Introducing Hackers Den - inspired by Dragons Den

This site is made by the same guy as brandcurrency.co.uk (<a href="http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1563441" rel="nofollow">http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1563441</a> - "Marketer rakes £25k Profit I'm So Jealous I'm Giving Up Developing Apps"). I noticed because the video on this website stops after a couple of minutes and asks for a payment the same way as his "Outrank negative reviews on Google" video.<p><a href="http://webwhois.nic.uk/cgi-bin/whois.cgi?query=brandcurrency.co.uk&#38;WHOIS+Submit.x=0&#38;WHOIS+Submit.y=0" rel="nofollow">http://webwhois.nic.uk/cgi-bin/whois.cgi?query=brandcurrency...</a><p><a href="http://webwhois.nic.uk/cgi-bin/whois.cgi?query=hackersden.co.uk&#38;WHOIS+Submit.x=0&#38;WHOIS+Submit.y=0" rel="nofollow">http://webwhois.nic.uk/cgi-bin/whois.cgi?query=hackersden.co...</a><p>For me it seems he (username HNer) wants to make money with his Flash video payment service (karsa.co.uk), which aborts videos and asks users to pay for resuming.<p><a href="http://news.ycombinator.com/submitted?id=HNer" rel="nofollow">http://news.ycombinator.com/submitted?id=HNer</a><p>There was an interesting discussion in the techcrunch comments about the security of this karsa solution, where the author failed to address the security concerns: <a href="http://eu.techcrunch.com/2010/07/20/karsa-flash-payer-offers-bait-and-switch-model-for-video-monetization/?replytocom=409994#comment-410658" rel="nofollow">http://eu.techcrunch.com/2010/07/20/karsa-flash-payer-offers...</a><p>Edit: The last paragraph is incorrect -- I've mistakenly attributed the techcrunch comments to karsa, but apparently the security concerns were about a competitor.

All the criticisms about the underlying technology and business model aside: if you do nothing else, please hire a copywriter.

I like the idea. I don't like your Flash player though.<p>The American version is called Shark Tank and I remember spending a night watching the episodes on Hulu. I loved seeing the ideas, the "sharks" interacting with the entrepreneurs (and among themselves), and the financial negotiation involved. And yes, I'm guilty of liking the dramatics, too.<p>A Silicon Valley version with technology-based startups pitching to real VC's who could invest would definitely appeal to the HN audience.<p>BTW, there was even a redditor that unsuccessfully pitched an idea on their show. (<a href="http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/aq2p2/im_going_to_be_on_a_us_reality_tv_show_tonight/" rel="nofollow">http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/aq2p2/im_going_to_be_o...</a>)

The YC interview is one example of a high profile Hackers Den. This kind of thing runs on the panel's personal brand. Who do you have on yours?

I much prefer <a href="http://launchset.com" rel="nofollow">http://launchset.com</a> as a "place for hackers to get together" project. Launchset seems like it genuinely wants to bring hackers together. Hackers Den seems like it's trying to make money from hackers, without providing any value back (who's on the panel?)

I watch Dragon's Den all the time but the show probably knowingly lets on a lot of people who are not investable and could not get a meeting with a VC to save their life. The show is more about the personalities of the investors themselves, many of whom in the first few series did not make one single investment.

the video in the page can be seen here in full (at least from the UK): <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/dragonsden/entrepreneurs/lisamarshall.shtml" rel="nofollow">http://www.bbc.co.uk/dragonsden/entrepreneurs/lisamarshall.s...</a>

saying you were inspired by Dragons Den devalues your proposition IMHO.