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Ask HN: We have a great team and capital but can't find a good idea

news.ycombinator.com

81–90 of 580 posts

Re: Ask HN: We have a great team and capital but can't find a good idea

#81
There is the inevitability of paying for stuff with our watches, (ala Apple Pay but global, not just 1% of market share) so there is a small chance for a newcomer to disrupt a multi-trillion dollar market. And for those who don't use watches, then a small pocket device, be it a ring, cell phone or something like old Motorola pagers.

Those who miss the boat will blame themselves not being the next Whatsapp.

Re: Ask HN: We have a great team and capital but can't find a good idea

#82
There are tons of problems to solve.

- Invest in some products or teams that already exist and learn their problems and come up with a solution that is needed or partner with them.

- Reinvent a common pain point in business with service or automation, pay or observe people in industries you want to enter and their problems.

- Find a problem you have or know about maybe in private equity, computer science or bizdev that you have experienced.

- Innovate/iterate on a solution in the market that needs progression, this might even be a crowded market or a commodity that may be easier to change due to the lack of interest there. There are no new ideas under the sun but there is lost of improvement that can be made.

- Find a passion project, create a tool that targets a niche area of something you like to keep your interest i.e. movies, art, games, finance, sports etc. Spend enough time there and problems will be self-evident.

- The problem you are having right now, maybe make a solution to that, finding an idea that is marketable for a well funded team (a great problem to have).

Re: Ask HN: We have a great team and capital but can't find a good idea

#83

Look at technologies that are either at the Peak of Inflated Expectations (on the Gartner hype cycle) or in the process of plunging into the Trough of Disillusionment, and figure out what needs to happen for them to climb the Slope of Enlightenment to the Plateau of Productivity. Alternatively, build the world's best To Do list app: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11355029

Have you taken a look at ClickUp (clickup.com), they're pretty new and they have an answer to most of what you want. I recently interviewed for them and they have all but 2 of your requested features currently implemented. Dependencies are on the roadmap for this winter http://docs.clickup.com/features/roadmap

You might also want to look at todoist business which is also formidable: https://en.todoist.com/business

Are there any other features you would add to the list today? This was my requested mix of features: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10997561

Re: Ask HN: We have a great team and capital but can't find a good idea

#84
post #60

I'm sure it must be out there already in some form, but you might want to give a shot at "uber for day laborers". It seems to me like there are opportunities on both the supply and demand side. On the supply side there its lots of room for improving gig hunting and payment assurance for laborers. Staffing agencies are of course in this space, but are pretty inefficient and catch only a small fraction of potential gig…

There are lots of people who need jobs and need someone to tell them where to go and what to do. This could be a real winner. Call it "Slaves 2.0".

Re: Ask HN: We have a great team and capital but can't find a good idea

#87
post #60

I'm sure it must be out there already in some form, but you might want to give a shot at "uber for day laborers". It seems to me like there are opportunities on both the supply and demand side. On the supply side there its lots of room for improving gig hunting and payment assurance for laborers. Staffing agencies are of course in this space, but are pretty inefficient and catch only a small fraction of potential gig…

I concur. I needed a ditch dug a couple of weeks ago, and everyone was recommending that I drive to Home Depot and pick some guys up waiting for work. There has _got_ to be a better way. Note that this felt different to me than hiring a handyman or any other skilled trade, which feels like a semi-solved problem. Sometimes I just need some extra hands, and learning the unspoken rules around how to hire guys on a street-corner is not something I'm interested in.

Re: Ask HN: We have a great team and capital but can't find a good idea

#88

Tunnels. I'm not kidding. Much cheaper tunnels would completely restructure real estate, so there are trillons of dollars at stake. Yeah you're not the perfect team for that, but you can hire the perfect team for that. Examples: - at 200kph, a 50km commute takes 15 minutes. Draw a 50km circle around San Francisco (all the empty land near Walnut Creek or in Marin County now "local" to downtown) - at 1000kph, transpora…

Elon beat you to it: https://www.boringcompany.com/

Re: Ask HN: We have a great team and capital but can't find a good idea

#89
Build a platform that fixes the hiring procedure and help experienced older programmers to find a decent job like they deserve it.

Think of it as a lightweight version of LinkedIn, FaceBook, and Github combined as one.

No one should have any trouble finding any sort of job or whatsoever.

This platform should be implemented in such way that any country out there should be able to offer jobs to nearly all their residents.

Re: Ask HN: We have a great team and capital but can't find a good idea

#90
I have a proven, novel means to gain insight about System1 response. Issued a patent for it (which I think is reasonably well written). Applied it working with P&G to improve response to their branded ads. Would love to use it to improve romantic outcomes (better than survey response measures). Etc. Almost too old and tired now after a decade+ of having proven I am a terrible salesman. Same coin, opposite side. If I was you, I would hang around some grabybeards who are 50+ and have been working in logistical positions for corporations. They will have lots and lots of idea, but no where-with-all to act. HTH.
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