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Bored with no ideas for next startup

news.ycombinator.com

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Re: Bored with no ideas for next startup

#31

Post by mixmax »

NSX2 wrote: post #19
johnrob wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Could we have a permanent thread dedicated to this question?

It would be empty. The second somebody with technical ability came up with an idea, they'd think, "Hey, why don't I just build that myself ?" If someone without the ability to develop the idea had a good idea, they'd wonder why they should do the idea-thinking for programmers who'll then dismiss the idea-generation with some VC-inspired platitude about how "it's all about the execution" or something. So there you go.…

A friend of mine and I kept a folder once with ideas that had to be both patentable and useful. When we had around 50 we just got depressed and stopped, knowing that there was no way we would ever be able to implement them all. I would gladly give away ideas. I know there's a long way from idea to product - even if you can program it yourself.

Re: Bored with no ideas for next startup

#32

Post by NSX2 »

sohail wrote: post #9

A good way to come up with new ideas is live outside the tech world. Get a non-tech job in a totally different field. Haven't tried that myself, but I'd bet you'd come up with some good ideas that way.

Careful there! That implies that the best way to come up with solutions to a problem in an industry would be to get outside of it so you can get an external, top-down perspective on emerging trends and unmet needs. Then if you get an idea, you'll get a bug to implement it. But everybody will just laugh at you and scoff, "Pssst - what would you know about that? You don't even work in that field! You're not credible!"

Re: Bored with no ideas for next startup

#33

Post by mixmax »

joe24pack wrote: post #26
mixmax wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sounds like it will be impossible to make money.

Hey, I like to make a buck just like the next guy, but it still sounds like a neat thing to work on. I'm sure you could find a way to charge someone something after developing this.

Well look at comet, django, rails, scriptalicious, and just about all other frameworks or neat pieces of code that developers can use to do something better.

None of them make any money.

Re: Bored with no ideas for next startup

#34

Post by NSX2 »

mixmax wrote: post #31
NSX2 wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It would be empty. The second somebody with technical ability came up with an idea, they'd think, "Hey, why don't I just build that myself ?" If someone without the ability to develop the idea had a good idea, they'd wonder why they should do the idea-thinking for programmers who'll then dismiss the idea-generation with some VC-inspired platitude about how "it's all about the execution" or something. So there you go.…

A friend of mine and I kept a folder once with ideas that had to be both patentable and useful. When we had around 50 we just got depressed and stopped, knowing that there was no way we would ever be able to implement them all. I would gladly give away ideas. I know there's a long way from idea to product - even if you can program it yourself.

Patentable and useful doesn't necessarily mean good business. I'm assuming the "bored developer" wants to start a business around whatever idea he can't think of. There are ideas, some useful, some even patentable, but to make a business you need not so much patents but the ability to present it in such a way that a prospective customer thinks, "That provides me with more value than the price they're asking for, so I should buy it." Think of it this way: are Starbucks lattes patentable? But they are a good value to half-dead zombies on their way to work/on their way back from a grueling day of work. That makes them I think like 10 billion a year, roughly same revenue as Google. BeOS was awesome and technically advanced and I'm sure had many patents. Who paid for it? Nobody. Company's gone. There's a difference.

Re: Bored with no ideas for next startup

#35

Post by mixmax »

NSX2 wrote: post #34
mixmax wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A friend of mine and I kept a folder once with ideas that had to be both patentable and useful. When we had around 50 we just got depressed and stopped, knowing that there was no way we would ever be able to implement them all. I would gladly give away ideas. I know there's a long way from idea to product - even if you can program it yourself.

Patentable and useful doesn't necessarily mean good business. I'm assuming the "bored developer" wants to start a business around whatever idea he can't think of. There are ideas, some useful, some even patentable, but to make a business you need not so much patents but the ability to present it in such a way that a prospective customer thinks, "That provides me with more value than the price they're asking for, so I…

Useful implies that a potential customer in the specific market would want to pay for it. ;-)

Regarding your starbucks example: the value of Starbucks is not in the idea but in the execution, and that is not what this thread is about. And while I don't mind giving away ideas I can't help anybody execute. Unless I get paid to do so of course ;-)

Re: Bored with no ideas for next startup

#36

Post by NSX2 »

mixmax wrote: post #35
NSX2 wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Patentable and useful doesn't necessarily mean good business. I'm assuming the "bored developer" wants to start a business around whatever idea he can't think of. There are ideas, some useful, some even patentable, but to make a business you need not so much patents but the ability to present it in such a way that a prospective customer thinks, "That provides me with more value than the price they're asking for, so I…

Useful implies that a potential customer in the specific market would want to pay for it. ;-) Regarding your starbucks example: the value of Starbucks is not in the idea but in the execution, and that is not what this thread is about. And while I don't mind giving away ideas I can't help anybody execute. Unless I get paid to do so of course ;-)

Useful implies nothing but useful. People don't "want" to pay for anything. People want to keep their money in their pockets. They reluctantly pay for things whose usefulness, real or perceived, substantially exceeds the asked price. Gmail is "useful" but I sure's heck wouldn't pay for it.

