Soylent < 2.0 seemed to leverage the promise of easy shipping/portability, which > 2.0 seems to lose? Soylent as a sustainable nutrition source in areas where it's far superior to what little nutrition may be available, is less likely stable in liquid form. It's a shame, as this seemed to be one of the greatest promises of the brand beyond convenience. Not sure what the differentiation is anymore, amongst other MRP's such as Phood.
The ability to provide capital, access to a network, personal and professional support, real world experience (in that order) to founders in pursuit of helping them "change the world" is an awesome opportunity. Most VC's I've interacted with truly seem to feel this way. So in that sense, yes, it would be great to be a venture capitalist. Unfortunately, as argued in "The E-Myth", there are probably better avenues, at least for the later 3, to help founders, without the 800lb gorilla of submitting to the "VC system".
The first one is probably the main reason behind answer to OP's question. "Do you aspire to be a venture capitalist?" "Do I have the ability to provide capital?"
Why would you want to leave PayPal Pro, for Stripe, if you're getting a lower rate w/ PayPal? Assuming the effective rate, including your monthly fee is still < Stripe.
I view it as almost a commodity. Stripe does offer some unique value, like their Connect piece (https://stripe.com/docs/connect). Paypal pro has more flexible fraud controls, though many of them are extra cost.
Either is fairly easy to integrate, and if you're running an out of the box ecom package, likely already done for you.
I could probably get slightly better rates with an actual merchant account, but it's a confusing road to go down, with lots of intentionally overcomplicated models.
My biggest beef, as a seller, with cc processing, is the unfair nature of chargebacks. We don't get many, but the system is so biased towards the buyer that buyers can (and do) get away with straight up fraud. My second beef is the scam of rewards and miles cards. The "rewards" are funded entirely on the backs of the merchants.
"If you're a merchant I wouldn't see Visa and American Express investing and taking equity in Stripe as a good thing."
What's best for the merchant is what's lost in much of these discussions. The continued fragmentation of the industry has left merchants struggling to navigate necessary customization and even more difficult documentation; although Stripe has led well in this area. Since accepting alternate payment methods and the ability to switch processors is prohibitively difficult, competition is artificially constrained - leaving "fees as high as possible". That's why we're building http://accepton.com Would love to chat: jonathan [at] accepton {dot} come
Well put. Greg and the Collison's have built an amazing product, helping to pave the way for innovation in the space. However, we agree that there's a larger fundamental issue that can't be addressed by the processors themselves. That's why we're building http://accepton.com I'd love to hear the challenges your clients are facing: jonathan <AT> accepton DOT com
The process of applying is valuable in and of itself. It will force you to clearly communicate your idea and what potential it truly has. You'll likely refine your idea alone through the application process. Don't plan for the downside, rather, "act as if" and churn out the best possible application.
The probability of "luck" increases with marked investment in preparation. Preparation includes understanding the market and the problem, and building a product to solve the problems identified for that market. A great product does not beget product/market fit. Rather, a product that delivers a solution, communicated well to a market that needs that solution, may result in product/market fit (growth). Hence, understanding the needs of a market are critical. Therefore, research (preparation), a marketing discipline, is a crucial precursor for the elusive luck we all seek.
...but if you had to pick one thing, what would it be? Curiosity abounds.
Context; I've been a paying PipeDrive customer for a couple years. Not sure how I originally was exposed to the product, (not appsumo), but I've stayed because the of the product.
One thing in addition to the product? The hustle in the beginning to get the product in the hands of the right people. Appsumo was part of it, but not a very big part of it compared to hundreds of hours that founders spent in pitching and "doing things that don't scale".
Florida's new, expanded definition of a slot machine includes "any machine or device or system or network of devices" used to play games of chance or skill, which can be activated by not just inserting money, but an "account number, code, or other object or information." - Doesn't exactly show a real solid understanding of this whole "Internet Thing", and it's importance to the economic growth of the state of Florida...
