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Ask HN: What is the biggest untapped opportunity for startups?

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Re: Ask HN: What is the biggest untapped opportunity for startups?

#261

Post by paulojreis »

aabajian wrote: post #151

The leading cause of death is cardiovascular disease. >90% of these cases can be attributed to an overweight population. It's not an easy problem to solve, but there has to be a way to fix it. Lots of calorie counting apps, activity trackers, motivational reminder apps, etc. Obesity is very complicated, but there are three basic facts: 1. Calories in, calories out is the golden rule. 2. The vast majority of calories…

"1. Calories in, calories out is the golden rule."

Yes, but I'd argue it's not a very helpful rule. As it has been said before, it's pretty much like saying that the golden rule to get rich is "money in vs. money out". Correct, but not very helpful.

Re: Ask HN: What is the biggest untapped opportunity for startups?

#263

Post by fgpwd »

Anything related to lucid dreams? Think of the ability to utilize the 8 hours of sleep for something productive or recreational. It will take atleast a decade before VR catches up with the level of detail you get in lucid dreams. Something that makes them more accessible for people, so that everyone could get this "me time" every night would be amazing.

If you want to try, just keep on asking yourself if you are awake throughout the day. Try reading something, it's difficult to read something on dreams. Or try using electricity switches, they normally don't work in a dream. Sooner or later you would find while doing this that you are in a dream. From there, sky is literally the limit. Imagine whatever you want, fly across mountains, travel in spaceships, etc. till the time you wake up.

Re: Ask HN: What is the biggest untapped opportunity for startups?

#264

Post by dgrealy »

dtjohnnymonkey wrote: post #74

I just read this article today and thought a great idea would be to develop a platform for simplifying the process for starting up community credit unions. Kind of like Stripe Atlas but for credit unions. It could benefit a lot of small communities. https://www.strongtowns.org/journal/2017/2/1/community-organ...

Very interesting idea. Pricing seems like the biggest challenge that comes to mind, but maybe there is a good solution.

Re: Ask HN: What is the biggest untapped opportunity for startups?

#265

Post by prawn »

aabajian wrote: post #151

The leading cause of death is cardiovascular disease. >90% of these cases can be attributed to an overweight population. It's not an easy problem to solve, but there has to be a way to fix it. Lots of calorie counting apps, activity trackers, motivational reminder apps, etc. Obesity is very complicated, but there are three basic facts: 1. Calories in, calories out is the golden rule. 2. The vast majority of calories…

I think the obesity issue exposes capitalism to some extent. Businesses stand to make money from gyms, from activewear, from diet books and pills and so all of these advertise heavily. No company stands to make loads of money if people eat less. No restaurant succeeds by advertising their medium meal or their one slider and fries or their soda without refills.

Can't speak to your calories comments, but I do think that hobbies and distractions and habits and apps can help move people in the right direction.

Re: Ask HN: What is the biggest untapped opportunity for startups?

#267

Post by danieltillett »

WA wrote: post #165

Contraception. Almost everybody needs it. The current solution of flooding the body with hormones works, but causes side effects. The pill for men won't make it. My prediction is that we'll have some other non-hormonal contraception within the next 20-30 years, probably invented by a startup that wants to disrupt this billion dollar market.

Lots of women benefit from the flood of hormones, but this is slightly off topic. The real reason is that it it is impossible to develop any new drug that will be given to healthy people.

The legal and regulatory system basically makes it a losing proposition to make a new contraceptive - you could give sugar pills to everyone and someone will have a bad reaction and the lawyers will sue you into bankruptcy.

Re: Ask HN: What is the biggest untapped opportunity for startups?

#268

Post by OJFord »

weavie wrote: post #209
BillinghamJ wrote: post #194

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That sounds more like a malnutrition issue no? If all you were eating is bacon and nothing else.

But does anecdotally disprove the pure calories in, calories out rule.

It doesn't, because exercise isn't the only way of getting 'calories out'.

Some amount of bacon a lot less than that provides all the nutrition to be gained from any amount; anything further is just waste.

Re: Ask HN: What is the biggest untapped opportunity for startups?

#269

Post by cel1ne »

zump wrote: post #244
cel1ne wrote: post #168

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For decades there haven been a lot of research on sleep if you bother to look up medical and neurological papers. Also you're mixing up many different aspects. Feeling sleepy doesn't mean you're sleepy. Motivation is a different thing altogether.

> Feeling sleepy doesn't mean you're sleepy So power through?

If your body had enough sleep that night (6 hours, uninterrupted) and you aren't sick or otherwise stressed, then yes, power through.

Getting sleepy is your brain telling you to preserve energy. Only sometimes it does that because something about the work itself bores, infuriates, disgusts, or otherwise upsets you.

That means getting "procrastination-sleepy" is your brain trying to prevent spending energy on the miniature emotional turmoil "breaking procrastination".

Re: Ask HN: What is the biggest untapped opportunity for startups?

#270

Post by arkh »

Draiken wrote: post #249
aabajian wrote: post #151

The leading cause of death is cardiovascular disease. >90% of these cases can be attributed to an overweight population. It's not an easy problem to solve, but there has to be a way to fix it. Lots of calorie counting apps, activity trackers, motivational reminder apps, etc. Obesity is very complicated, but there are three basic facts: 1. Calories in, calories out is the golden rule. 2. The vast majority of calories…

This "calories in, calories out" idea is dangerously wrong. I have problems with my weight and my wife is anorexic. We live day-to-day with the fight against obesity (for years) and that's hardly a rule, much less golden. The only constant I see on this whole food/nutrition industry is how little information is accurate. Millions of diets and nutrition "experts" saying whatever they hear works without testing anythin…

> This "calories in, calories out" idea is dangerously wrong.

You don't see a lot of overweight people in famine prone areas. Calories out - calories in = your weight curve. That's the easy part for losing weight.

Sport does not burn a lot of calories. So it is better to cut on the intake. Which is the hard part: food can be a comfort drug which is easily available. Worse when your entourage is full of overweight people as crab mentality can set-in and they'll try to sabotage your weight loss.

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