As for Starbucks, it illustrates my point perfectly:

(1) Starbucks is mostly neuro-marketing. I guarantee you that the buzz people get dopamine-wise from expecting the "reward" of a sugar/caffeine rush is much more important (again, the "idea") than the execution, which counts to about 1% of the customers. I know when I need a quick fix 9X out of 10 I couldn't care less if they got the wrong number of pumps of whatever in there.

(2) To illustrate the value of an idea, the Frappucino was the idea of 1 store manager. Cost: peanuts. Contribution to bottom line: about a billion a year directly, who knows how much indirectly as a "gateway drink" for non-caffeine drinking teens ...

The point was not about the execution, it was a manager thinking, "Within the realm of what we can execute fairly easy, what is a good idea that takes what we can do and adds more value quickly and easily?"

And in the larger context, Starbucks doesn't "execute" anything better than countless immitators these days can; but the idea in my mind is "a special little treat I deserve after a long day." A perfectly executed drink with the same stuff in it just wouldn't make me feel the same if I got it in, say, a sushi place. Again - it's the idea of Starbucks = sexy drinks for sexy people. They're not executing that, I'm imagining it. It's an idea.

Re: Bored with no ideas for next startup

#37

Post by xirium »

technoguyrob wrote: post #13
joe24pack wrote: post #6

Find a good way to have an asynchronous feed back from a web server to a web client, a true general purpose "push" protocol as an extension of HTTP. Hey you can even call it HTTP2W or HTTP2HTTP. Of course you'll have to come up with not only the protocol definition but also a reference implementation for both the client and the server. Sounds like fun, eh?

Already exists: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comet_%28programming%29

I believe that YCombinator also declined to fund this idea ( http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=95931 ), which demonstrates how hard it is to have a good idea.

Re: Bored with no ideas for next startup

#38

Post by NSX2 »

ldambra wrote: post #30

Why would you come up "anonymously for now" ? If you have an already successful start-up experience, why not talking about it and tell us a bit about you ? What are the risks in doing so ? I'm a bit cautious by nature and I'm just curious about it. If I had an already successful experience and were in your situation I'd rather talk about it and introduce myself a bit. It helps to gain trust from other people and woul…

Anonymous = I don't have to tip my hat to people who can come up with ideas / admit that good business ideas are not as easy as everyone says they are / share any resulting credit/profits from application of ideas because nobody knows who I am.

I could be wrong. But I can't think of any possible other reasons.

Re: Bored with no ideas for next startup

#39

Post by mixmax »

NSX2 wrote: post #36
mixmax wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Useful implies that a potential customer in the specific market would want to pay for it. ;-) Regarding your starbucks example: the value of Starbucks is not in the idea but in the execution, and that is not what this thread is about. And while I don't mind giving away ideas I can't help anybody execute. Unless I get paid to do so of course ;-)

Useful implies nothing but useful. People don't "want" to pay for anything. People want to keep their money in their pockets. They reluctantly pay for things whose usefulness, real or perceived, substantially exceeds the asked price. Gmail is "useful" but I sure's heck wouldn't pay for it. As for Starbucks, it illustrates my point perfectly: (1) Starbucks is mostly neuro-marketing. I guarantee you that the buzz peopl…

I've got a great idea: Crappucino - A frappucion with extra sugar on top. Where are my millions?

Sorry but I don't quite think you know what execution is about.

Re: Bored with no ideas for next startup

#40

Post by aswanson »

NSX2 wrote: post #25
aswanson wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Throw in Intel, AT&T, and all the early transistor companies for good measure.

AT&T is too broad and I don't know what you mean specifically, but from a common-sense business perpective, the problem Intel works on is "how to keep making smaller faster better processors" and I think again that's another idea that, technical though it may be, captures the interest of way more than 6 people.

Who was the market for the original telephone/telegraph, who was the market for the original transistor or microprocessor?

Whose interest did those things capture initially outside of a small group of technical people? Were they built and people just lined up outside of Walmart to buy them?

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