Here is a must-read essay by entrepreneur, Paul Graham, which explores the principle that, as a startup, if you make something people want before you worry about making money, you will have a much better end-product and a greater chance of succeeding. He relates this concept to that of a charity organization, but goes on to differentiate the two. He uses Craigslist and Google as examples.

http://paulgraham.com/good.html

After months of working on our early beta, I’m pleased to let you know that RareShare is now LIVE!

The Site is free to all and works to connect those affected by rare medical disorders by creating micro-communities for each specific disease.

Currently, there are just over 500 communities (the most common of the rare disorders). We’re planning to add many more over the next several months…

For those of you that are avid travelers, whether for business or pleasure, it’s time for you to check out SeatGuru. The Site let’s you review seat maps for 45 different airlines and helps you figure out which seat has the best legroom, access to power outlets and other amenities…

Here’s a sample seat map from SeatGuru