kristenlee

I find it overreaching to conclude that every individual who is employed by the government in a law enforcement capacity chose their job out of a need to control other people. The world is not black and white and there are shades of gray. The police officers you despise hunt down the murderers, rapists, and child molesters that harm society, the soldiers fight against genocidal sociopaths like Adolf Hitler & Sadaam Hussein, and the congressmen you despise fight for things like universal healthcare. With regards to startups the primary motivation for most entrepreneurs, but not all, is to make money, not some noble goal of making the world a better place. Apple, Facebook, Twitter, Foursquare and the like do little or nothing to solve the world's most serious problems, they're just toys for upper middle class people with money and time to burn. Finally no reputable news source has reported on this story because everything is based on hearsay on what a "DOJ representative" allegedly said which fails to pass the credibility test for reputable news outfits such as the NY Times, Reuters, Washington Post, CNN, with reporting standards. Before you act on the word, consider the source.

Unfortunately this relationship has the makings of a codependent relationship. When you combine a man who is probably insecure since he searches for dates on craigslist and a woman with a litany of mental issues you generally have a codependent relationship. The insecure man needs to feel "needed" and the women needs to be "saved". Most of these relationships do not end well and lead to long-term unhappiness for both parties.

Offering loans at a 330% interest rate is "helping the poor", sounds like exploitation to me. Payday lending has been outlawed in many states due to the fact that it exploits poor people and entraps them in a cycle of high interest debt. The founder of ZenFinance acknowledges that fact in one paragraph and then touts working with a company that engages in those unethical practices in the next. The following states have outlawed payday lending:

Arkansas, Connecticut, Georgia, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts (not strictly illegal but highly regulated), New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Vermont, West Virginia.

Source:wikipedia

This program can be very dangerous if you're a woman and your "investor" is a male. I can see all types of exploitation going on. As a lawyer I also know that this type of program may be illegal since it is akin to indentured servitude or slavery. I would be curious to know what the males in here would think if their girlfriend or sister had a dirty old man pouring over her tax returns and demanding she make payments. There's a reason we have banks as intermediaries to make loans, hopefully no women are dumb enough to use this.

EDIT: Another issue is that such an investment would be considered an unsecured loan and could be discharged in bankruptcy. I would take the "investment" and then declare bankruptcy and have the debt wiped out. Student loans have bankruptcy immunity which is why 18 year olds can take out thousands in loans. No intelligent investor would give an 20 year old a $30,000 in unsecured loans. You cannot write "bankruptcy immunity" into a contract either because it can only be granted by from Congress.

Wow, this is really going to change the world. YC S12 is probably the best class out of YC so far. A mobile app that allows me to send a postcard to my mom...genius!!! A billion dollar company in the making.

I started off working on my startup as a single founder and found it enjoyable, especially the coding part. What I underestimated was the emotional challenge and that's where having a cofounder helps tremendously. I was fortunate enough to find a cofounder and while the level of stress is still high, its much easier to deal with having somebody in the trenches with you. As far as the later stages of a startup, very few startups even get to that point so I wouldn't worry so much.

Great app, guys. I love the design of the app and your website. Really fits the whole artistic New York hippie vibe. Keep up the good work and ignore the inevitable onslaught of negativity you read here...its par for course lately.

I agree with the OP, the level of negativity on HN is striking, if you peruse through the articles on the first page on any given day at least half will have some negative "hater" comment as the one with the most votes. You saw the same type of negative behavior on Techcrunch before they transitioned over to the Facebook commenting system, maybe there's something about anonymity that brings out the worst in people.

Business is about competition, every product in history has had competitors so I don't see what the big deal is. If you know a market I can enter where I will face no competition please let me know because I want in.