You can capture their sentiment by reading letters sent to announce the loss of said child. You can even observe how big a change occurred in the 19th century.
In the early 19th (and before that), the loss of a child is described almost in passing. There was grievance of course, but child mortality was normal then; almost expected. By the end of the 19th century it had become unusual. And indeed, dramatic.
Yes, but there are fewer merchants than over. 50% of e-commerce goes through 12 merchants. Consolidation is insane in digital commerce. So yes, we can buy many more products but through fewer and fewer merchants giving them huge power. Amaozn alone accounts for 30% of e-commerce
Keep in mind that well over 50% of amazon merchandise sales are from 3rd party sellers - basically small businesses. A bunch of other big players have significant 3rd party marketplace models - eBay, Newegg, and more.
Sadly this means that there is a very big caveat emptor factor involved.
Ebay at least is up front about it, as it is basically an auction house for anyone.
But Amazon and Newegg is in a sense lending credibility to any fly by night reseller from who knows where.
When you buy from a big name store front you expect someone working at their supply end has assessed the product as worth the risk of stocking. But with the likes of Amazon, seemingly anyone can start offering products through them.
Consider for example a recent story here on HN about a USB charger that had a damaged transformer. It was giving out straight 240V (European model) to the USB end.
Amazon lends it's credibility by vouching for their third party sellers though. If you have a problem with something, Amazon customer support will make you whole again.
Newegg does what you mentioned though. They're basically putting you into a wild-west type situation where the merchant can do anything they want to you and newegg will just remind you that you have no protection when working with a newegg merchant.
Generally reviews are meant to solve this problem - both internal amazon metrics (which vendors are punished for severely if they are bad) and external customer metrics.
Isn't that just a temporary thing and the end results of Amazon's platform is either manufacturers selling directly to consumers or selling to Amazon ? What value does a 3rd party create in such world ?
I am ok with this, as a consumer and user of these sites. You know how annoying it would be to have different logins for every dinky little product I want to buy?
Quick comment from the author: One problem with this method is that it only includes companies that have raised money. Those that were able to bootstrap and become profitable without fundraising (and are perhaps even more awesome than any company on this list) are not included here. It's a lot harder to get info on those companies, but if anyone has ideas for how to do it, I'd love to know.
Hi,
Thanks for pointing this out. I should probably include something in here that clearly states: Getting into YC won't make you successful or vice versa.
No, it doesn't matter that much whether you get in, but people still care a lot and my point was simply to say: It's great to care, but don't let that fear paralyze you. Just apply and be a bit zen about the outcome either way.
Well in case I wasn't clear let me restate my point.
I think it's great and obviously a huge benefit to get into YC, Harvard, Wharton, or get funded by a top tier VC all of that. Or to marry a beautiful women, handsome man, someone with money, be an NBA or sports athlete you know all of that.
What to me is bad is reinforcement of something that makes people feel as if they are failures and "can't cut the mustard" if they don't get in (or achieve something).
I don't know if that is even avoidable but wanted to point it out. It kind of smacks of "penis" envy and/or keeping up with the joneses.
For the record though:
"Getting into YC won't make you successful "
Getting into YC or past any filter is for sure a big benefit. No doubt about that.
"it doesn't matter that much whether you get in"
It does matter if you get in. Of course it does.
I am acknowledging that in response to you. But I wouldn't write a blog post saying that because I feel it reinforces a stereotype of halo that I don't think is helpful. And perhaps becomes a self fulfilling prophecy as well.
Hey, this is Elli from HireArt. I'm the author of the piece. Agreed that rejection actually helps you get closer to your team and figure out what you're really building
Hey Steli, quick question: You suggest we should ask for the referral right when the customer makes the purchase. In the case of a SaaS solution (like ours) they haven't experienced the product at all right when they make the purchase...isn't it better to wait until they have experienced the product to ask for a referral (eg when they've had a success on the platform)?
Yeah that's what most people think (and sometimes it's the right approach).
For most SaaS apps your customer had a chance to experience the product on a free trial of some sorts.
If they are convinced enough to buy many will be ready to recommend.
Asking for it at that point only shortens the referral sales cycle (you don't have to schedule a separate call for this since you're already talking to them) and once you've closed the positive feedback loop they can start giving you more referrals (and at that point they've probably been a customer for a month or two).
Starting earlier just makes this gain a lot more momentum faster.
Thanks so much for making this public. You're putting yourself out there for our benefit and so that we can all learn (and not feel quite as shitty when we get similar emails). Thanks.
Great article! I especially like the comment below which is very true in our experience (W '13):
YC: What’s been the most surprising thing about YC?
"How much everyone really cared about us. You have a lot of mentors and friends and supporters who are all helpful, but the YC partners had this astronomical degree of kindness toward us."
