Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Startup Ideas

blog.ycombinator.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

141–150 of 470 posts

Re: Startup Ideas

#141

Post by cirgue »

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…

Social media is to socialization what candy is to food: It's enjoyable and healthy in moderation, but it is amazingly bad for anyone, especially kids, in large quantities. It also doesn't fulfill any fundamental human need that can't be satisfied in better ways.

Re: Startup Ideas

#142

Post by Kiro »

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…

> but most importantly they are out and engaging with their peers face to face

Why is it important? I hated all those things as a kid.

Re: Startup Ideas

#143

Post by giarc »

bambax wrote: post #51
giarc wrote: post #23

>Low-Friction Lending Library I think public libraries should start to serve this role. My local library (Calgary) has started to build up a collection of musical instruments that can be borrowed [0]. I'm sure there are other examples out there. I can see libraries expanding into tool libraries (drill, saw, hammer etc). 0 - https://calgarylibrary.ca/borrow-a-musical-instrument/

Maybe. But when I need a hammer or drill or saw, I need it now . If I have to go to the library, which may be closed, or may be out of what I need, that won't do it for me. Libraries work for books because they offer a large selection of items you may only use once, or just browse over. But (inexpensive) tools? You wouldn't rent a dictionary for example...?

Perhaps hammer and drill were a bad example. Think more of things like a ladder. Ladders are expensive and likely won't be used that frequently. You usually know ahead of time when you need it (going to wash windows on the weekend, put up Christmas lights, paint your house).

Re: Startup Ideas

#144

Post by blizkreeg »

schoen wrote: post #135
yongjik wrote: post #123

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It won't save the house if everything around is afire, but pictures like the burnt-down HP historical archive building[1] look like it could have been saved with a sprinkler wall. (For god's sake, the trees next to it are perfectly OK.) [1] http://www.pressdemocrat.com/business/7559762-181/hewlett-pa... (see picture 3)

Indeed, some people in the recent fires were able to save their homes with a garden hose (!) depending on the intensity of the fire in their area, particularly when the fire was spread by flying embers. That's not unusual in wildfires, though only some fraction of buildings can be saved this way.

I'd argue some fraction is enough. It still represents millions saved in damages.

Re: Startup Ideas

#145

Post by zanny »

nasirmaziz wrote: post #122
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…

Social Media sites ironically isolate humans and the needed natural interactions. Bad Idea! This will indoctrinate children at a very early stage. The social medium for children should be schools, playgrounds, community events, and other collective activities etc.

So legitimate question. If the social medium of children should be physical, why should adults be virtual? Or more generally why are adults who are supposed to be mature and capable of rational decision abandoning physical interaction for addictive social media?

Re: Startup Ideas

#146

Post by sillysaurus3 »

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…

It's ironic: Most of you desperately want to unseat Facebook, and this is a strategy toward that end. What do you think will happen when those children grow into teens?

If Facebook seems draconian, this would be an opportunity to build something better from first principles. It's a positive plan, not malicious.

I'm not sure Facebook has the ability to pursue this even if they tried. They have too much political inertia for people to trust them with a kids-focused Facebook. That means all someone needs to do is build this, then refuse to sell. Checkmate.

It won't be easy, but two decades is a long time. And that's the timeline to slay a giant.

Re: Startup Ideas

#147

Post by Finbarr »

arkitaip wrote: post #119
Finbarr wrote: post #65

There are hundreds of startup ideas in the Yellow Pages trending section: https://www.yellowpages.com/san-francisco-ca/trends/1

See, I think this comment is far more interesting than the article itself. I'm certain there is a method of finding high value-low effort startup ideas digging thru unconventional data like the link you provided.

I think it’s hard to find startup ideas by reading the tech press and HN. It’s easy if you just look around you as you go about your daily life, then research anything you don’t understand.

A few industries I’ve researched this way:

* Porta potties * Dumpster rental * Bail bonds * Funerals

There are millions of legitimate businesses out there that have hardly been touched by tech.

Re: Startup Ideas

#148

Post by thomasjudge »

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…

Is this a fake list? Several of these ideas sounded like clever attempts at jokes

Re: Startup Ideas

#149

Post by lytol »

wonderous wrote: post #88

I will commit to doing the “Social Network for Children” if YC puts me in the next batch; this is not a random offer, I have thought about this before and have a solid idea of how to merge the parent’s role in oversight and the child’s right to privacy. If YC has a baseline to reach before considering an app for this topic, please let me know. Thanks!

I was a senior engineer at a startup that evolved into this space – basically, we started as a browser for kids and slowly started adding more "social" features. I thought I'd add a few notes in case you (or someone else) goes down this road:

- Monetization is hard. As much as parents vocally _desire_ a safe space for their kids online, it doesn't translate to their wallet. If you end up going for more indirect revenue (ads, branded experience, etc), you'll find yourself in ethical gray areas quickly.

- Read up heavily on COPPA. It is by no means insurmountable, but it adds more work and restricts what you can/can't do.

- Social interaction needs to either be severely limited or heavily moderated, both of which have serious problems. You can't just throw a kid into peer-to-peer chat rooms or private chat for obvious reasons. Likewise, a kid gets bored quickly with a pre-determined set of "emotes" or canned text. Finding a balance between the two is very difficult.

- Parents care less than they think they do. Every parent, from casual conversation to focus groups, will light up at the idea of a kid-safe internet/social network. However, we found parent engagement to severely drop after initial sign up, despite how active the kid might be. We did weekly reports on kid activity and interests, ways to share content and engage with your kid, etc – all of which was rarely used.

Granted, it's quite possible (probable) that we missed the mark, and that we just didn't have the right timing/vision/execution, but there was enough friction that I came out the other end with a strong bias against working in the kids' space again.

Re: Startup Ideas

#150

Post by giarc »

jabretti wrote: post #92
Balgair wrote: post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Maybe this could work as a B2G route, like the guys making the firefighting helicopters selling to CalFire. But yeah, this smells like they are trying to find a way to privatize firefighting, which is not cool (pardon the pun)

It seems to me more like they're just trying to build firefighting drones. It's not clear to me that they have any actual insight into how said drones might help, or how firefighting is done at the moment.

I volunteered for a search and rescue organization for awhile. There was some interest in drones simply to get overhead video of a collapsed building etc. Currently you are limited to walking over the rubble. If you could have a drone fly overhead and identify victims or unsafe areas, it could really help.
Post reply on HN