drstarcat - Latest Comments

Re: The Physics of Air Conditioners–Preventing bloodshed in the office

york_air_conditioners — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 11:55:17 -0000

I wanna find more info about this, anybody could?

Re: SetJam is a tool, Clicker is a destination

drstarcat — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 07:54:05 -0000

Thanks for the feedback! I fully agree about the collaborative filter. We
had this in our original designs, but it just kept getting put off. It will
be back soon though!

Re: SetJam is a tool, Clicker is a destination

marcodeveglia — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 00:13:40 -0000

You shall define your service in relation to competitors because this is what your potential clients do. Even more, they define your service comparing it to something they already know. There isn't marketing in a vacuum, it's always working with what's already in the mine.
Having said that, and comparing SetJam to Clicker:

- SetJam seems like a search engine for shows and movies
- Clicker seems more like a directory for shows and movies
- browsing on Clicker is satisfying, browsing on SetJam not
- searching is clearer on SetJam, but Clicker works too
- Clickers says "what's on online" suggesting you can search what is online "now". SetJam "gives you access" to every show and movie ever. There is a subtle difference here that could be exploited

I could go on, but the basic positioning is that you HAVE to look at your competitors and listen to your customers (something you already did). A good add-on to your service would be a collaborative filter that shows related movies. Probably you could use the Amazon tool if one logins with his/her Amazon account.

Re: SetJam is a tool, Clicker is a destination

Shakir Razak — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 00:55:05 -0000

Hi,

Nice Post!

Sounds Familiar. ;)

Kind regards,

Shakir Razak

Re: SetJam is a tool, Clicker is a destination

Shakir Razak — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 00:52:30 -0000

Hi,

Nice Post!

Sounds Familiar. ;)

Kind regards,

Shakir Razak

Re: Private: How to beat Google at Search for $50,000 in 10 easy steps

Marcos — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 18:34:12 -0000

Ha, maybe "I'm going to 'jam it tonight".

There's more humor in that than might be known to many. There's an old story of how Steve Wozniak (Apple computer founder-need I say?) who, back in the day, besides making Blue Box's and other phreaking equipment made a handheld VHF TV transmitter which would jam the frequencies of various television channels. He would cruise around his Cali 'burb on SuperBowl night and just when there's was about to be a big play, flip on the transmitter and jam the station, watching all the brutes stomp up and down via their living room window, frantically re-arranging their antennas trying to see what happened (pure analog, no DTV replay here!).

Ha! Nerds be 'venged. (Damn, what's the word I'm looking for?)

Mark

Btw, Ryan, nice work man! I'm impressed and encouraged.

Re: Private: How to beat Google at Search for $50,000 in 10 easy steps

theschnaz — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 10:45:39 -0000

Cool. That makes a lot of sense.

From reading/watching your post it seems that you have the "flow"
down. People come to SetJam, search for a show, find the show easily,
watch show, repeat. All the extra fluff, the clips, bios, and long
descriptions aren't needed.

I'd love a system that tells me when my new shows are available.
Hulu's queue is a great idea, but the implementation is terrible (or
I'm not smart enough to use it.) I like 10 shows, just tell me when
new ones are available! This could be part of the "TV Identities" you
mentioned.

Good luck! If you ever need testers or feedback, let me know.

Greg

Re: Private: How to beat Google at Search for $50,000 in 10 easy steps

drstarcat — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 10:32:16 -0000

Good questions. I think showing people how much is available instantly on
Netflix is a good thing, even if they don't have an account. We hope that
by showing them how good their site is, they might reconsider and join.

As to illegal content, we're filtering that out for a number of reasons.
First, we want to develop a community that can be a voice back to the
content companies, so we can change some of the things that are wrong about
distribution. We lose that voice once we index illegal stuff. Second, love
good TV and we know that if it all goes illegal, companies won't be able to
invest to create it. We don't want a world where the only thing that exists
is user-generated content. Finally, we want SetJam to be a place where
people can store their "TV Identities" for the long-term, so they have
ratings and favorites that will work anywhere. We can't be a safe place for
people if we're doing things that are illegal.

That's where we're at now. Who knows how this is all going to change over
the next couple of years though.

Re: Private: How to beat Google at Search for $50,000 in 10 easy steps

theschnaz — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 10:11:37 -0000

Interesting post, I like how simple you kept everything.

