penflip.com
Productivity
collaborative writing
SHOW HN2013
148points
92comments
#133of 1,739 in 2013
Top 8%of 2013 by points
How HN took it
MixedNo clear lean
23 positive, 21 neutral or asking, 2 mixed, 7 critical, out of 53 comments about the project. Thread score +0.30.
Idea: 10 for, 3 againstDesign: 2 for, 1 against
The thread, comment by comment
Each row is a top-level comment and its replies, in HN's order. Select a cell to open that comment on HN.
positive neutral or mixed critical about another commenter or something else the maker
What HN said
What people liked
Clean design and nice editor
From 2 comments
BTW: I really like the clean design.
tjosten on HNReally like the editor of the penflip.
brickcap on HN
Useful tool for writing and co-authoring
From 2 comments
Love the idea, been using iA Writer for MAC to work on my book. But since I'm co-authoring with somebody else this would be the best tool to use. Too bad you didn't get into YC…
tinbad on HNI just wanted to chime in and say (though possibly off topic) that Loren is an extraordinary developer. I saw penflip on ShowHN when he first posted it, and before that when it…
rhgraysonii on HN
Objections
Single founder seen as a weakness for YC
From 3 comments
It's an overall strong application, but it's missing a few key components - namely, you're a single founder, and you're a bit early in terms of product and traction. That…
pytrin on HNLooks very nice. Most likely the biggest problem is the single founder aspect, I'm in the same boat as you there. I have a feeling that when you select "yes" on that red flag…
sjtgraham on HNWhat caught my eye - number of n/a answers. It shows a certain level of ignorance on the applicant part. If these questions are included, they are included for a reason. Second,…
uladzislau on HN
Crowded market with Google Docs, Word and similar startups
From 2 comments
well to be fair, your hitting a very crowded market that already has very established services with large userbases (If Google Docs, Word or Github just takes the idea then your…
flylib on HNI wouldnt have thought the market was huge for this. You mention "Textbooks" - most commercial publishing companies would already have internal version control software, you…
phyalow on HN
Requests
Support for Word and Google Docs import and ebook export formats
From 2 comments
Market this thing as "The easiest way to get your book sold on Amazon" Figure out the process for people to sell there e-books on amazon and assist them all the way. Make sure…
wehadfun on HNYes Because formatting a book is painful. And you need to use the tools the publishers use (namely - InDesign) And they import (keeping the styles) from: Word What would be…
raverbashing on HN
Questions
Why was there no YC interview?
From 1 comment
I like the project a lot. Why do you think there was no YC interview? Any retrospection? Was it due to you being the only founder? How strict is the video time limit? The video…
iamshs on HN
Alternatives named
Google Docs
From 1 comment
Thanks for sharing this, interesting. However, why don't you mention Google Docs and Dropbox as competitors? Google docs already does this, and Dropbox seems to be clearly…
PanMan on HN
Dropbox
From 2 comments
Thanks for sharing this, interesting. However, why don't you mention Google Docs and Dropbox as competitors? Google docs already does this, and Dropbox seems to be clearly…
PanMan on HNI've seen a lot of PG's interviews where he literally says "Don't worry about competition". Dropbox released at a time when Google Drive was looming in the horizon. Still they…
shrikrishna on HN
Atlas (O'Reilly)
From 2 comments
> commercial publishing companies would already have internal version control software You'd be surprised. I've talked to published authors, and here's the inside scoop: the…
guynamedloren on HNwell to be fair, your hitting a very crowded market that already has very established services with large userbases (If Google Docs, Word or Github just takes the idea then your…
flylib on HN
Editorially and Draft
From 1 comment
well to be fair, your hitting a very crowded market that already has very established services with large userbases (If Google Docs, Word or Github just takes the idea then your…
flylib on HN