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

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

#171

Post by sklinger » Mon, Oct 30, 2017, 10:03 PM UTC

darethas wrote: post #149

TAForObvReasons wrote: post #128

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think the problem as described is actually a team problem. You don't have a good team without a vision leader who is articulating the ideas and steering the company. Like a boat with no captain, labor and capital resources are important but ultimately useless without a captain who has a vague idea of the endpoint and a sense for the roadmap. Try to dig into your collective social networks and see if you know anyone…

> Like a boat with no captain They haven't even left the dock.

How can they? There's no captain.

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

#172

Post by sampo » Mon, Oct 30, 2017, 10:04 PM UTC

johnorourke wrote: post #92

AREAS -------- Software Quality or Fintech. Don't waste a good team on something like a Kale Smoothie Delivery Service For Beardy Hipsters. Software Quality is a huge, growing issue - we have more and more young/new coders arriving, massively increasing demand for code, and yet no government enforced standards (such as those found in Law, Architecture and Accounting). The industry is suffering the exact same issues t…

> Hari Seldon, hero of Isaac Asimov's Foundation series, was deliberately put into a wide variety of situations

This refers to the books Prelude to Foundation (1988) and Forward the Foundation (1993).

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

#173

Post by mrlag » Mon, Oct 30, 2017, 10:04 PM UTC

I have ideas every 2nd day. Here is one: Your own highly individualized, probiotic and noncancerous toothpaste. Professionally attuned towards your taste/mood and hygienic needs. Send a cheek swab. Get the lab results. Taste the samples. Order your own mix. Colorize it. Share recipes online. Order retro toothpastes. Order bloody vampire toothpaste. Mix it at home. Put them on the blockchain. Make toothpaste fun again. Who wants to revolutionize toothpaste with me?!? Oh gawd, I can't stop.

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

#174

Post by GFischer » Mon, Oct 30, 2017, 10:04 PM UTC

skanga wrote: post #167

It's simple. Add another person to the team who has a brilliant, world beating idea but no working capital, great team, etc. You can talk to several to see who has the "best" idea. For a start on this process you can contact me :-) PS: I use google's email service and have the same id there as I have on YC.

Definitely, just going through YC rejects there must be at least one that has a great idea :) .

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

#175

Post by 7alman » Mon, Oct 30, 2017, 10:04 PM UTC

If you have a hard time coming up with ideas, you probably shouldn't start a company.

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

#176

Post by greyfox » Mon, Oct 30, 2017, 10:04 PM UTC

Funny, i have 2-3 really good ideas that i feel are genuine and have large profit potential, yet i have no team and hardly any programming skills to launch them.

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

#177

Post by varjag » Mon, Oct 30, 2017, 10:05 PM UTC

How about an investor service for scoring startups from their pitches? Use historical data from YC applicants over the years to train the fitness function.

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

#178

Post by GFischer » Mon, Oct 30, 2017, 10:05 PM UTC

edoceo wrote: post #99

With that setup why not just take over some early company and 10x it? Most have ideas, some have MVP and some have early customers. Pick the third one and bigulate it.

That sounds like a great idea for the OP. Although any company with some traction won't be so easy to take over.

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

#179

Post by pvaldes » Mon, Oct 30, 2017, 10:06 PM UTC

canterburry wrote: post #78

Just this morning I was wondering if you could take a bed like the sleep number bed and combine it with AI for a mattress that constantly adapts to your sleep pattern, rhythm, position etc

Sleepspam... that would introduce a new level of super-evil :-)

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

#180

Post by skraelingjar » Mon, Oct 30, 2017, 10:06 PM UTC

I highly recommend taking the time (2+ weeks) to travel as a team or even better, individually. Think southeast Asia or Latin America. Limit yourselves to a very small amount of money (outside of transportation) and experience life differently.

As many others have suggested, meeting other people and opening yourselves to different experiences will help. Maybe by meeting people and having experiences though a different cultural lens will help break the thought patterns holding you back.

Best of luck.