[timsally]

> Also, how does anyasq beat reddit ama?

* Better moderation. Seems like there are no unverified AMAs on anyasq. Trolling is a major problem on /r/iama.

* By leveraging the YC network to get AMAs with people who would never do a Reddit AMA.

These two things are relatively straightforward and simple, but I think it's a winning combination. The popularity of the AMA concept certainly has been validated by /r/iama. Backed by a company, I think it has a lot of potential to form the basis of a small successful media company. For example, I have a binder saved of useful advice mined from /r/iama. The value of this advice is great and would normally be unavailable to me. If someone put out a curated book, I'd buy it in a second.

[ZackOfAllTrades]

Devil's advocate: Reddit is getting better at the trolling with confirmations from moderators. Reddit AMA gets a surprising amount of important people to pass their way. And technically reddit is in the YC network (though the founders have left). But agreed that there are some people who would never do a AMA on reddit that might come from YC.

Also, let's say that anyasq isn't a YC company (not sure if they are or not). Then all they have going for them is better moderation. To me that just sounds like retweeting on twitter without the character limit and a cleaner interface. I am not so sure that is a winning combination. One would think that YC would pick a company that didn't need to be in YC to succeed.

[timsally]

> One would think that YC would pick a company that didn't need to be in YC to succeed.

I don't think that holds up here. Like it or not, reputation is the name of the game when it comes to media. It doesn't matter if you are as good of a writer as those on staff at the Times, you simply wont get the same opportunities. I think it would be silly for YC to discount this fact when funding media companies.

[vaksel]

what moderation?

Unverified IAMAs tend to be the I am a doctor etc...which can't be verified.

The ones where it's a person, /iama/ already verifies those.

Seems like this is a money grab...and at least reddit doesn't require that you allow it to spam your twitter account.

[timsally]

> The ones where it's a person, /iama/ already verifies those.

Trolls have successfully gotten fake IAMAs from celebrities like Emilia Clarke verified by the moderation team. The fake Emilia Clarke IAMA got close to 1,000 comments before the ruse was discovered. [1]

> Unverified IAMAs tend to be the I am a doctor etc...which can't be verified.

It's an incorrect assumption that verification is only useful for specific people. There was an amazing AMA by a Navy Seal a week or two back [2] and verification was crucial in that case (for some odd reason, lots of people like to claim to be a SEAL). Verification is certainly possible for most AMAs, including professions like doctors. Another example that comes to mind was an AMA by a law school professor [3], which was verified as well.

> what moderation?

Successful moderation is a critical part of running a community in this area. The moderation in /r/iama is extensive and they do good work there. I'm simply saying someone who is getting paid to do it will do a better job.

> Seems like this is a money grab.

Well that's because it is. It's a company. It's not like the /r/iama moderation staff couldn't have spun off a company a long time ago. That's what the moderation staff of /r/starcraft ended up doing and it seems to be working. There's nothing wrong with someone trying to make money off of a value added service. When you think about it, AMAs have the appeal of books like Founders/Coders at Work. People like to read that stuff and I can see the benefit is someone trying to start a company around it, rather than do it as a hobby.

[1] http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/huqug/the_emilia_clark...

[2] http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/i3s61/iama_former_navy...

[3] http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/hnhia/iama_attorney_an...

[ohashi]

I am not sure I accept the proposition that moderation staff who are paid will always do a better job. Unpaid moderators do it for their various reasons, one of the most common I've seen is a deep passion for the topic. Being paid to do something changes that dynamic incredibly. The best moderated forum I ever was a member of was done completely on a non-profit basis. There were paid competitors, every other site in the niche had some sort of monetization, except this one. The mods loved the area and were deeply respected in the niche. The community was strong. They eventually did quit and sold it to a company, the site died nearly instantly with a paid staff taking over.