A computer that can predict your startup success?
February 19, 2008 by ShannonCherry
Filed under Business
In the believe it or not category, I just read about a new startup called YouNoodle.com, which claims it can predict the success of startups.
The company uses artificial intelligence (mainly historical data and some formulas, according to the New York Times story) to help predict how successful a new company will be in the future.
According to the owners, YouNoodle will help venture capitalist make better assessments when giving out money.
And what I find ironic, is the new company hasn’t even put themselves through their computer tests to see if they are actually viable!
Sure, in order to be a successful startup, you need the right idea at the right time. But also you need something else that no technology or algorithm can compute: drive and determination.
What do yo think? Will you use their free 3-year predictor program to see if you’re viable? Do you even want to?
It sounds a little too vague. A little too suspicious. Even if that computer or program does have a concrete basis for its predictions, we have to remember that a business is not always about one factor only. It’s not merely about business or products. It’s also about intangible factors like customer satisfaction and customer relationships. As interesting and as tempting as it may be, I wouldn’t want to know my fate before I have even ventured out.
I don’t buy it! I don’t want to buy it! I agree, there’s much more to getting a company off the ground than how its quantifiable characteristics fit into an algorithm. Furthermore, not only would I not give up on an idea that I believed in based on the results of a computer program – I would never invest in an idea based on the results of a computer program!