This is awesome! I've seen different startups try to tackle this problem for the last 4 years and so far this looks like most useful solution.

word

we even have our marketing guy use lechat. Try making your marketing use emacs ;)

The finance team at appnexus use ipython internally to scrape files, create aggregates, etc.

I dunno, it's just about teaching them about it at the right level. Don't swamp them with thousands of details, and don't leave them without a lifeline to call upon.

Although this is assuming they are a bit open-minded.

The finance team at appnexus use ipython internally to scrape files, create aggregates, etc.

I dunno, it's just about teaching them about it at the right level. Don't swamp them with thousands of details, and don't leave them without a lifeline to call upon.

Although this is assuming they want to be competent.

We have a distributed team of 4 engineers in 3 different locations. We have been using lechat.im for the last month and it has improved the information flow dramatically. Before lechat.im we tried hangouts, Skype and gTalk and those all fall short of the features that matter for a distributed team. Things that I love about lechat: search, SVN and git hooks (checking go into a separate room as messages), notifications, chat history.

International or local, anyone who is arriving to SFO and is not a Bay Area resident qualifies.

I was asking if they were going to offer a free international ride (flight) in order to test their service :)

Maybe when we hit first 10 million downloads :)

Thanks for the advice. I think, we'll do that too. Personally, I don't like when people come up to me in the street and demand attention, but maybe that's just me.

ahh, you gotta get over that. Don't project your personal views on others, there's plenty of people that would enjoy this - I know I would.

If you're going to be successful as a startup, you gotta hustle. I did door-to-door sales one summer and do you know which people turned out to be the nicest? The ones with "No solicitation" signs on their door. I kid you not. Just go and do it.

I think there's plenty of people who would not like this as well and the current method they're experimenting with is unique in that only people who want to test the app will agree to get a ride. If someone does approach me in public and ask for my time, I'm not going to think too favorably of the experience.

yeah, but giving rides from SFO is time consuming and costly. Gas could easily cost you $10, not to mention an hour of time. There's easier ways to do it, and as a startup, you need to be as resourceful as possible.

We'll give union square a try as well, but this free ride & test idea seems to work well so far. A good test of the app takes 45-60 minutes, which works well for an average ride of 30-45 mins. The time wasted on finding candidates is minimal - few postings and replying to email.

If you have wifi on the flight, you could test while on the flight.

Yes, the app is Citybot. It isn't in the app store yet, but we can deliver it via Testflight and as an APK file. The app lets you create custom itineraries in seconds.

what bothers me is that giving any money to the gov-t is the least efficient way, because the gov-t is not efficient with money. That brings the question, do we really need to raise taxes or open more opportunities for charitable foundations to do what gov-t cannot.