Comments on: YouNoodle In The News

By: Hussong

Hussong — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 12:03:24 +0000

Um, what’s their valuation prediction for YouNoodle?

By: Doc

Doc — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 07:32:07 +0000

I have created software which tells me tomorrow’s share prices of NASDAQ companies. The algorithm it uses is top secret, I can’t tell you anything about it. This software will shake the entire investment world, I will make us all millionaires! You just need to buy my software…

By: Matt Lawson

Matt Lawson — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 20:57:12 +0000

I think the best startups are based on passion. Where is the passion meter? So what happens if you have a Masters Degree in Philosophy? Does that mean less chance of success? The real deal is in niche markets. OpenSocial for example has 350 million + users and growing so it seems much more viable to make a service to cater to a massive userbase. How do they even make money? How about charge $5 a month for a service that has 350+ million person audience! Investors will not buy into this Your-Noodle (is small) service if they are true entrepreneurs!!

By: Yesbut

Yesbut — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 19:54:33 +0000

YouNoodle should come with a disclaimer: “For entertainment purposes only.”

By: Ben

Ben — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 16:51:48 +0000

The idea of a startup predictor is so startlingly absurd and so transparently a marketing gimmick that I can’t believe media are taking the bait. There’s no chance in hell that even their own investors (Founders Fund) believe it; it’s patently silly. When will someone just clearly state that the emperor has no clothes so we can move on?

By: antje wilsch

antje wilsch — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 16:51:12 +0000

I just took a look and it was kind of fun, but seems to have way too much emphasis on the founders and many of today’s “leaps of faith” would have been deemed losers by it. There is too much emphasis on this algorithm and not enough on the “luck/ timing” factor that plays a big role (how could that even be quantified?) Flip side - many of the successful founders’ second start-ups aren’t exactly bringing in the billion$ yet, which might reinforce the notion that the elements of luck and timing play a big role.

By: Jeff O'Hara

Jeff O'Hara — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 16:26:43 +0000

It was a fun toy. Amusing for a 1 time deal. http://www.edmodo.com should be worth 15 million according to them in 3 years. Eh whatever, I take it with a grain of salt. It may drive a bit of traffic to my site with their publicity so any startup would be stupid not to put their info in it, but that’s probably about it.

-Jeff

By: JC

JC — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 16:26:23 +0000

Total BS- If Wall Street and the billions it pours into computer driven research can’t get investing right all the time, how can a tiny startup with a small sample size? This sort of nonsense has been going on since the Computer Age started and it never works as predicted. Yet people seem to fall for it, time and time again. How do you run the data on fads and human behavior? At least a lot of consumer facing Internet startups are all about those things, first and foremost.

By: Alex M

Alex M — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 15:19:43 +0000

Agreed. However doesn’t the same thing happen today (at a lower level) with the venture community? I’m sure there are/were some good ideas that never went forward because the VCs didn’t like them. Of course it is easier for one algorithm to be wrong than for a lot of people.

By: JC

JC — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 14:51:01 +0000

What is younoodle’s younoodle score?

By: George

George — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 14:35:57 +0000

I used the service, seems like it needs more to be credible. What exactly? I don’t know. But it said Jippidy.com would be worth $60m in 3 years so I like it.

By: Beijing Olympics 2008 Closing Ceremony

Beijing Olympics 2008 Closing Ceremony — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 14:29:15 +0000

youNoodle? I think i’m gonna eat noodles because i am hungry. haha

By: Tara Joyce

Tara Joyce — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 13:24:31 +0000

How reliable can a valuation tool be when they don’t even qualify their ratings? I used YouNoodle to rate my own start-up and was amused to see that after I got my rating, there was no information to qualify what that rating meant. YouNoodle states what it bases it’s rating on, but subsequently doesn’t tell you what your score means. What’s the point then?

Additionally, employing a few ‘experts’ and scanning the web for content on your startup is not an accurate indication of strength. True success comes from the entrepreneur themselves - their ideas, goals, drive, etc. How can software, unless personality-based, rate that?

YouNoodle, to me, was a fun experiment, but nothing more. I wouldn’t base a damn thing off of what it says.

By: TechCrunch Japanese アーカイブ » YouNoodle、テレビに登場

TechCrunch Japanese アーカイブ » YouNoodle、テレビに登場 — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 12:36:16 +0000

[...] [原文へ] [...]

By: Eric Wan

Eric Wan — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 12:18:03 +0000

yep
read my comments below

there’s one similarity between the college ranking system and this indicator thing - when they are successful they become a self-fulfilling prophecy.

By: Eric Wan

Eric Wan — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 12:14:48 +0000

If the YouNoddle predictor will ever become a standard of a startup’s valuation - I’m saying if, I am pretty skeptical about it - perhaps entrepreneurs could totally skip the VC part and go to public markets.

Sure, companies need profit and positive cashflow in order to handle all the procedures of IPO and staying as a public company. But, if YouNoodle says a company is gonna worth 100 mil in 3 years, and the public market investors treat it as a reliable reference, the valuation could become a self-fulfilling prophecy. Then the startup could raise enough capital and that hypothetical valuation is gonna pay for itself.

Just some wild speculation here at 5am.

- Eric Wan
http://www.ledova.com
Job Reviews from Inside Employees

By: Fez

Fez — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 12:10:07 +0000

This service reminds me of the flawed University ranking system. the magazines go about asking 200 ppl in a pool of 3000 and based those credentials, an index is printed and inflation takes its course

What mike said is correct. jervitz you’re an idiot!

By: Eric Wan

Eric Wan — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 12:07:12 +0000

>> to be incredibly powerful PR drvier for YouNoodle

yep

By: Bryn Youngblut

Bryn Youngblut — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 11:53:14 +0000

It’s a cool tool I guess but should only be used as a approximate measurement, sorta like websiteoutlook.

By: Ian

Ian — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 11:42:27 +0000

Chris - that potential problem with the predictor is overblown. Above all, the predictor is a fun tool. Are any good investors seriously going to make decisions solely on what the predictor says? Of course not.

By: Chris S

Chris S — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 11:36:04 +0000

Here is the problem with YouNoodle. Echoing what Michael said on the video, if someone were to YouNoodle Google when they first started, they may not have received funding to kickstart their company. Just imagine the waste in opportunity and the state of technology without Google.

So how many potential “Googles” will be undervalued by YouNoodle using their “algorithm”?

By: Ian

Ian — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 11:32:55 +0000

and jervitz - you’re an idiot

By: Ian

Ian — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 11:31:54 +0000

I think it’s potentially useful for investors, but the savvy ones will of course take any scores with a healthy pinch of salt.

That aside, the predictor is achieving what I believe is it’s real goal: to be incredibly powerful PR drvier for YouNoodle. Mike - you are good on TV.

By: jervitz

jervitz — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 11:31:53 +0000

Attention all valleywatchers!

This is precisely where Michael Arrington loses his way and where his blind ambition colors his view of a start-up. If YouNoodle becomes wildly successful then it is a serious threat to techCrunch and he cannot let that happen, so, best way to ensure this doesn’t happen is to go negative on YouNoodle — early and often — so that people don’t really like it.