Well the trick is that it's cheap enough that almost everyone can afford it while being pretty sure that, for that amount of money, he will probably take his time to write a decent answer.
Perhaps 5 bucks would be better, but considering an hourly wage and how much time I take to write stuff myself, ten bucks is not unreasonable. Also consider that, assuming this is a business (or could be), he's taking risk because there is no subscription or recurring payment whatsoever. I imagine this being a very variable business. If it would make a business in the first place.
exactly what kind of thoughtful, well written response can I expect from the landing page's example question of "Am I socially awkward?" or "Why isn't she texting me back?"
What kind of a stranger could give me actual answers to those questions?
I can imagine a few good (applicable) answers to someone who'd pay ten dollars to email someone those questions... but I can't imagine any answers that are actually worth than ten bucks.
> But will it be a thoughtful, well written response?
/r/subredditdrama
It's full of self-righteous people who enjoy watching other people fight. On the other hand, they tend to be people who are less interested in fighting and rather enjoy engaging conversation. I've had some brilliant belief-altering discussions in there, and most importantly, situations where both parties "respectfully agree to disagree."
You just have to find the sweet spots in Reddit - it takes a fair amount of participation to finds those places (but SRD is a good start).
Holy shit, of all the subs you could've mentioned. SRD is incredibly biased in certain topics, they ALWAYS brigade the subs they are against, and have the most awful crowd of the site. Seriously, the whole metasphere is incredibly toxic.
This is a bad idea. Fine, you pay $10 for someone's honest opinion, but it's just one person's opinion, you really want to consult multiple sources to get a balanced view, otherwise you could make a bad decision based on another person being in a shitty mood (for whatever reason).
Plus, I find friends will be honest with you if you expressly give them permission to be, and promise not to take it personally.
You aren't legally prevented from spending $10 at other honesty vendors in addition to this one, or required to follow the advice in order to avoid a penalty.
There are other honesty vendors? Who else is doing this?
Plus, like vlunkr said, I don't know the guy, if I wanted the honest feedback of random strangers I can already get that for free on the Internet. It's not exactly like brutal honesty is in short supply, and if you target the right places it can be articulate as well.
Seems counterproductive to claim that this is a "bad idea". The only point you prove is why you're not going to be his customer. Lets see how many people take him up on this to wait and see if its a bad idea.
That's the most important thing. It's private. Also, redditors tend to tell others they are the most beautiful unique flower in the world, when everyone else sees a hideous ogre. This is why a service like this is so much better.
What you can't get, not easily, is brutal honesty and privacy about your eponymous self. This is typically what psychologists do, although they're more reassuring and comforting, not telling you the hard truths.
I'll give him this much. Have you seen /r/rateme? People there are way too supportive. Doesn't seem to matter that every post starts with "give me the brutal truth". That or there's always survivorship bias in those who think she's hot and choose to reply.
And I always thought gobutit was one word -- I've been saying it wrong all these years! I still think it would be a great name for a source code control system, though.
Creator here - no vote manipulation. In fact, I don't actually know anyone who has a hacker news account, believe it or not. Just an intriguing title I suppose?
But I do believe you, without reading your comment. I just liked the idea and upvoted. I'm extremely curious about how many people actually do this though. I'm sure we could crowdsource $10 on HN to learn those stats, say, a week from today ;)
Nope - I'm actually trying to figure out if that is one of my friends and I just don't know it. I can certainly see why you'd think that, though. They must just really love the idea I guess!
Don't be ignorant. I am in Canada and this guy is in California. I have never met him, have no link to him in any way, and just found this site like 3 days ago.
Since this is a product over email, would be less friction to support payments over Square Cash. Just ask the question and cc cash@square.com. No need to visit the website and can be done from mobile easily :)
> I'm Jordan, a 28 year old software developer living in California. I've always been direct and never had a problem telling it like it is. I have a wide variety of interests outside of work that include Finance, Men's Fashion, Diet/Nutrition, Weightlifting, Sports, Travel, Music, and countless other topics.
Brutal honesty: nothing here leads me to believe that Jordan's feedback is any more useful than the feedback of a random person on the street. The fact that Jordan is only charging $10 and hasn't focused his offering on an area of interest where he has demonstrable experience and expertise leads me to believe that Jordan himself doesn't think his feedback is very valuable.
Well, that depends on my goals for the specific feedback. If I want to know how to get a good reaction from people in bubble X, then asking someone in the bubble makes sense. Asking someone further is valuable for different reasons.
