A Really Bad Idea
areallybadidea.com · Personal blog · on HN since 2010
Justin Kan writes about startups and Y Combinator, including selling his first company, Kiko, on eBay, plus other posts on tech.
What HN saysHN commenters link it mainly for the post on selling Kiko on eBay, and quote his reasons for starting a company.
21HN people shared it
8linked it in comments
25stories submitted
1.2Kstory points
13 years agolast shared
2010people per year2026
Most-shared posts
- 1Selling Kiko: How Justin Kan sold his first YC startup on eBay4 people · 98 points · first shared 2011 · 25 comments on HN
- 2Launch2 people · 207 points · first shared 2011 · 24 comments on HN
- 3My Y Combinator Interview2 people · 186 points · first shared 2010 · 33 comments on HN
- 4Inside the Y Combinator office2 people · 124 points · first shared 2011 · 34 comments on HN
- 5What I learned from watching six hours of Starcraft2 people · 43 points · first shared 2011 · 48 comments on HN
- 6Generation Make2 people · 7 points · first shared 2011 · discussion on HN
- 7Google Calendar Redesign: It's Goddamn Terrible1 people · 146 points · first shared 2011 · 74 comments on HN
- 8Drop out. Or don't.1 people · 110 points · first shared 2011 · 46 comments on HN
- 9Justin Kan: Measuring startup success by head count is toxic1 people · 79 points · first shared 2010 · 20 comments on HN
- 10How to build a great mobile development team1 people · 44 points · first shared 2011 · 11 comments on HN
- 11Winning Attitude, Losing Attitude1 people · 42 points · first shared 2011 · 4 comments on HN
- 12What will Y Combinator look like in three years?1 people · 34 points · first shared 2011 · 8 comments on HN
- 13Justin Kan: Apps I've been using this year1 people · 32 points · first shared 2011 · 3 comments on HN
- 14Why entrepreneurs should love rap music1 people · 28 points · first shared 2011 · 21 comments on HN
- 15The Drive - why a true entrepreneur has to be an entrepreneur1 people · 25 points · first shared 2011 · 4 comments on HN
What HN people wrote when they linked it
jerf · 2011-03-21
Now I'm getting binary gibberish that doesn't seem to be any encoding I can divine? Going straight to http://areallybadidea.com/ has it on the front page, for now.
lincolnq · 2014-01-09
In case you’re curious, I’ll be starting another business with the proceeds. We spent a long time getting this group video chat to work really well - ours is the only tech which actually works and doesn’t get choppy when you add more people. We are very proud of this tech and it would be sad to see it rot.
Hat tip to Justin Kan for the inspiration with his sale of Kiko (http://areallybadidea.com/selling-kiko). If we sell this I'll be sure to write a post about it too :)
justin · 2012-11-01
If I was going to answer more thoroughly, here are my answers on why to start something:
1) you can work on what you like, and in a way that you like
2) it's higher beta, meaning the top outcomes are higher than working for others.
3) it is a chance to immediately start working on a high impact idea that could change society. There are other ways to work on high impact ideas, but often times you need to put in a lot of time paying dues to get to the point you can work on them.
4) if you are successful, it can be a source of mainstream fame (think Richard Branson) -- if you care about this at all.
Here's a summary I wrote of my YC interview that I did with Emmett back in 2005: http://areallybadidea.com/34320844
SingAlong · 2011-09-22
Just to add more info: they sold Kiko on eBay. And here's Justin's blog post http://areallybadidea.com/selling-kiko
dustingetz · 2011-03-20
Seems to me the fundamental economic difference is that record labels control distribution, so they have much more leverage than VCs.
edit, found a source: "This pattern is mirrored in many other industries, such as the music industry, where record labels control radio / media distribution and are much more powerful than the actual artists, or the clothing industry, where small designers are beholden to retail outlets and have to take terrible terms to get distribution. The takeaway? Being the distribution platform is a lot better than being a producer."
[1] http://areallybadidea.com/what-i-learned-from-watching-six-hours-of-st…
swombat · 2011-03-10
The quote is from the article linked in the title (which appeared on HN yesterday or early this morning, depending on your time zone):
http://areallybadidea.com/launch
mattsouth · 2013-03-26
thetable · 2011-01-31