Billion Dollar Startup Ideas [video] • Hacker News Board

Re: Billion Dollar Startup Ideas [video]

#61

Post by yellowstuff » Mon, Nov 16, 2020, 1:37 AM UTC

hn_throwaway_99 wrote: post #2

Haven't watched the whole thing yet, but I will push back on some of the popular mythology that everyone thought successful startups we're just toys or would fail in their early days. IMO that's mostly bullshit. Amazon, Google, Uber, Facebook (despite some cherry picked article from the video about it never being able to hit profitability) were all hugely popular right off the bat, and indeed, many people saw them as…

Amazon had its ups and downs, but with them and Uber it was never a great intellectual leap to see how they could be very profitable. That's not at all the case for Google or Facebook. As late as 2002 Google itself wasn't convinced that it could succeed by selling ads, and their next best idea for making money was so uninspired that Silicon Valley spent several seasons mocking it:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_Search_Appliance

Re: Billion Dollar Startup Ideas [video]

#62

Post by jsemrau » Mon, Nov 16, 2020, 2:12 AM UTC

MrRoadroller wrote: post #43

Can anyone recommend one of these local event apps he was talking about? Been looking for one for a while, i actually considered making one.

That's probably the moment where I should be pissed off how great drop!in was in its day and if VC's in South East Asia would be less risk adverse it might have likely been a much more successful business than it was.

Re: Billion Dollar Startup Ideas [video]

#63

Post by riku_iki » Mon, Nov 16, 2020, 2:14 AM UTC

KareemAbukhadra wrote: post #46

just a friendly reminder that you do not need to build a billion dollar startup to achieve wealth & status. sometimes building something that makes 1-2mn a year is the right move.

1-2mn is likely much more fragile source of income in a long term comparing to capital acquired from successful unicorn.

Re: Billion Dollar Startup Ideas [video]

#64

Post by est31 » Mon, Nov 16, 2020, 2:21 AM UTC

tmilard wrote: post #40

mushufasa wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Most of these ideas fold because travel is very cold market for an investor and most dont want to invest. This isn't true. For example, AirBnB has plenty of funding. Investors as the constraint currently happens for capital-intensive opportunities, like nuclear fusion. There's plenty of investors for software as a service. There are lots of other reasons why there aren't more "apps for x." The main barrier for any…

AirB&B was not easyly funded at first. It seemed very very foolish at the time to rent your place to a stranger. The did revolutionis the touristic rental market, and as for any revolution, it was very very difficult at the begining to have followers ( finance, customers, accomodations).

> AirB&B was not easyly funded at first

More on the early history of the company: https://medium.com/@jasper_ribbers/the-airbnb-founder-story-...

Re: Billion Dollar Startup Ideas [video]

#65

Post by KareemAbukhadra » Mon, Nov 16, 2020, 2:35 AM UTC

person_of_color wrote: post #56

KareemAbukhadra wrote: post #46

just a friendly reminder that you do not need to build a billion dollar startup to achieve wealth & status. sometimes building something that makes 1-2mn a year is the right move.

What are multimillion dollar ideas?

many more exist IMO and biz model is much more proven

Re: Billion Dollar Startup Ideas [video]

#66

Post by KareemAbukhadra » Mon, Nov 16, 2020, 2:35 AM UTC

riku_iki wrote: post #63

KareemAbukhadra wrote: post #46

just a friendly reminder that you do not need to build a billion dollar startup to achieve wealth & status. sometimes building something that makes 1-2mn a year is the right move.

1-2mn is likely much more fragile source of income in a long term comparing to capital acquired from successful unicorn.

eh. not necessarily.

Re: Billion Dollar Startup Ideas [video]

#67

Post by quickthrower2 » Mon, Nov 16, 2020, 2:42 AM UTC

person_of_color wrote: post #56

KareemAbukhadra wrote: post #46

just a friendly reminder that you do not need to build a billion dollar startup to achieve wealth & status. sometimes building something that makes 1-2mn a year is the right move.

What are multimillion dollar ideas?

What isn't? A small chain of bars, for example.

Re: Billion Dollar Startup Ideas [video]

#68

Post by ChicagoDave » Mon, Nov 16, 2020, 3:00 AM UTC

I've had a couple, but couldn't tell you where they come from or how I get them. Ideas are easy (well, not really, but most smart, aware people have them).

The differentiator is execution and the ability to network properly. Maybe try your ideas when you don't have five college-aged kids and debt.

I had the idea for "Slack" 4 years before it came out. Seriously, _exactly_ the idea of Slack. I even semi-pitched it to Microsoft and they blew me off. I saw Napster/(internet downloaded music) four years before 1999, but I suspect I wasn't the only one. I started a knowledge base of company resumes at my consulting firm in 1995 and now that's a billion dollar industry (we never finished it because coworkers hated the idea of their resume in a database).

I may be smart, but so far I have been unable to execute any of my billion dollar ideas. Being smart only really gets you so far. I did try to build a tech-ed company ten years ago (Textfyre) that would thrive in the Covid learning world, but we could never get funded.

Still swinging though. May be the one I'm working on now will connect. We shall see.

My advice to anyone with an idea? Learn how to execute. Join startups, read books, network with entrepreneurs, go to startupweekend (when Covid is over), learn how to build a solid pitch deck, a business plan, and a financial worksheet. These fundamentals are the difference in getting an idea to market. And finally, make sure you focus on customers. Not on your logo, business cards, a PR website, or even paid employees. Get customers. Get revenue.

Re: Billion Dollar Startup Ideas [video]

#69

Post by ineedasername » Mon, Nov 16, 2020, 3:06 AM UTC

riku_iki wrote: post #63

KareemAbukhadra wrote: post #46

just a friendly reminder that you do not need to build a billion dollar startup to achieve wealth & status. sometimes building something that makes 1-2mn a year is the right move.

1-2mn is likely much more fragile source of income in a long term comparing to capital acquired from successful unicorn.

Sure, but that's a bit like saying "if you have a job, you could lose it. But if you win the lottery you're pretty much set"

Re: Billion Dollar Startup Ideas [video]

#70

Post by ineedasername » Mon, Nov 16, 2020, 3:14 AM UTC

person_of_color wrote: post #56

KareemAbukhadra wrote: post #46

just a friendly reminder that you do not need to build a billion dollar startup to achieve wealth & status. sometimes building something that makes 1-2mn a year is the right move.

What are multimillion dollar ideas?

Buy a popular franchise. McDonalds net profit is estimated around $150,000 per year. That's after any reasonable salary you are also paying yourself. Based on typical margins, that alone, in gross revenue, is > $1,000,000/year.