That self-description and his picture (of himself drinking beer out of a bottle at a bar) gave me second thought about his ability to give an advice that's different than one that would be dispensed by a typical 20-something 'bro' working in IT.
That's a very strange opinion you have. It isn't necessarily supposed to be helpful, but rather truthful. How many people are comfortable asking someone on the street for complete honesty? Very few. The ones who are, are not the target market for this service.
To me, his bio says "I am a pretty average guy, with above average intelligence. I am the guy you are trying to impress at the bar, I am your bro who never invites you to the gym, I am in the front row of your concert."
Some (all?) sample questions can be answered with yes or no. I know that you mention a conversation at the top but you might want to make it a bit more clear that your feedback will be more than yes or no.
Interesting...I was thinking about starting a site called comfortinglies.io, where I'll tell you how wonderful you are, how it's all going to be ok, etc. Maybe we could swap links?
I would totally use this if the guy running it was closer to robot than human. A highly logical walkthrough of whatever problem I present is something I would value immensely, as I think anyone else who's watched any sci-fi films with all-knowing, oracle-like talking computers would.
But I don't think this is a problem that can be solved by ordinary people, and AI is nowhere close yet. Perhaps there's room in the world for Psychopaths-as-a-Service.
Not saying this is the case but if this guy is really thoughtful and insightful, then why not. The economics might not make a ton of sense. A thoughtful reply to a difficult question takes at least 15-20 minutes to compose. That's about $30-$40 an hour. You can make better wages as a counselor in private practice.
This is a ridiculously awesome business idea. Either you'll make millions or nothing with that. But the costs aren't that high, and at least the buzz can be used for something else. Good luck!
That's the thing about business ideas where revenue is directly tied to the work you have to do: scaling is super easy. getting more questions than you can handle by yourself? hire some friends to help.
>"After you pay $10, I'll email you to start the conversation. You then share whatever it is you're looking for feedback on, and I'll tell you exactly how I feel about it. Most submissions are handled within a few hours, but some might take up to a few days. All submissions are completely private." //
Assuming he is an honest actor in this process he can't share your submission with anyone as then they wouldn't be private. It is specified that it is he, Jordan, who will email you, he will say how he feels.
It could have been set up differently to allow for scaling but part of the drawn I think is that it's a real, named and identifiable, individual that you are contacting.
Of course "Jordan" could be a made up person and this could be a way to gather information for social manipulation or straight-out blackmail, but you know ...
In this case I would agree, probably relatively easy to scale.
I've long thought about the differences in scalability and margins when comparing service-based businesses to product-based ones.
In the ad agency world, it is all service-based for the most part still, margins are razor thin, pay is low, and the stress is massive. The problem then becomes maintaining quality of service as you scale, and efficiency of operations to keep your margins as healthy as possible. Stressed out service employees are basically the equivalent of delivering a shitty product. If it becomes a big enough loss in quality, you lose customers.
And of course the best way to get a detailed informative reply from an expert for free is to post an incorrect answer, and then get your ass flamed off and handed to you on a platter for being wrong.
His name has just vanished from my head... but there's a famous chef whose secret trick for finding the best restaurants in a city he's visiting is to locate the most active community discussing food online, and post a comment saying how much he liked (random restaurant here) in that city.
Then just scan through the flood of indignant response/corrections.
226 comments
[ 1.4 ms ] story [ 236 ms ] threadA: A contractor knows the difference.
Perhaps 5 bucks would be better, but considering an hourly wage and how much time I take to write stuff myself, ten bucks is not unreasonable. Also consider that, assuming this is a business (or could be), he's taking risk because there is no subscription or recurring payment whatsoever. I imagine this being a very variable business. If it would make a business in the first place.
What kind of a stranger could give me actual answers to those questions?
I can imagine a few good (applicable) answers to someone who'd pay ten dollars to email someone those questions... but I can't imagine any answers that are actually worth than ten bucks.
/r/subredditdrama
It's full of self-righteous people who enjoy watching other people fight. On the other hand, they tend to be people who are less interested in fighting and rather enjoy engaging conversation. I've had some brilliant belief-altering discussions in there, and most importantly, situations where both parties "respectfully agree to disagree."
You just have to find the sweet spots in Reddit - it takes a fair amount of participation to finds those places (but SRD is a good start).
This is a bad idea. Fine, you pay $10 for someone's honest opinion, but it's just one person's opinion, you really want to consult multiple sources to get a balanced view, otherwise you could make a bad decision based on another person being in a shitty mood (for whatever reason).
