I met one of the founders around 6 or 7 months ago.
Honestly I felt like he was the first founder I'd met in NYC that wasn't a bullshitter. He was straight forward, and actually helpful.
Those guys have been working on Rap Genius for years and years -- before anyone in the tech industry had heard of it. They made it because they wanted it, and the site grew with the community.
They silently built an internet empire and didn't care about PR stunts or hype until they had REAL traction (because that's the only thing that really matters)... Which is a lot more than I can say for most NYC startups.
Honestly, I think there's so much potential in the idea -- it's a rocketship. If you're an engineer in NYC looking for a job, you should hit them up.
I was in the same batch of YC with them, so I saw them fairly frequently. We had a discussion about Gettier Problems ("justified true belief") entirely sober, as well as normal startup stuff, so they are obviously smart.
The "rapper/swag" thing is not all of their personality.
skipping through that video without sound gives me the impression that this is a video about all thats wrong with the startup scene.
Everybody on that stage looks like a complete douche, even the TC guy.
I know they probably want to portray a certain image, but gawd...Sunglasses WTF ?
It does look like and feel like Doucheville on stage. But if you hold your nose through the first part, there's some interesting stuff in there (like how they bootstrapped by finding a passionate niche and targeting them initially)
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After meeting the Rap Genius guys, I'm not at all surprised they were over $40mm valuation.
can u elaborate a little more? i checked out the website, i'm not that impressed about the execution or the idea.
I met one of the founders around 6 or 7 months ago.
Honestly I felt like he was the first founder I'd met in NYC that wasn't a bullshitter. He was straight forward, and actually helpful.
Those guys have been working on Rap Genius for years and years -- before anyone in the tech industry had heard of it. They made it because they wanted it, and the site grew with the community.
They silently built an internet empire and didn't care about PR stunts or hype until they had REAL traction (because that's the only thing that really matters)... Which is a lot more than I can say for most NYC startups.
Honestly, I think there's so much potential in the idea -- it's a rocketship. If you're an engineer in NYC looking for a job, you should hit them up.
I was in the same batch of YC with them, so I saw them fairly frequently. We had a discussion about Gettier Problems ("justified true belief") entirely sober, as well as normal startup stuff, so they are obviously smart.
The "rapper/swag" thing is not all of their personality.
Oh man Gettier problems! That takes me back :)
The founders on stage at TC Disrupt NYC http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4NAzQPll7Lo
skipping through that video without sound gives me the impression that this is a video about all thats wrong with the startup scene. Everybody on that stage looks like a complete douche, even the TC guy.
I know they probably want to portray a certain image, but gawd...Sunglasses WTF ?
They're nice guys. It's mostly a gimmick.
It does look like and feel like Doucheville on stage. But if you hold your nose through the first part, there's some interesting stuff in there (like how they bootstrapped by finding a passionate niche and targeting them initially)
Wow yeah, I'm sure they're brilliant, but they seem like massive douchebags
"ballersourcing", however, is an awesome idea.