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

1st stage is pains

2nd stage is pains we can solve (don't underestimate the need of domain knowledge here)

3rd stage is what we have the competence to solve and can come up with a better way of solving it

If you want a list of over 30 ideas (one of which I've been working on and recently got accepted to interview at YC for), feel free to email me and I'll send you my list. I write them down as they come to me, as crazy as some might sound. lxc5296 [at] gmail.

Here's one:

Why don't you come up with a startup that helps people find ideas? Clearly it's a problem you yourself have, as well as many others. It seems impractical, but most great things are until someone comes along and does it right.

How it could work: people can call into a center and talk with people that specialize in certain topics and have conversations that lead to ideas. The expert can get a feel for the callers interests and find an intersection between them and problems that need to be solved.

Or, it can be strictly software based.

Eventually it can turn into a platform for people that don't know what direction to go in in their life to seek help and get guidance. Trust me, there's a lot of those people in the world (basically all millenials). Huge market.

- make a robot vacuum cleaner that doesn't require maintenance

- design a system which allows a robot vacuum cleaner to move between floors

- make a robot vacuum cleaner that doesn't require one to empty the dust bin.

- make a robot to plaster my walls for a fixed fee with insurance that if you fail to deliver I can get it done fully paid by my previous guy with escrow money in the bank if you fail to deliver

- install solar panels automatically (too challenging? I thought you had a "great" team)

- automate kitchen staff in restaurants using smaller or equal space

- build a machine which can take a message and optimize it for the target audience; e.g., by making it simpler to understand or more politically aligned.

- build a machine that cheaply figures out whether the fish/meat you are serving up in a restaurant contains toxins

- revolutionize space travel using far out ideas you probably wouldn't understand

- figure out what could potentially be built in space cheaper than on Earth, patent it, and give Elon a call.

- build a quantum computer (some startups do this already)

Your problem likely is that you want to get a "great" startup without the required capital and resources. You literally have one guy according to my count, because a money guy is worthless (below a billion dollars to burn) and business development people are a dime a dozen.

If you don't have domain expertise to know how something could be done better, the probability of failure is going to be enormous.

In principle, I could probably help all of the above happen, but all of them require a lot of capital, people, and patience.

Take for example MAPPER Lithography. This is an example of an innovative company, a startup if you wish, but it started 17 years ago. If you really want to make something of value, that's the kind of commitment you should have. If not, try to create the next Snapchat (still no idea why it's worth anything).

Until that time, get a job. Having a job is not the worst thing in the world.