Plus, I find friends will be honest with you if you expressly give them permission to be, and promise not to take it personally.
But if he makes money from giving people unqualified advice on random subjects, good for him I guess.
Plus, like vlunkr said, I don't know the guy, if I wanted the honest feedback of random strangers I can already get that for free on the Internet. It's not exactly like brutal honesty is in short supply, and if you target the right places it can be articulate as well.
Pitch: Bringing experts and non-experts together, making non-experts feel bad and sucky.
(unless you're sending [unsolicited?] private messages there)
Man: Well, Well, I was told outside that...
Angry man: DON'T GIVE ME THAT, YOU SNOTTY-FACED HEAP OF PARROT DROPPINGS!
Man: What?
A: SHUT YOUR FESTERING GOB, YOU TIT! YOUR TYPE MAKES ME PUKE! YOU VACUOUS TOFFEE-NOSED MALODOROUS PERVERT!!!
M: Yes, but I came here for an argument!!
A: OH! Oh! I'm sorry! This is abuse!
M: Oh! Oh I see!
A: Aha! No, you want room 12A, next door.
M: Oh...Sorry...
A: Not at all!
A: (under his breath) stupid git.
I still believe this is vote manipulation, though.
Normally, Hacker News detects and penalizes stupid upvote rigging. I'm curious how the OP bypassed it at such a scale.
Actually, judging by the ridiculous number of flags the post has also gotten, I think he just touched a nerve.
> Can I ask people to upvote my submission?
> No. Users should vote for a story because it's intellectually interesting, not because someone is promoting it.
> When the software detects a voting ring, it penalizes the post. Accounts that vote like this eventually get their votes ignored.
That's what I would say ;)
But I do believe you, without reading your comment. I just liked the idea and upvoted. I'm extremely curious about how many people actually do this though. I'm sure we could crowdsource $10 on HN to learn those stats, say, a week from today ;)
The Saga of Denko and Her Stalker.
http://vgperson.tumblr.com/post/21533650696/help-the-girl-i-...
I look forward to hearing how this goes for you.
For those that missed it: http://www.producthunt.com/posts/ethan and https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8434045
Brutal honesty: nothing here leads me to believe that Jordan's feedback is any more useful than the feedback of a random person on the street. The fact that Jordan is only charging $10 and hasn't focused his offering on an area of interest where he has demonstrable experience and expertise leads me to believe that Jordan himself doesn't think his feedback is very valuable.
If I pay for honest feedback I'd like to get it from someone who is not exactly like me.
And your whole assumption gives me the impression that you are a ridiculously superficial person.
It wasn't my intention to use 'bro' as a derogatory term.
To me, his bio says "I am a pretty average guy, with above average intelligence. I am the guy you are trying to impress at the bar, I am your bro who never invites you to the gym, I am in the front row of your concert."
no need..
Some (all?) sample questions can be answered with yes or no. I know that you mention a conversation at the top but you might want to make it a bit more clear that your feedback will be more than yes or no.
But I don't think this is a problem that can be solved by ordinary people, and AI is nowhere close yet. Perhaps there's room in the world for Psychopaths-as-a-Service.
You mean "Ethan": http://www.textethan.com/
[0] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nathan_For_You
Question: "Would you like a million dollars?"
"Thoughtful reply": "Yes."
Assuming he is an honest actor in this process he can't share your submission with anyone as then they wouldn't be private. It is specified that it is he, Jordan, who will email you, he will say how he feels.
It could have been set up differently to allow for scaling but part of the drawn I think is that it's a real, named and identifiable, individual that you are contacting.
Of course "Jordan" could be a made up person and this could be a way to gather information for social manipulation or straight-out blackmail, but you know ...
I've long thought about the differences in scalability and margins when comparing service-based businesses to product-based ones.
In the ad agency world, it is all service-based for the most part still, margins are razor thin, pay is low, and the stress is massive. The problem then becomes maintaining quality of service as you scale, and efficiency of operations to keep your margins as healthy as possible. Stressed out service employees are basically the equivalent of delivering a shitty product. If it becomes a big enough loss in quality, you lose customers.
Or somewhere in between, more likely.
1. UX, Design: Dribble, Behance 2. Code : Stack Overflow 3. High Level Architecture questions: Stack Exchange 4. Business Idea etc : HN, Reddit, Quora 5. Miscellaneous other questions: HN, Reddit, Quora etc
Then just scan through the flood of indignant response/corrections.