Mega was second: The first client-encrypted file sharing service, Securesha.re
@STRML's retrospective from 2013 captures the critical transition from initial concept to the first dollar of customer revenue.
Core Principles for Independent Builders:
Early traction rarely comes from passive launches; it requires direct manual outreach, personal network activation, and high-touch customer support.
Narrowing down the target audience to a specific niche allows solo founders to out-position generic horizontal competitors.
Underpricing out of fear of rejection is common; founders who set premium pricing often discover higher customer satisfaction and lower churn.
Community Debate Themes:
Discussions analyzed Show HN launch mechanics, cold DM outreach conversion rates, and the psychology of validating customer demand before writing code.
CATEGORY Zero to One →
HISTORICAL ERA Web 2.0 Genesis (2007–2013)
COMMUNITY SCORE 25 points
TOTAL DISCUSSIONS 33 comments
I'm not security expert, but isn't this:
"128-bit client-side Rabbit encryption"
obsolete practice? Doesn't mega use 2048? This is kind of big deal. And, of course, mega interface is a lot more than a simple "cryptolink" service. I actually feel that if mega will come up with good APIs (as well as with a client for dummies), and nobody will raid Kim for a second time, dropbox and alikes are gonna have bad times.
There quite a few apps out there that encrypt cloud storage end-to-end. I use Syncdocs (http://syncdocs.com ↗) to encrypt Google drive storage.
Kim Dotcom is giving away a lot more free space, than Dropbox. But he has a bit of a reputation problem, and no one has independently checked his algorithm yet?
It is not currently possible to keep files on Securesha.re for longer than 7 days; this is a feature, not a bug.
We do not use HTTPS at the moment. As all file transmissions are encrypted, we did not consider it necessary at the moment. A snooper could see the URL of files you have uploaded; however, the password will not be seen.
I actually think Mega was third, and Securesha.re second, as Blindvault.com has been up for around half a year. It's not free though, but it compares in that files are encrypted user-side and if you don't have the key you can't tell if there are files, what the content is, etc.
No love for JungleDisk, which was one of the first cloud backup systems I ever heard of?
I suppose it wasn't really for sharing, but still, the fact that neither amazon nor his server had the keys is one of the things that made me interested in it.