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Comment on Ask HN: Are the insides of Airbnb listings being commercialized?parent

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Yeah, and if it's not, it should be. It was a very uncomfortable ride. I take Lyft because it's so much friendlier and cleaner than cabs, but that ride had the opposite effect.

On another tangent though, being a Lyft driver might be be a great place for some folks trying to get consumer feedback on startup ideas. I was approached by three guys yesterday in front of a cafe asking if they could ask me 3 questions about a lean startup idea. Unfortunately my wife and I were on a walk with our newborn, and trying just to get home before another newborn eruption.

But that car ride would be a great place to engage in conversation about startup ideas and problems the passengers experience without making it a sales pitch.

Where do you live? Both these scenarios sound like cringeworthy scenes from Silicon Valley (the HBO version).

Chicago. :) The Lyft scenario was definitely cringeworthy. The lean startup questions outside the cafe weren't. I think it was good hustle and effort. They weren't pushy at all and handled "no, need to get baby back home" very well. They could probably change a few things to get a better reply rate on the street, and I wanted to help, it was just bad timing.

The Lean Startup / "Get out of the building" mantra is in the Midwest too. I've seen people at coffee shops doing this. Heck, I've even done it in the early days, and it was super awkward and I'm glad it is getting parodied on Silicon Valley.

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