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Startup Ideas

blog.ycombinator.com

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Re: Startup Ideas

#41

Post by bluetwo »

kcorbitt wrote: post #2

Hey HN! I'm a software developer at YC and the author of this post. This post is actually a bit of an experiment. We're trying to find better ways to get prospective startup founders (which includes many of us in the HN community) in contact with problems that really ought to be solved. We have lots of different ideas for ways to do that, but a list of ideas seemed like an easy one to try out first. Please let me kno…

Your approach flies in the face of the "scratch your own itch" piece of advice and I think it's time to move that advice to the trash can.

There are lots of non-technical domains that could benefit from the application of technology and if we only going around fixing problems we run into, we are going to miss out on some great ideas.

Might I suggest that rather than thinking about this as "I want to build a company that ___" and then trying to fill in the blank, it would be better to think about what inefficiencies exist in the world that could be improved or eliminated by the creation of a fresh solution. This is really what startups are doing. Without a core inefficiency, there is no need to build a startup.

Re: Startup Ideas

#42

Post by paulryanrogers »

mark242 wrote: post #34

> Social Network for Children Counterpoint-- this should not be built. Kids already have a social network, it's called the playground at school. Having children engage with their friends outside of school time is a fine goal, but there are plenty of existing after-school activities that encourage this interaction. These activities also don't put the undue stress of having to decipher typed language, nuance, and other…

^STEM ?

EDIT: ah, now I see (A)rt

Re: Startup Ideas

#43

Post by yvsong »

Is startup limited to technology or business? The most urgent needs of the world are political or social. Generally, promoting logical reasoning and emotional control.

Re: Startup Ideas

#44

Post by blang »

> Low-Friction Lending Library I've thought about this one on and off for many years. I still think it's a great idea, but whenever I get to the liability part (both damage to person using a lended drill or hey you broke my drill) I get discouraged and stop thinking about it.

Re: Startup Ideas

#45

Post by yaseer »

dboreham wrote: post #22

"Accounts Receivables as a Service" Interesting one since I a) worked at a startup in this area long ago (they ran out of money..for reasons see below) and b) I now run a company and have found customers dislike for paying on time to be a significant irritation. However, unless this proposed "AR Service" has a way to get a horse's head into the bed of the late payer's CFO, how are they going to achieve anything? In m…

Agreed, without the ability to exert pressure, getting people to pay by asking is not meaningful. Otherwise, it's solved with a script that repeatedly emails escalating copy.

I can only hope one day, horse heads will be available via Amazon Prime drone delivery, accessible through an API.

Re: Startup Ideas

#46

Post by [deleted] »

richiverse wrote: post #15

Like the firefighting idea. Might as well throw policing in there as well. An army of sufficiently smart drones should be enough to drastically reduced the size of those labor pools.

[deleted]

Re: Startup Ideas

#47

Post by [deleted] »

deyan wrote: post #6

>As I’ve gotten a bit older and gained more experience, I’ve found that valuable startup ideas aren’t actually a scarce resource. In fact, they’re only becoming more abundant — as the world moves faster and more new businesses are created, more novel niches appear for profitable, productive companies. If we define valuable as "profitable, productive companies" then I very much agree that there are plenty of niches ou…

[deleted]

Re: Startup Ideas

#48

Post by bambax »

mark242 wrote: post #34

> Social Network for Children Counterpoint-- this should not be built. Kids already have a social network, it's called the playground at school. Having children engage with their friends outside of school time is a fine goal, but there are plenty of existing after-school activities that encourage this interaction. These activities also don't put the undue stress of having to decipher typed language, nuance, and other…

Yes. What a horrible idea. I re-read the paragraph to see if by "Social Network" they meant something else, or it was tongue-in-cheek, but no, it seems they meant exactly that: "Facebook for preschoolers, with parental supervision".

That should never be built... and yet, somehow, we just know it will.

Re: Startup Ideas

#49

Post by opportune »

mark242 wrote: post #34

> Social Network for Children Counterpoint-- this should not be built. Kids already have a social network, it's called the playground at school. Having children engage with their friends outside of school time is a fine goal, but there are plenty of existing after-school activities that encourage this interaction. These activities also don't put the undue stress of having to decipher typed language, nuance, and other…

Couldn't agree more. Social networks are deliberately designed to be addictive and can definitely cause problems with self esteem - doesn't seem like something kids should be engaged in at all. Additionally, if anything we should be exposing children to less advertisement, not more. This almost sounds like some sick "hook em while they're young" scheme

Re: Startup Ideas

#50

Post by mLuby »

frankdenbow wrote: post #8

> Accounts Receivables as a Service https://techcrunch.com/2017/11/14/kinder-gentler-debt-collec... > Adwords for Outdoor and Transit Advertising ADstruc, ADquick > Modern Firefighting Really intrigued by this one. I would go further and say disaster relief in general, as living in Puerto Rico showed me how ill-equipped we are to deal with finding the status of people with no communications, and getting aid to the ri…

I want to see mecha firefighters with buzzsaws and these cannons for arms: https://twitter.com/MachinePix/status/928387852399865859
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