Re:25 Startup Ideas for 2012
by daveambrose on Sunday January 29, 2012 @03:29PM
(#3526148)
Besides you guys, who else is doing something like this?
Re:25 Startup Ideas for 2012
by kurtvarner on Sunday January 29, 2012 @03:43PM
(#3526195)
Someone already posted some below:
http://hackerne.ws/item?id=3524864
Re:25 Startup Ideas for 2012
by daveambrose on Sunday January 29, 2012 @04:33PM
(#3526338)
Thanks.
How are these sites overcoming the chicken and egg issue of attracting interesting activities from locals? Gathering enough visitors to the site to make transactions meaningful?
From building a marketplace at Ridejoy (YCS11), I can tell you that this early market building is very unique to each team/product/market and also one of the most valuable "secret sauces" for the company. Anyone who really knows probably won't tell you, and most people who might write a response are mostly guessing. At least that's what I think.
Re:25 Startup Ideas for 2012
by daveambrose on Sunday January 29, 2012 @06:53PM
(#3526739)
These marketplaces share a lot of core business similarities to that of the daily deal market as early as four year ago, no? At scale (depending upon which niche you choose for your site) will require money in to make "money out". No one in this thread seems to be highlighting this with the exception of those sites listed, little VC dollars have been invested thus far.
It's a serious question and one that's not secret sauce, I'd argue. The execution of your business and that of any sticky viral hooks you can build in will leave you at the winner's circle years from now.
Check out http://www.dotheglobe.com/
Re:25 Startup Ideas for 2012
by johnx123-up on Monday January 30, 2012 @02:27AM
(#3527829)
Some guys sell it as a product http://labs.agriya.com/burrow
While in theory it sounds like a great concept, the key to realize is that no "AirBnB for Activites" can ever be an "AirBnB for Activities." What I mean by that is: the part of the "AirBnB for X" business model that makes it work is the part where you have a very low marginal cost to renting out an existing resource that, presumably, is getting very low utilization. I.e. a car sitting in a garage, an empty couch. The marginal cost of renting those out... is basically zero. However, with Activities, the resource at play is actually time! A person needs to take two hours out of their day to offer a walking tour, cooking class, etc.
Arguably, time is the most scarce resource we have. People value their time highly, which means the marginal cost (in this case the opportunity cost) of them offering an activity is very high. Add to that the fact that individuals do not benefit from any sort of economy of scale, and that most likely means that they cannot compete with businesses on price (which is arguably where AirBnB is winning in its biggest market, NYC).
So of course, I'm not saying an "AirBnB for Activities" is not possible, but some fundamental problems make it significantly more difficult than one might initially expect. Personally I think Vayable is doing a great job, but time will tell...
Oh also, AirBnB took something that already was happening (sublets on Craigslist) and just rebranded/made it better. Not much "Activities" activity going on on Craigslist. It's mostly for services, like painting, plumbing, car mechanics, etc. So you sometimes question if the demand actually even exists?
Anyway, I could write a loooong post-mortem on Skyara but you get my point.