Friends of Parsnip

Friends of Parsnip is a Substack focused on the journey of a cooking app, detailing its development, educational ethos, AI integration, market challenges, and the transformative potential of cooking. It emphasizes personalized learning, sustainable cooking practices, and leveraging technology to enhance culinary skills.

Educational Technology App Development Artificial Intelligence Cooking and Gastronomy Sustainable Living Startup Venture Challenges User Engagement and Retention Market Analysis Product Design and Development Community Building

The hottest Substack posts of Friends of Parsnip

And their main takeaways

How to personalize learning with AI 👩‍🎓

196 implied HN points • 26 Oct 23
🚌 Education AI Learning Technology Personalization Skill development
  1. Mass education is often one-size-fits-all, expensive, and frustrating for both teachers and learners.
  2. Personalized education, like mastery learning and 1-to-1 tutoring, can be more effective in improving learning outcomes.
  3. Technology, such as AI-powered skill trees, has the potential to revolutionize learning by providing personalized, interactive, and scalable education.

The "death zone" of venture capital ☠️

78 implied HN points • 09 Jan 24
💼 Business Venture Capital EdTech B2B
  1. Venture capital investments in edtech can be challenging due to limited successful outcomes
  2. Selling learning products is difficult, leading to poor venture returns in the edtech sector
  3. Combining learning with practical doing can create a successful business model in the food space

Dan Sosa adds new flavors of AI to Parsnip 🫔

58 implied HN points • 05 Dec 23
🕹 Technology AI Startups Cooking Learning Art
  1. Dan Sosa brings new AI flavors to Parsnip, merging AI, gastronomy, and passion for learning.
  2. The vision at Parsnip is to use AI to empower people and enhance human experiences, not replace them.
  3. Dan Sosa's background in AI, cooking, and mixology will help Parsnip create personalized learning experiences and bring people together through food.

We're live in the App Store!

157 implied HN points • 13 Jun 22
  1. Parsnip app is now live in the App Store
  2. Team reached a milestone and are excited about the future
  3. Encouraging users to leave reviews and try out the app

The final frontier of consumer tech

137 implied HN points • 22 Jul 22
  1. Cooking is a valuable skill that many people struggle with
  2. There is a huge market for innovative consumer tech in the home kitchen
  3. Solving beginner cooks' pain points and reimagining meal planning can lead to impactful solutions
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The beginner cooks with their hair on fire 👨‍🦱🔥

78 implied HN points • 06 Dec 22
  1. r/cookingforbeginners subreddit is a key market for Parsnip with high demand
  2. Identifying a specific need of beginner cooks helped in building Parsnip as a solution
  3. A unique solution for beginner cooks' pain point was discovered through community engagement

The world is ready to reclaim cooking

117 implied HN points • 27 May 22
  1. Cooking is an ancient technology that has shaped human evolution and culture.
  2. The convenience-driven food industry may be damaging to health, community, and the environment.
  3. There is a growing movement to reclaim cooking for its benefits in health, sustainability, and connection.

Let's get this party started! 🎉

98 implied HN points • 18 Jun 22
  1. The app launch on Reddit was successful with 99% upvote rate.
  2. Improving onboarding efficacy from 87% to 97% is crucial for retaining users.
  3. High user engagement shown by some users completing levels more than 80 times.

How Parsnip unlocks the tech tree of cooking

137 implied HN points • 20 Jan 22
  1. Identified a clear value proposition but missed the mark with the product
  2. Realized asking users to learn the app and new cooking skills simultaneously was challenging
  3. Developed a personalized learning approach using a tech tree of cooking skills

Why we started Parsnip

117 implied HN points • 03 Mar 22
  1. Cooking at home can save money, improve health, and strengthen relationships.
  2. Home cooking can have a positive impact on public health and help reduce plastic waste and fight climate change.
  3. Parsnip aims to make cooking easy and empower people to cook anything while promoting sustainable food sources.

An amazing engineering surprise

78 implied HN points • 01 Jun 22
  1. The engineering team surprised everyone with a secret Android version of their app.
  2. Despite initial worries about quality, the Android version turned out to be native and visually different.
  3. Partnering with the right offshore engineering team can lead to extraordinary outcomes for startups.

An amuse-bouche of product-market fit

78 implied HN points • 12 Apr 22
  1. The iOS beta launch of an app gained significant traction on Reddit and showed high engagement stats.
  2. Even without marketing efforts, the app gained installs through word-of-mouth and SEO, indicating potential virality.
  3. Qualitative feedback and usability tests suggested positive reception and validated the product-market fit hypothesis.

How it feels to hit #1 on Hacker News

3 HN points • 17 Aug 22
  1. Getting to #1 on Hacker News can be a big deal for startups, bringing both love and hate from users.
  2. Reaching a wider audience through platforms like Hacker News can lead to significant user growth and engagement.
  3. Continuous product development is crucial for sustained growth, focusing on activation, retention, and referral metrics.

Why you shouldn't invest in Parsnip 📈

2 HN points • 22 Nov 22
  1. Focus on choosing the right problem to work on when starting a venture.
  2. Improving user retention is important in building a successful product.
  3. Consider market size and demand when evaluating the potential success of a business.

Our beta is live!

0 implied HN points • 30 Jun 21
  1. The Parsnip beta is now live, and they're looking for feedback to improve the product.
  2. The beta version includes 45 recipes with associated cooking skills, techniques, and contributions from renowned chefs.
  3. Challenges include acquiring and retaining users, with a focus on creating stickiness through content or community engagement.

Update 4/28/2021

0 implied HN points • 28 Apr 21
  1. The current priorities for Parsnip are product features, content like recipes and skills, and enhancing distribution.
  2. They are in need of quality content contributors, particularly recipes organized into thematic modules around ingredients or cuisines.
  3. The team is also focusing on marketing and distribution strategies, such as identifying target users and developing a long-term marketing plan.

Welcome to Friends of Parsnip

0 implied HN points • 11 Mar 21
  1. The Parsnip team is focusing on building the next release of their product, emphasizing on learning skills while cooking and tracking skill progression.
  2. Recent highlights include progress in visual and product design work, creating a cooking curriculum, and building a full-stack prototype.
  3. Key asks include finding a community builder, strategizing content partnerships, financial accounting discussions, and planning for a future seed fundraising round.