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Ask HN: What's your problem?

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Re: Ask HN: What's your problem?

#41

Post by mfalcon »

megamark16 wrote: post #22
olalonde wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Which industries would that be? What is a good way to get in touch with them without looking too opportunist or ruining yourself? (genuine question)

Go work in them. Most of us could probably spend a single day in the office of a company in a different industry and pick out a handful of ideas on ways they could improve their processes, or speedup tasks, or cutout waste. Not all of those ideas will require a technology-based solution, but surely a few of them will. If you really want to find good problems to solve, try working as a temp for a few weeks. Ask lots o…

'Maybe that's a good startup idea right there; build a site where businesses can post their problems, procedures, workflows, painpoints, etc, and professionals can comment on them, offer suggestions, either using existing solutions (technical or not), or try to make business connections ("we can build that for you").'

I think it's a good idea but don't you think most businesses would be reluctant to show their problems to the web world?

Re: Ask HN: What's your problem?

#42

Post by csomar »

I want to read a Jquery book... I didn't succeed yet, I'm building a $20K project with that thing called Jquery, but it seems that I need to read something like 500 pages before being able to parse the DOM with ease.

I need to read it quickly, the project need to be complete within 1 month... or I'LL DIE :'( :'(

Re: Ask HN: What's your problem?

#43

Post by GFischer »

tdoggette wrote: post #26

Certain large, critical organizations that I work with have a paperwork process that goes: 1) Receive information through web form or email 2) Print it out 3) Scan it in to document management system. There are whole offices of people whose job it is to do this.

Hey there, you're stealing my idea :P

Actually, that one is a good one.

I'll add my own problem: paperwork. The organization I work for has lots of seemingly useless paperwork, but it cannot be automated because of the legal requirements - we NEED to have paper signatures of customers' contracts.

That said, we're looking into minimizing it as much as possible - if only there was a widely recognized and legally accepted electronic equivalent to the signature, we could automate most of the process :(

Re: Ask HN: What's your problem?

#44

Post by siculars »

olalonde wrote: post #25

I am bilingual (french/english), but one thing really bothers me: I never get to speak in English. I read books in English, I watch movies in English, I read/write in English, etc. but I never get the chance to practice my spoken English. The end result is that although I understand/write English very well, I lack confidence when talking. I wish I could _talk_ on the net so that I "get" the accent and intonation. The…

This just posted on nytimes:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/28/technology/personaltech/28...

Re: Ask HN: What's your problem?

#45

Post by lhuang »

mfalcon wrote: post #41
megamark16 wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Go work in them. Most of us could probably spend a single day in the office of a company in a different industry and pick out a handful of ideas on ways they could improve their processes, or speedup tasks, or cutout waste. Not all of those ideas will require a technology-based solution, but surely a few of them will. If you really want to find good problems to solve, try working as a temp for a few weeks. Ask lots o…

'Maybe that's a good startup idea right there; build a site where businesses can post their problems, procedures, workflows, painpoints, etc, and professionals can comment on them, offer suggestions, either using existing solutions (technical or not), or try to make business connections ("we can build that for you").' I think it's a good idea but don't you think most businesses would be reluctant to show their proble…

Plus I think you would be inundated with a bunch of unique one-off problems that while technically could be solved/improved via a tech solution, lacks the footprint to make it worth anyone's time.

Re: Ask HN: What's your problem?

#46

Post by gregg_ »

olalonde wrote: post #25

I am bilingual (french/english), but one thing really bothers me: I never get to speak in English. I read books in English, I watch movies in English, I read/write in English, etc. but I never get the chance to practice my spoken English. The end result is that although I understand/write English very well, I lack confidence when talking. I wish I could _talk_ on the net so that I "get" the accent and intonation. The…

I would highly recommend playing online video games with voice chat. With almost any game you choose, you'll find a mature group of individuals that play casually and would enjoy chatting with you.

Re: Ask HN: What's your problem?

#47

Post by HeyLaughingBoy »

bmelton wrote: post #4

Failure to finish. I've had, to date, 7 ideas that, had I finished executing, I would have been first to market (in most cases, by years). I would have been beaten to market on one other product, and really close to tied with another few. In imaginary-land, where I live, of the 7 companies I beat to market, 4 of them had million dollar + exits or acquisitions, so I COULD have been worth 45-55 million, give or take. M…

Perhaps you can learn something from this. A software tester friend of mine couldn't figure out how to start a business doing software test, so he fell back on what else he knew: construction. He started a side business doing small jobs: small decks, internal walls, installing dishwashers & appliances etc. This was all stuff he could do in his free time after work and he hoped to move from that to larger construction projects.

The overriding complaint he heard from his clients about other contractors was not that their work was bad, or that their prices were high or didn't match what they quoted, but rather it was that they just never showed up!

Simply by making appointments and actually showing up to quote the job or to do the work, he got tons of business.

Re: Ask HN: What's your problem?

#49

Post by olalonde »

gregg_ wrote: post #46
olalonde wrote: post #25

I am bilingual (french/english), but one thing really bothers me: I never get to speak in English. I read books in English, I watch movies in English, I read/write in English, etc. but I never get the chance to practice my spoken English. The end result is that although I understand/write English very well, I lack confidence when talking. I wish I could _talk_ on the net so that I "get" the accent and intonation. The…

I would highly recommend playing online video games with voice chat. With almost any game you choose, you'll find a mature group of individuals that play casually and would enjoy chatting with you.

That's what I used to do actually. It was indeed a very effective way to speak English but I pretty much lost interest in video games now.

Re: Ask HN: What's your problem?

#50

Post by prawn »

mmelin wrote: post #28
prawn wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You have just described me too... Countless ideas started and very few completed or even got to a launchable status. I know exactly what's required in every case but struggle to wrap things up. Funnily enough, I think I'd make a solid startup/side-project coach and it's exactly what I need, also. Would love to see a small group work together to motivate each other, like an online version of the YC dinners (going by w…

I have the same problem. I find it difficult to keep up the motivation to do the boring work that makes the difference between cool side project and actual product. I think this in large part is because I do things alone, because I don't have a problem with day-to-day drudgery in my day job. Of course, I wouldn't be fiddling around with new product ideas if I was satisfied with the day job either. I'd definitely be i…

Yes, a private group to share ideas and motivation could be useful and I'd be willing to be involved. Could be very low-tech too - just IM/email and some FrieNDAs.

I'd like to share two techniques I've found somewhat helpful (though not quite the ultimate answer, unfortunately).

1. While side projects often have no deadlines and thus less motivation, employees don't really have the same problems. I've delegated more components from side projects to my employees and the result is things getting done much faster. Now the progress block is things that are back in my hands - writing content, taking a working product and launching it for people to try.

2. A while back, an entrepreneur-type I know over the net and I did an experiment. We would both work all day and struggle with motivation to complete site-projects during the evening so we decided we'd each complete a small site project in one week. Each morning, we'd check in to show our progress. Failure to show progress meant the other person was to apply guilt trips were appropriate. Monday night as planning, Tuesday was fleshing out content, Wednesday was a skeletal site, Thursday was putting things together, Friday was polishing and making it live. Each night, the pressure of thinking you'd have nothing to show the following morning was enough to force productivity. On nights when I'd normally laze around or procrastinate at the desk, I'd cram 1-2 hours of work around or after midnight. It was enough to get a basic site rolling by the Friday that I would never have otherwise done. It worked for me but unfortunately the other guy didn't get going quite as well. Still, I'd do it again.

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