Second worst I saw was some stoned guy going on about how much he hated seeing "all the genitalia" on chatroulette. Seriously. This was a real video.
The best two I personally saw were a video of several founders for a question and answer site and a new-age guy with an idea for personal metaphysical space. Both videos were very engaging given their short length.
Stoned guy here. You just need to chill out and recognize the problem of the penis... man. It's giving the internet bad karma.
Seriously, I was a little tired, but I was not stoned. Could I have made an awesome polished video? Sure. But they said talk spontaneously as I would to a friend, and I took their instructions literally.
Any feedback on the concept?
For those just joining us, here's the video: http://livejake.posterous.com/application-video
My recommendation would have been to seem more enthusiastic and professional. The idea seemed kind of, umm, unique. But if you had presented it more professionally and with serious facts and data, I think it would have made a better impression Also, maybe some ideas about who you will market the idea and how it could make money. You could've offered specifics about maybe marketing it to parents somehow. Or connecting your idea to some sort of succesful product that involves internet safety.
As for stats and data, I tend to buy Chris Dixon's argument that narratives are more important than numbers: http://cdixon.org/2010/04/03/size-markets-using-narratives-n... Nevertheless, some statistics are useful.
I included additional details about potential users and what not in my application.
An example use-case, which I didn't get into in the video, is an entrepreneurial designers and developers event.
Here's how it works: 1) Designers and developers RSVP in advance for an online event that takes place at a set date and time.
2) Upon joining the event, each designer is presented with a list of developers in the event with basic bio info from their LinkedIn profile. Each designer can then check off who they want to chat with in the event. The same happens for developers.
3) Once the event starts, they are placed in a series of one-on-one chat with a designer (or developer) that they've previously indicated that they're interested in meeting. During the chats, each participant can view the other participants LinkedIn profile. These chats last for a set time, say three minutes, like speed dating. In the event, participants meet a lot of people that they're interested in meeting in short one-on-one chats. That's the general idea.
There are a lot of flaws with this concept. And I've actually started working on a different idea shortly after I submitted my Ycombinator app, but I still think this idea has some limited potential.
The reason the design looks like it was designed by Slovakian college student for $50 is, well, because it was designed by a Slovakian college student for $50.
As I said before, we are now working on a different application and we should be completing that shortly. I'm considering releasing this application, with some design tweaks, as is to Hacker News and other entrepreneurial communities and seeing what happens.
Even without post-production editing, surely there should at least be adequate lighting conditions and camera alignment.
I think clearing breaking the pitch into parts would be a good idea also. Such as an intro, about the founders, about the problem, about revenue, etc.
I would make specific comments per video but that wouldn't be a nice thing to do.
Just my 2c guys, good luck to you all!