an app to my iPhone called Twinkle. It is a combo of twitter and a location tool so you can read the twitters of those in an X mile radius of you. That is an interesting bonus on top of the fact that I actually update my twitter from my phone 90% of the time. Actually, I probably would have already given up on twitter if it wasn’t for the mobile accessibility.
No Comments • May 6th, 2008
By: Tyler
Google has updated PageRank over the last few days. I have seen increases on all the sites I work, including Startup Hustle which went from PR2 to PR3.
Remember that Toolbar PageRank is a dated version and Google does not disclose your current PageRank. The green bar you see is a few months behind. PageRank is not very important anymore when it comes to rankings but is fun to see the shifts.
No Comments • April 30th, 2008
By: Tyler
Sun is holding Startup Camp - San Francisco, May 4th and 5th. I got an invite but will be unable to attend due to other startup commitments. Startup Camp is the “un-conference” networking event to learn from some of the most experienced entrepreneurs today. Since this Startup Camp is being held so close to Silicon Valley, you can expect a few of the Valley’s heavy hitters to attend. A few noticeable names include:
There are currently over 900 registered attendees, the majority being entrepreneurs looking to pick up a few tips. If you are in the San Fran area early next week you should really try to make an appearance. Startup Camp is being held at the Moscone Convention Center.
No Comments • April 29th, 2008
By: Tyler
If rel=”nofollow” worked in real life:
No Comments • April 25th, 2008
By: Tyler
After I wrote about my frustration with Alexa, they did a major algorithm change that rendered my post less relevant. The rant was about Alexa’s lack of calculating major traffic shifts with a couple of sites I work on. Compete on the other hand did recognize the traffic increases.
Alexa made major updates to the way they calculate rankings by including more data then just the toolbar. While many sites were complaining about ranks dropping, Startup Hustle jumped almost 100,000 positions from 271,000 to 178,000. Two other sites that I spend a majority of my time marketing saw increases as well.
While I keep a record of all major competitors and their rankings, the only rank I really question was yCombinator.com. The home of YC News only has an Alexa ranking of 77,000, which seems rather low considering their rank before the algorithm change and Compete numbers.
No Comments • April 22nd, 2008
By: Tyler
Depending on your city and the connectivity, it can be difficult to meet with local entrepreneurs and startups. Andrew Hyde and Raymond Angel who have brought you Startup Weekend and VCWear are helping local startups connect on a social level.
Startup Drinks was created to (from the site):
A simple concept: startup culture in cities around the world gathers around a bar to have a pint and discuss what they are working on, what they need help with and what they can do for each other.
They currently have had groups in Seattle, Boulder, Fort Wayne and Austin. Startup Drinks also sets up a page for each city. Here is the Seattle Startup Drinks page. Contact Startup Drinks to have your city added to the site.
3 Comments • April 17th, 2008
