Re 5:

We did this on our new startup, and had a few complaints we are dealing with now. Just to make sure you avoid them:

1) if you redirect them to a signup page, make it SUPER CLEAR that their post/content wasn't deleted, that it is being stored until they register.

2) give them an alert as they are writing that they will need to be logged in to actually add it.

We had users complain that it wasn't clear that logging in would add their post, that they were afraid all that work had been deleted and it made them not want to continue. That wasn't the case, so we just had to add a little note, but still.

(We're also working now on just a lil ajax box that floats up above the post asking you to login, so you can see that your post is still there...)

Yeps - I also thought the map was a bit confusing to use. It was great until I got to the city level...then it was weird.

I didn't read the catch phrase, but totally agree with you. Thats a mouthful, and it makes me think too much. Something like "Share your favorite hangouts, and discover new ones through your friends." or "Find and mark the hottest hangouts in your hood" Heheh

Not sure why you got down-modded. I agree with you about the maps, and am trying to tweak the clustering algorithm to be a little smarter about which zoom level it's at, how many places are in an area, etc. Also, yeah, that wording on the front page is weird. Oops.

(First off, Im not a big early adapter or regular web 2.0 site user. So some of these things may not be relevant if you are going for a tech savvy audience)

So immediately I think "Four Square". I see you arent, but that sounds like it'll be your biggest competitor. How you plan to get users on board? B2B? B2C?

Little things: 1) I like the map where I get to click on the bubbles of numbers to a point. But once I zoom in on San Francisco, its a little weird to still have bubbles over neighborhoods. At that point I'd rather just see a list of the top places on the bottom, with pointers ala Google that change as I scan through the list.

1.a) ah, and when I got too close, all the bubbles just go away. How do I actually find the places? I thought it would be through the map...

2) The white check is a little confusing for "I want to see it" Can it be a totally different icon?

3) Ah, was worried I would have to remember the address of the place I added. Love that you have ACCURATE suggestions. :)

4) Rating with the stars is a bit tricky. I love that you do %, but I was momentarily confused when it scanned back down even after I clicked.

5) Super easy to use, congrats. Your UI is clear and concise - I was able to post with ease.

6) Do you have a phone app? In the works? That seems like it would be your most important thing. I would never think to do this sitting at home, but I would definitely do it while just leaving a restaurant, or sitting in a park with friends.

1) Yup, looks like I need to tweak that a bit. Showing a list is a great idea.

1.a) Ah, that's probably a bug.

2) Good point.

3 & 5) Thanks :-)

4) Ah, right. I can see how that could be confusing.

6) We have an iPhone app in the works. The site was actually built as a backend for the iPhone app... We're both ex-Apple Cocoa programmers, so hopefully that will be our strong point. ;)

Oops - sorry, totally missed this comment when I posted mine. But agreed. :)

I dont think thats a flaw at all. Dude, look at the people who take boring jobs that pay the bills and see their excitement level towards life itself 10 years later. :\

I dont want things that are ALWAYS challenging, or so hard as to leave me frustrated an unaccomplished at the end of the day. But I dont want an endless monotony of crap.

I'd put team as part of environment/atmosphere (or vice versa) - I know they arent perfectly matched, but dont the people you work with directly impact the atmosphere?

I'm with you and Matt King (for the most part), but there can be distinctions - physical environment, team skill, etc. The two are communicated differently, too.

(nods) Oh definitely true. I spent a summer with one of the BEST team's I have ever worked with (this I measured by their experience, the roughly equal ratio of seriousness to laidbackness and quiet time to social time, and the welcoming nature of the people there). And we worked in a small, windowless office with cement walls. Yuk.

But in that situation, team definitely won out. Sure, the environment itself sucked, but you hardly noticed because of the group atmosphere.

"Naïvety balanced by an experienced advisor’s cynicism can be a healthy combination."

Neat and well written - agree wholeheartedly.

But a team of entirely newbies, first timers, and folks in their twenties should have an experienced advisor - or a few - to help them avoid hurdles. Up there with Passion is Experience, I say.

Is this REALLY where books are going? Personally, I still can't imagine giving up a book for another screen in my life. But talking to my hacker-ish friends, I seem to be in the losing end of the spectrum. :(

I wouldn't worry, paper books aren't going anywhere soon.

I just bought sony's e-reader on the weekend (the kindle is too closed-down for my taste). It's nice, but I think most people will prefer paper books for some time to come. It's great for Project Gutenberg books and open content though.

And who could forget Zuck's photo up in the upper right corner. :D

Now, if I remember correctly, there were theories as to "who" was in that photo. Groups on FB started popping up seeing if it was this one kid from a certain school that was used in that photo.

When did it do that? I was in pretty early, but dont remember that one....woulda been nice!

It ended in September 2006. It was cool because you could see the other person's IP, which was useful because you could then use your Google analytics to see which hot girls were clicking the links from your facebook profile to your home page.