Thread by @paraschopra

Startups from @ycombinator S19 batch that caught my eye and why.

(a thread)

@ycombinator shiru.com because they're building alternatives for animal protein such as eggs using computational design.

Replacement of non-veg protein sources is much needed for ethical and climate change grounds

@ycombinator @microverseinc because they're scaling Lambda School

Just like there are multiple good universities, there's also going to be multiple income-sharing model based education platforms. The alignment of student-teacher incentive seems like the right step

microverse.org

@ycombinator @microverseinc @wingmanforsales because they provide cue-cards to sales people WHILE the call is going on.

This is a fantastic use of real time voice transcription. Though not sure of the moat. Would love to hear what makes them a defensible business

trywingman.com

@ycombinator @microverseinc @wingmanforsales vouch.us doesn't have many details on its homepage but it's an insurance platform for startups.

I'm intrigued by this because given the high failure rate of startups, how are they going to provide effective insurance?

@ycombinator @microverseinc @wingmanforsales refinery.io is a drag-drop builder for serverless components.

With popularity of AWS Lambda, building quick backend logic is going to be popular. Earlier code builders did the mistake of targeting to non-developers. This one seems to be targeted to developers

@ycombinator @microverseinc @wingmanforsales khabri.app is an app curating podcasts in Hindi.

I'm curious what convinced @mwseibel and team about its business model. How are they going to make money?

Though indic languages podcasts would definitely be a big category.

@ycombinator @microverseinc @wingmanforsales @mwseibel @joinTrustedFor because it's an attempt towards much needed replacement of LinkedIn.

I like their approach of curating high performing professional from community discussions but unsure of how it'll scale.

trustedfor.com/welcome

@ycombinator @microverseinc @wingmanforsales @mwseibel @joinTrustedFor gotrade.id/en/ because they're shamelessly copying Robinhood but introducing it to Indonesia.

(Notice similarities in homepages, colors and headlines)

Remember: copying is highly underrated invertedpassion.com/copying-ideas-…

@ycombinator @microverseinc @wingmanforsales @mwseibel @joinTrustedFor @LucidDroneTech because they're doing an idea that's SO OBVIOUS IN RETROSPECT: cleaning windows using drones.

It's like drones were made for this risky job

luciddronetech.com

@ycombinator @microverseinc @wingmanforsales @mwseibel @joinTrustedFor @LucidDroneTech @HelloRevel for creating a community exclusively for 50+ year females.

Something tells me that they have an insight which is going to work wonderfully for them.

hellorevel.com

@ycombinator @microverseinc @wingmanforsales @mwseibel @joinTrustedFor @LucidDroneTech @HelloRevel @NODEeco for helping people cheaply build vacation homes in their backyards.

They can enable anyone with some extra space to start income rental income by putting up an extra room

node.eco

@ycombinator @microverseinc @wingmanforsales @mwseibel @joinTrustedFor @LucidDroneTech @HelloRevel @NODEeco @SafelyDeposit for providing a physical safety deposit for important documents.

This is equivalent to traditional bank lockers in India which are always limited in supply. Except you can ship documents to these guys and they'll remain there safely.

safelydeposit.com

@ycombinator @microverseinc @wingmanforsales @mwseibel @joinTrustedFor @LucidDroneTech @HelloRevel @NODEeco @SafelyDeposit encepheal.com for making medication to treat substance abuse.

I'm curious about what value do such non-web/app startups get from YC.

These seem to require FDA approval and a long path to commercial viability.

@ycombinator @microverseinc @wingmanforsales @mwseibel @joinTrustedFor @LucidDroneTech @HelloRevel @NODEeco @SafelyDeposit @popsql for building a product that would make most casual developers say "who in hell needs that"?

They make collaborative editor for SQL queries. It's a very pain that's felt by larger engineering team and the nichness of this product is why I love it

popsql.com

@ycombinator @microverseinc @wingmanforsales @mwseibel @joinTrustedFor @LucidDroneTech @HelloRevel @NODEeco @SafelyDeposit @popsql @goldfiglabs for building a version control for settings page

Again, a precise but well-defined pain. I LOVE IT

goldfiglabs.com

@ycombinator @microverseinc @wingmanforsales @mwseibel @joinTrustedFor @LucidDroneTech @HelloRevel @NODEeco @SafelyDeposit @popsql @goldfiglabs earth-ai.com/#/home to use AI to predict unmined places on earth

It's noteworthy because I'm curious why @ycombinator is funding a company that'll lead to faster expolitation of earth's resources

@ycombinator @microverseinc @wingmanforsales @mwseibel @joinTrustedFor @LucidDroneTech @HelloRevel @NODEeco @SafelyDeposit @popsql @goldfiglabs @givelegacyinc for mail-order sperm testing and freezing.

With falling fertility and the (apparent) shame of getting sperms testing in hospitals, this company can prevent a lot of psychological pain. Kudos!

givelegacy.com

@ycombinator @microverseinc @wingmanforsales @mwseibel @joinTrustedFor @LucidDroneTech @HelloRevel @NODEeco @SafelyDeposit @popsql @goldfiglabs @givelegacyinc @KernSystems for storing data in DNA.

Yes, you heard it right! To pass something to your future generations, just store that data in the DNA.

Also, to track supply chain of food item, tag its DNA. WOW!

kernsystems.com

@ycombinator @microverseinc @wingmanforsales @mwseibel @joinTrustedFor @LucidDroneTech @HelloRevel @NODEeco @SafelyDeposit @popsql @goldfiglabs @givelegacyinc @KernSystems usesimmer.com for providing an app to find reviews of dishes, not resturants

If this can aggregate all food-delivery apps, users will use it to select dishes and delivery apps will just become delivery.

After all, we eat dishes and not restaurants.

@ycombinator @microverseinc @wingmanforsales @mwseibel @joinTrustedFor @LucidDroneTech @HelloRevel @NODEeco @SafelyDeposit @popsql @goldfiglabs @givelegacyinc @KernSystems outtalent.com for helping engineers in emerging countries get jobs in US.

Great talent is _everywhere_ and deserves to do their best work. It'll be good to see this succeed .

@ycombinator @microverseinc @wingmanforsales @mwseibel @joinTrustedFor @LucidDroneTech @HelloRevel @NODEeco @SafelyDeposit @popsql @goldfiglabs @givelegacyinc @KernSystems sannteklabs.com for building a breath analyzer for cannabis (none exists today, according to them)

As cannabis becomes legal, detecting cannabis influenced drivers is going to become as important as drunk drivers.

Right timing for this oppurtunity

@ycombinator @microverseinc @wingmanforsales @mwseibel @joinTrustedFor @LucidDroneTech @HelloRevel @NODEeco @SafelyDeposit @popsql @goldfiglabs @givelegacyinc @KernSystems That's it folks!

There were a total of 166 startups in the YCS19 batch. I'm amazed how many are there in the batch and equally amazed by the sheer number of startups applications that @ycombinator has to sift though.

yc itself has amazing network effects. @paulg did good!