Launch HN: Bottomless (YC W19) – Coffee Restocked with a Smart Scale

Re:Launch HN: Bottomless (YC W19) – Coffee Restocked with a ... by function_seven on Friday March 15, 2019 @08:13PM (#19405510)

My initial reaction to this post was very dismissive. I was ready to jump into the comments and nod along with everyone else shitting all over it.

But, I don't want to be like CmdrTaco and the iPod, or whoever thought an rsync bash script could replace Dropbox.

If you prove this out with coffee, and work on making it for all "constant" foods in the home, this would be awesome.

Milk, butter, cheese, eggs, soda, cereal, apples, tortilla chips, baby food, etc. A whole section in the fridge or pantry that a user could arrange how they like, and use the app to set restock thresholds. Smart logic on your end to bundle items in as few shipments as possible (i.e. send the butter restock a week before you really need to, because other items are queued up now) and this becomes a magic grocery delivery service where—not only do you not need to go to the store—you don't even need to think about placing an order!

Good luck on this, and probably a good decision to target coffee snobs first.

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Re:Launch HN: Bottomless (YC W19) – Coffee Restocked with a ... by rorykoehler on Friday March 15, 2019 @09:29PM (#19405823)

I kind of like going to the supermarket. I also like variety. This sounds like it would work better for offices etc

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Re:Launch HN: Bottomless (YC W19) – Coffee Restocked with a ... by seizethecheese on Friday March 15, 2019 @09:40PM (#19405858)

Yeah love grocery shopping when I’m making a meal or shopping for something unique.

Personally, I’m not a fan of shopping for the same stuff over and over.

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Re:Launch HN: Bottomless (YC W19) – Coffee Restocked with a ... by rorykoehler on Friday March 15, 2019 @10:20PM (#19406003)

That's kind of my point. I buy coffee every week but rarely the same one. In fact discovering, comparing and contrasting various beans, washes, roasts and preparation types is half the joy of coffee.

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Re:Launch HN: Bottomless (YC W19) – Coffee Restocked with a ... by hahajk on Saturday March 16, 2019 @12:29AM (#19406357)

Me too, but I also like the “surprise me” subscription services like wine clubs. It’d be a decent backup plan if too many users complained about the monotony.

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Re:Launch HN: Bottomless (YC W19) – Coffee Restocked with a ... by seizethecheese on Saturday March 16, 2019 @01:30AM (#19406502)

We actually default people into a "surprise me" subscription.

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Re:Launch HN: Bottomless (YC W19) – Coffee Restocked with a ... by gatherhunterer on Saturday March 16, 2019 @12:35AM (#19406372)

Wouldn’t a service like this also suppress competition by making part of the market impenetrable to new companies?

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Re:Launch HN: Bottomless (YC W19) – Coffee Restocked with a ... by rorykoehler on Saturday March 16, 2019 @01:15AM (#19406460)

I guess that's why YC invested in it.

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Re:Launch HN: Bottomless (YC W19) – Coffee Restocked with a ... by puranjay on Saturday March 16, 2019 @06:10AM (#19407140)

I like coffee but it's now mostly a utility for me. Same with milk and eggs and butter. I have a fixed brand (not that there are too many options in my local market) and I buy it by default

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Re:Launch HN: Bottomless (YC W19) – Coffee Restocked with a ... by sghiassy on Saturday March 16, 2019 @03:39AM (#19406811)

Just for contrast, I buy the same coffee every week.

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Re:Launch HN: Bottomless (YC W19) – Coffee Restocked with a ... by chungleong on Saturday March 16, 2019 @04:11AM (#19406903)

In an office, coffee consumption would be fairly constant, such that you can just buy it on a schedule.

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Re:Launch HN: Bottomless (YC W19) – Coffee Restocked with a ... by MagicPropmaker on Friday March 15, 2019 @11:03PM (#19406146)

This was tried with eggs, and it failed:

https://www.digitaltrends.com/home/egg-minder-smart-tray-let...

But maybe if someone does it with a camera and a little AI in a fridge for Milk, eggs, butter, etc. it could work.

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Re:Launch HN: Bottomless (YC W19) – Coffee Restocked with a ... by DivisionSol on Saturday March 16, 2019 @12:24AM (#19406343)

I’ll bite and say the reason this failed was the convience. If you merely set a carton of eggs on a weighted shelf and it would automatically order more when you’re low, it might’ve done better, and, been more generalist.

I’ll offer the optimistic hope that people are more willing to put a bag onto a scale after making a cup of joe with the added benefit of automatically having the “nuisance” of ordering and delivering solved. (Non perishable, etc)

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Re:Launch HN: Bottomless (YC W19) – Coffee Restocked with a ... by benatkin on Saturday March 16, 2019 @12:21AM (#19406332)

As we learned earlier today, eggs make a lousy dietary staple. And since it isn't addictive like coffee, knowing is half the battle, and not ten percent of the battle like it seems to be with caffeine. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19403468

Eggs are a major food, but they aren't relied upon like coffee.

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Re:Launch HN: Bottomless (YC W19) – Coffee Restocked with a ... by seizethecheese on Friday March 15, 2019 @09:34PM (#19405843)

Great comment. You hit the nail on the head with the potential for smart batching.

Thanks for the well wishes!

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Re:Launch HN: Bottomless (YC W19) – Coffee Restocked with a ... by wtvanhest on Friday March 15, 2019 @09:02PM (#19405734)

You should check out his invest like the best podcast. This will likely be a big business.

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Re:Launch HN: Bottomless (YC W19) – Coffee Restocked with a ... by jumbopapa on Sunday March 17, 2019 @07:57PM (#19417621)

Thanks for recommending that! It was a great podcast and I'm excited to listen to some of the others because this is the first I've heard of Invest Like The Best.

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Re:Launch HN: Bottomless (YC W19) – Coffee Restocked with a ... by wtvanhest on Monday March 18, 2019 @01:35AM (#19418900)

Yes, I have a friend who recommended it. He said 'Ignore the name'. Wow was he right. Its the most enjoyable podcast I have ever listened to.

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Re:Launch HN: Bottomless (YC W19) – Coffee Restocked with a ... by lianaherrera on Friday March 15, 2019 @08:27PM (#19405574)

thank you! keep in touch, we might end up solving this problem for all your pantry needs!

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Re:Launch HN: Bottomless (YC W19) – Coffee Restocked with a ... by jvagner on Saturday March 16, 2019 @12:48AM (#19406399)

I’m sticking with dismissive.

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