I’m impressed that Jason took the time to comment here on the blog. Guess people are never happy. Either a company “isn’t in touch with the customer” or the company “is trying to hard to communicate with its users.”

Can’t make everyone happy, I guess.

Skimming 25% off the top that is one hell of a racket, amd sadly JC has people dupped into thinking he is actually doing them a favor by taking it. Are things so bad over there JC that you guys are now sucking your users dry? 25% off the top is a bit ridiculous isn’t it?

Kevin, I’m with you, the potential of this being used for nothing but advertising is there and is already happening. The post in question was just one of a few I spotted in the limited amount of time I was there.

After reading the above posts I’m amazed by two things I see here:

1. The rabid contempt for the innovation being expressed, and the denial of reality relating to the emerging success of Mahalo Answers.

2. Jason’s display of tact and willingness to engage in discussion, that is so clearly unappreciated by the jealous trolls and flamers on this site. This, of course that is something so few people can understand, because it is so alien. That is his strength, not only as an entrepreneur but as a person, and it’s as admirable as it is practical.

It strikes me as curious how obscure bloggers on here, rather than recognizing the advancement Mahalo offers, and embracing it as a step in the right direction, feel the need to attack not only the site, but the staff behind it with silly personal slurs that demonstrate more about themselves than the targets of their rants.

Is there something about providing an opportunity for content providers to make money for their contributions, that you guys are ideologically opposed to? God forbid anyone be so audacious that they’d build a better and fairer system that might take some revenue away from the good old boys who have made a fortune off of their user base, while offering nothing but “free” hosting for the information they sell advertising space around.

The framework of Mahalo Answers is revolutionary, and it will succeed. It will also set the tone for services that follow. Comparing MA to Yahoo Answers, is like comparing a user manual to a tabloid magazine. The framework Yahoo provides creates a haven for trivial questions, and even more trivial answers, and offers no motivation to raise the bar. Mahalo is building something that has the very real possibility of becoming a useful freelance consulting network. I am embracing that possibility, and not because I received the largest tip the site has seen so far, but because I see the potential in Mahalo Answers, and I believe in the vision it represents.

What puzzles me is how the above troll mob actually believes it holds the majority opinion… It doesn’t. The (handful of) negative opinions here are completely out-of-touch with the public that this site is a platform for. There is wide appeal here, because something like this truly has not been done before, and the opportunities provided by the backing of this project to enable it to enter the mainstream, are being greatly undervalued by some of the above comments.

Like with any innovative idea, you have the naysayers who keep humming the same tune, until someone presses a different button on the jukebox, and all the while they think the music is only in their mind. It’s sort of the nature of things, and there’s countless hugely successful projects that faced the same kind of senseless ridicule at their inception.

It’s funny how when people are proven wrong, they suddenly suffer a memory lapse and claim they predicted success from the beginning. In that spirit, I’m sure those of us who have been enjoying the site are thankful for your support.

If you think you can make a better system, please do. I’ll be one of the first users you have, and I’ll come into your projects with the same open mind I came into Mahalo with. Rather than talking shit about the CEO, why don’t you out-CEO him? I think he can handle the competition.

The response to Mahola Answers has been overwhelmingly positive… I don’t know what beach the head-in-the-sand crowd is on, but those aren’t muffled waves you are hearing in the background. It’s the sound of everyone else hurrying past you in droves, to go for a swim. Come on in, the water is nice here.

If you are so devoted to Yahoo Answers that you don’t want to try something new, and would rather attack it than learn from it, that is your choice. If your participation is only to contribute the same type of trivial, worthless, insults to someone who builds a better system, feel free to say there, and contribute those equally useful answers, of the same caliber. I’m sure you’ll have some company over there, though I haven’t bothered climbing back aboard that failtrain myself in the last 3 years. Whoever thinks that Mahalo is an attempt at duplicating Yahoo Answers, is probably not just missing the point, but incapable of seeing it altogether. That system is broken. Trust me… I know. I used it regularly for some time. If you can’t see that it is broken, it’s because you’re the one breaking it!

To me, Mahalo Answers is about creating value. Those who offer the tips, demonstrate their value in the answer. Those who receive the tips are assured their contribution is, in fact, valuable. The portion allocated for Mahalo, demonstrates the community values the framework that sustains it. This creates a community built on reciprocity and respect, and this is the most important element, and will be perhaps the primary reason that Mahalo will be a success.

Note: I do not work for Mahalo. I do not know Jason Calacanis personally, and I have no vested interest in the success of the site, other than seeing the benefit of the unique opportunity it offers it users.

If it was there initially I see no problems, obviously there’s going to be a bit of self-promotion of yourself and affiliates – every site, and business does it. It’s just business – it’s when they don’t disclose it that you have serious issues.

Really, in the big picture, the cost of five trips overseas versus potentially MILLIONS of dollars in revenue is minuscule. Your comment is negative and insulting and doesn’t respect the fact that, whether you like the product or not, you’re addressing an individual who’s doing something with his life, quite successfully. And encouraging others to follow suit.

He’s the CEO of a successful tech company; chances are, he knows what he’s talking about. And he’s absolutely right about Wikipedia — I remember when no one heard about it, and then it caught fire with the public at large. Now you can’t escape it.

I wish Mahalo success.

I see some very good things coming out of Mahalo, especially the QA section. Because what better way to get an answer about something then to give someone a few $’s. Obviously if you can google or wiki your answer its kind of pointless, but what if those options fail? You could spend hours searching through random websites trying to find something at all. Why not just save yourself the time and trouble and post a question, put up $5 for the best answer and give people some incentive.

I see businesses in a few years having to put a cap on how much they let employes spend on Mahalo Answers each week. Questions like “What software application will let us do ____ for our business”

Keep flaming him, bad press is as good or better than good coverage. He will be laughing all the way to the bank.

Jason’s reasons for laying off Mahalo staff recently make sense from a business perspective (sucks from a personal perspective), but I honestly see Mahalo Answers as a win/win situation: people willing to pay for the answers they want get quality answers in short amount of time; people who answer questions earn money, and the better the answers the more the money; Mahalo gets a cut which means it creates an additional revenue stream for itself, meaning it’s more likely it’ll be able to keep its employees in the future (because it’ll have the money to pay them).

No need to kick a man (or a company) trying to help people earn a little extra dough. That’s all.

Good luck, Jason. Hope it works out for you.

If people don’t like questions created soley for the purpose of building buzz, they can choose not to answer them. But human nature is to do things when there’s a reward at the end. Kevin, I bet you would eat your words and sign up and answer a question if the answer came with a 1 million dollar reward.

It’s not like Mahalo took your money away to do what they want. They raised the money, and it’s not your money to be saying if it’s wisely used or not. Heck, think about it, at least there are a few more people employed for now

But for the ultimate rippers, what is it that you have launched yourself that you need to scoff so publically here. How many people have “startup envy” here. If you dislike Mahalo (I am not fond of it either), at least it’s not harming you or taking away your time from your own startup.

I can’t comment on the frequency of this company appearing on TC, I am not in the know, that’s a different matter entirely and not for me to judge.

They could have used that $100 and submitted a press release. A simple google of ‘getting on tv’ will give as much or more info as the best selected answer did.

It is a paid answers service with Former Google Answers Researchers. Very pro.