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Ask HN: Holy Crap I need an Idea

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Re: Ask HN: Holy Crap I need an Idea

#31

Post by paulgb »

mpc wrote: post #18
paulgb wrote: post #13

Two things I would love to see: 1. Kayak.com for ground transportation. Trains, buses, ferries, etc. are a pain to compare prices and book right now. Admittedly there probably isn't as much of a business case for this. 2. A music site where I could collaborate on a playlist with my friends and listen to the music at the same time. Currently there are sites that let you share playlists, but not listen at the same time…

re #2...where do you see the music being sourced from? Allowing listens on shared music via user uploads would be a legal nightmare and the major APIs only provide 30 second clips.

That's admittedly one big and non-technical problem with that idea. A lot of songs are available on YouTube, so one way is to have people find them on YouTube and paste the URL to add a song to the playlist. You could use the player API to synchronize the audio between listeners.

I would go the user-upload route myself though. Just make it non-trivial for users to rip the songs to their hard drives. By the time you get a C&D (if you do), you may have enough traction to start talking to some of the labels about licensing content.

Re: Ask HN: Holy Crap I need an Idea

#32

Post by golateef »

I've got a startup that's just starting to gain traction (~$4,000 in SAAS license sales, pipeline of more customer prospects). I've taken a tiny amount of angel funding, with a larger angel round pending more product validation. I'm a single, non-technical founder looking for a techie or two who can help build out features. I'm also just to the North of you in Nebraska, well within driving distance. Email if you'd like to chat.

I think the benefit to you is a real-life business that has a business driver (me) with business connections and already has some market validation. I've got a completed business plan that you can pull from to create a great case study. My technical advisor can also give you guidance from someone who's "been there and done that" (and will prevent me from making requests that are technically unsound). Instead of starting from scratch, you have a base to build on.

Re: Ask HN: Holy Crap I need an Idea

#33

Post by tansey »

Two free ideas that I just pulled out of my list:

1. Promoter Marketplace - A site where people can buy/sell product promotional services for local areas. Examples include a club promoter who gets paid based on the number of people at the club on a certain night, or an energy drink promoter that gets paid to hand out cans on exam week. Allow for people to list their rates and let past clients review them.

2. User Manual Creator - A site that lets people easily create user manuals for their products. Most manuals seem to follow the same set of steps: list parts, show numbered steps with pictures, provide alternate language text, etc. Let users upload pictures/text for each step and then you create a printable manual that can be folded up and neatly placed inside a product box.

They aren't my A-list ideas, but you get what you pay for. :)

Re: Ask HN: Holy Crap I need an Idea

#34

Post by samratjp »

First of all congrats on convincing your univ to go with you on this.

Here's the biggest problem/asset I see with your scenario - the five seniors. If you really want to do something of significance, you better be damn well organized with your timeline. Another problem I've seen with school projects (yes, I speak from personal experience in the recent past :) is that it doesn't matter if you're willing in to put in the extra mile, but your teammates may not. If it's a grade they're going to be after, be careful, because that's all the finished product would look like. Seriously, your idea isn't so much important as getting along with your teammates.

Also, forget about a technical challenge as a sole basis for the project. Instead, focus on what pg says - what do you wish a startup would do scratch an itch of yours so well that you won't hit the back button :) Remember, your customers don't have to sit through your final project presentation, they can hit the back button anytime!

Alright, the ideas: 1) Look into the higher ed space. I am willing to bet that your univ is already spending boatloads of money on crappy enterprise software. I just walked out of lunch with a friend in the higher ed realm confessing about YC funding amount of money spent on calendaring software alone. Per Year! I am sure with six months time, you could rewrite iCal in javascript.

2) Well, put on walking shoes and talk to your friends about what's missing in their lives? But, really ask yourself what someone could build for you?

Re: Ask HN: Holy Crap I need an Idea

#36

Post by jderick »

Here's a couple:

TV chat system - used to find (local?) people watching the same show you are watching and form a chat channel (on mobile phone?)

Personalized news site - kind of like YC or digg but using netflix style machine learning algorithms to customize

A free version of 'vault.com' (reviews on employers, salary surveys)

Find a haircut (paste your picture, sort of photoshop different hair on it)

Underserved search terms: find some way to figure out what terms have a lot of search traffic but very few good results

Easy quotes for local business (eg, find a plumber). Enter in "my pipe is broken" and get a bunch of emails with quotes.

And one meta idea: a website for people to share startup ideas and form startups

Re: Ask HN: Holy Crap I need an Idea

#38

Post by petervandijck »

tansey wrote: post #33

Two free ideas that I just pulled out of my list: 1. Promoter Marketplace - A site where people can buy/sell product promotional services for local areas. Examples include a club promoter who gets paid based on the number of people at the club on a certain night, or an energy drink promoter that gets paid to hand out cans on exam week. Allow for people to list their rates and let past clients review them. 2. User Man…

I kinda like 2.

Re: Ask HN: Holy Crap I need an Idea

#39

Post by jayliew »

faramarz wrote: post #8

Why don't you build an airbnb for Tools and Equipments. In winter, I'd pay to borrow someones snow blower once a week instead of buying it out-right. People with specialized machinery will flock to your system if you manage the bookings and payment processing, and make it easy for locals/neighbours to meet each others needs. That's something I would personally find value in, but it might not be so technologically cha…

Competitive landscape:

1. rentalic.com - US startup, based in Silicon Valley, founder appears to have technical and business chops and some social networking cred. Some traction, and imho, the most promising.

2. neighborgoods.net - LA-based, founder does not appear to be very technical. Limited traction around the LA area.

3. zilok.com - EU-based, looks like they are trying to reproduce their EU model of the same thing to the US market. Some traction. Because of their EU background, it is likely that they may not understand subtle nuances / user-behavior/perception of US market, which may be their biggest challenge.

p.s. I've been thinking about this problem for a while.

Re: Ask HN: Holy Crap I need an Idea

#40

Post by petervandijck »

paulgb wrote: post #31
mpc wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

re #2...where do you see the music being sourced from? Allowing listens on shared music via user uploads would be a legal nightmare and the major APIs only provide 30 second clips.

That's admittedly one big and non-technical problem with that idea. A lot of songs are available on YouTube, so one way is to have people find them on YouTube and paste the URL to add a song to the playlist. You could use the player API to synchronize the audio between listeners. I would go the user-upload route myself though. Just make it non-trivial for users to rip the songs to their hard drives. By the time you g…

Don't do a music startup, even the best ones continue to fail against the legal barriers. It's a graveyard of cool products buried by legal, why go there?
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