63 fledgling startups demoed their big ideas in front of investors and members of the press at Y Combinator’s Demo Day on Tuesday.
Of the massive batch — Y Combinator’s largest to date — 32 companies now have products in the wild. With so many choose from, we decided to feature the five most practical consumer applications best suited for Mashable readers.
“Out of 63, statically, there’s probably an Airbnb or Dropbox in there,” Y Combinator founder Paul Graham said to the crowd. “Question is, which one?”
It could be one of the consumer-focused startups below. Of course, you’ll be the ones to decide their ultimate fate. Try out the products below and tell us in the comments what you think.
Kicksend
Pitch: Use Kicksend to send files of any size to any email address or anyone in your social graph.
The Basics: Kicksend has a straightforward file-sharing experience. Select or drag-and-drop files to share, specify to whom you want to send your files, add a message, choose privacy settings (optional) and hit Send.
You can also build lists of friends, participate in private conversation threads related to files, import Google contacts, view stats and receive delivery notifications.
Why We Like It: Easy signup via Facebook or Twitter -- making for even easier list creation -- and pretty application interfaces.
You've got plenty of choices in the file-sharing arena, but Kicksend's approach is modern, elegant and accessible to the average web user anytime, anywhere.
Codecademy
Pitch: Codecademy is a site where beginners can go to learn how to code.
The Basics: Users complete simple and quick coding exercises in the browser, and earn badges for their achievements. The only coding skills required are the ones you learn along the way.
In five days, Codecademy has signed up more than 250,000 users who have completed more than 2.75 million exercises. Most users, the startup says, are spending an average of an hour on the site.
Why We Like It: Codecademy makes coding both accessible and fun for everyone -- Mashable reporters and readers included. Even the sign up process is a simple lesson in coding.
Snapjoy
Pitch: Snapjoy stores and organizes the world's photos.
The Basics: Use Snapjoy to store your photos in the cloud for universal access or backup. The service will automatically organize your photos into events based on photo contents. You can then choose to share photos or moments with friends via email.
So far users are responding nicely to the new cloud-based alternative to photo storage. Snapjoy's 2,500 users have uploaded more than 1.8 million photos in the 16 days since it first launched.
Why We Like It: Automatic photo organization and a "Remember When" photo shuffler. Plus, Snapjoy's Shoebox desktop uploader makes it a breeze to upload your entire photo collection in minutes.
1,000 Mashable readers can sign up to get access to Snapjoy.
Picplum
Pitch: Picplum automatically prints and ships photos to friends and family.
The Basics: Upload your best photos to Picplum and it will send 4 x 6-inch photo prints to designated recipients each month. The photo-printing service is tailored toward new parents who want a more automated way to send shots to their family members.
For $7 per month, Picplum will print and send a set of 15 4 x 6 photo prints to a single recipient. You can add additional recipients for $7 more per person, per month.
Why We Like It: Because you can email all your shots to [email protected], Picplum makes for a simple send-it-and-forget way to share digital captures with relatives.
Debteye
Pitch: Debteye offers users automated credit counseling on the web.
The Basics: Debteye has condensed the usually manual and laborious process of credit consolidation into a self-service software program.
Use Debteye to review your credit, get a personalized debt plan and work your way out of debt. The service provides users with three different types of debt relief programs: debt settlement, debt management or debt snowball. It also comes up with monthly budget based on your lifestyle.
Why We Like It: Practical, consumer-friendly tools for getting out of debt faster.
More About: Codecademy, Debteye, Kicksend, Picplum, Snapjoy, startups, y combinatorFor more Startups coverage:Follow Mashable Startups on TwitterBecome a Fan on FacebookSubscribe to the Startups channelDownload our free apps for Android, Mac, iPhone and iPad
Posted on Thu, 25 Aug 2011 02:41:08 +0000 at http://feeds.mashable.com/~r/Mashable/~3/-YvKaUa0a0M/
Comments: http://mashable.com/2011/08/24/yc-startups-summer-11/#comments
Of the massive batch — Y Combinator’s largest to date — 32 companies now have products in the wild. With so many choose from, we decided to feature the five most practical consumer applications best suited for Mashable readers.