If I search for a show and nothing is free online, does telling me it's available on Netflix help? If I had a Netflix account, I'd be there. If I don't, there's probably a reason.

I think it's smart to index things Google doesn't. What is your opinion on less than ideal video hosts? Flickpeek.com is a great place to find videos, they have HBO shows too. http://www.flickpeek.com/tv-shows/True-Blood/ Would you index that site? If so, how would you add value that they don't?

Re: Putting your life on the line for a 50% chance to fail

RW — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 12:30:09 -0000

Fantastic post, thanks for sharing your story. I wish you much success in making SetJam a big hit

Re: Private: How to beat Google at Search for $50,000 in 10 easy steps

reecepacheco — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 09:34:52 -0000

Ryan,

Great post. Love the transparency. I have a much better grasp of SetJam now (than I did after NYTech Meetup).

Keep up the great work.

Re: Private: How to beat Google at Search for $50,000 in 10 easy steps

drstarcat — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 11:52:07 -0000

We've definitely got plans for an API. Our goal is to help users to share
their movie and TV preferences with any site. You'll be hearing more about
it early next year.

Re: Private: How to beat Google at Search for $50,000 in 10 easy steps

twitter-14246943 — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 11:26:46 -0000

Great post! I just got into the beta today and I'm excited to try out Setjam.

I'd like to know if you have any plans for an API? I understand there are obviously business reasons why that may not be a good idea but accessing your show information could really help out an indie developer like myself.

Re: Private: How to beat Google at Search for $50,000 in 10 easy steps

drstarcat — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 09:36:12 -0000

Amen to that. People don't realize how good the bay is as a search engine.

Re: Private: How to beat Google at Search for $50,000 in 10 easy steps

michuk — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 09:33:22 -0000

Good post, although there are many sites that beat Google at search in specific areas. One site that somes to mind first: PirateBay.org

Re: Private: How to beat Google at Search for $50,000 in 10 easy steps

Shakir Razak — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 14:16:06 -0000

Hi,

Nice post. ;)

Next step, become a verb!

Kind regards,

Shakir Razak

Re: Putting your life on the line for a 50% chance to fail

twakefield — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 22:09:27 -0000

Great post Ryan...inspirational, really.

Re: What to do when an $8 million gorilla launches 3 weeks before you

Jennifer Goodwin — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 16:50:17 -0000

SetJam.com (TV on the web, fire your cable company 4eva) http://drstarcat.com/archives/163

Re: Putting your life on the line for a 50% chance to fail

davidsrose — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 21:59:26 -0000

It's passion like this, second only to integrity (which you also have) as the #1 thing investors look for in funding a company. And it doesn't hurt that the demo actually turned out to be a great hit. Congratulations!

Re: Putting your life on the line for a 50% chance to fail

Pheelmore — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 13:06:15 -0000

Amazing post. I wish you a lot of success with Setjam, not just luck!

Re: Putting your life on the line for a 50% chance to fail

laurenporat — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 10:13:26 -0000

Wow. I was in the audience at the meetup, and never would have guessed the drama that led up to it. You're so smart for sharing this story, because now I feel like I have that much more desire to see you succeed, not just as a fellow entrepreneur and boot-strapper, but as a member of the audience. Best of luck to you, Ryan!
Lauren Porat
Co-founder
Urban Interns

Re: Putting your life on the line for a 50% chance to fail

MikeDuda — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 06:39:54 -0000

Great post, great story.

Re: Putting your life on the line for a 50% chance to fail

twitter-40232464 — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 05:35:34 -0000

Thanks for this fantastic post

Re: Putting your life on the line for a 50% chance to fail

innonate — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 22:06:18 -0000

Congrats, Ryan. I can honestly say it was one of NY Tech Meetup's best presentations in my tenure.

Re: Putting your life on the line for a 50% chance to fail

Shakir Razak — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 20:58:54 -0000

Dear Ryan,

Just wanted to say Congratulations on launching Setjam.

Your re-counting of the events just before launch is both inspiring and cautionary to all potential entrepreneurs.

It wouldn't be meaningful if our journey didn't matter. At least in the tech industry things can be quicker and cheaper, when you think of the failure-rate of other (often more manual) businesses.

"I know you can succeed, You have to make sure you do!"

Best wishes,

Shakir Razak