“Out of 63, statically, there’s probably an Airbnb or Dropbox in there,” Y Combinator founder Paul Graham said to the crowd. “Question is, which one?”
It could be one of the consumer-focused startups below. Of course, you’ll be the ones to decide their ultimate fate. Try out the products below and tell us in the comments what you think.
Kicksend
Pitch: Use Kicksend to send files of any size to any email address or anyone in your social graph.
The Basics: Kicksend has a straightforward file-sharing experience. Select or drag-and-drop files to share, specify to whom you want to send your files, add a message, choose privacy settings (optional) and hit Send.
You can also build lists of friends, participate in private conversation threads related to files, import Google contacts, view stats and receive delivery notifications.
Why We Like It: Easy signup via Facebook or Twitter -- making for even easier list creation -- and pretty application interfaces.
You've got plenty of choices in the file-sharing arena, but Kicksend's approach is modern, elegant and accessible to the average web user anytime, anywhere.
Codecademy
Pitch: Codecademy is a site where beginners can go to learn how to code.
The Basics: Users complete simple and quick coding exercises in the browser, and earn badges for their achievements. The only coding skills required are the ones you learn along the way.
In five days, Codecademy has signed up more than 250,000 users who have completed more than 2.75 million exercises. Most users, the startup says, are spending an average of an hour on the site.
Why We Like It: Codecademy makes coding both accessible and fun for everyone -- Mashable reporters and readers included. Even the sign up process is a simple lesson in coding.
Snapjoy
Pitch: Snapjoy stores and organizes the world's photos.
The Basics: Use Snapjoy to store your photos in the cloud for universal access or backup. The service will automatically organize your photos into events based on photo contents. You can then choose to share photos or moments with friends via email.
So far users are responding nicely to the new cloud-based alternative to photo storage. Snapjoy's 2,500 users have uploaded more than 1.8 million photos in the 16 days since it first launched.
Why We Like It: Automatic photo organization and a "Remember When" photo shuffler. Plus, Snapjoy's Shoebox desktop uploader makes it a breeze to upload your entire photo collection in minutes.
1,000 Mashable readers can sign up to get access to Snapjoy.
Picplum
Pitch: Picplum automatically prints and ships photos to friends and family.
The Basics: Upload your best photos to Picplum and it will send 4 x 6-inch photo prints to designated recipients each month. The photo-printing service is tailored toward new parents who want a more automated way to send shots to their family members.
For $7 per month, Picplum will print and send a set of 15 4 x 6 photo prints to a single recipient. You can add additional recipients for $7 more per person, per month.
Why We Like It: Because you can email all your shots to [email protected], Picplum makes for a simple send-it-and-forget way to share digital captures with relatives.
Debteye
Pitch: Debteye offers users automated credit counseling on the web.
The Basics: Debteye has condensed the usually manual and laborious process of credit consolidation into a self-service software program.
Use Debteye to review your credit, get a personalized debt plan and work your way out of debt. The service provides users with three different types of debt relief programs: debt settlement, debt management or debt snowball. It also comes up with monthly budget based on your lifestyle.
Why We Like It: Practical, consumer-friendly tools for getting out of debt faster.
More About: Codecademy, Debteye, Kicksend, Picplum, Snapjoy, startups, y combinatorFor more Startups coverage:Follow Mashable Startups on TwitterBecome a Fan on FacebookSubscribe to the Startups channelDownload our free apps for Android, Mac, iPhone and iPad
Posted on Thu, 25 Aug 2011 02:41:08 +0000 at http://feeds.mashable.com/~r/Mashable/~3/-YvKaUa0a0M/
Comments: http://mashable.com/2011/08/24/yc-startups-summer-11/#comments
