I want a site that lets me create niche sites based on the digg style. A Ning type of creator for cooperative news.
Also - Useful apps for Facebook, Mobile or Offline without needing to know code.
Scott Purdie
Startup Ideas We'd Like to Fund
351–360 of 401 posts
Re: Startup Ideas We'd Like to Fund
#352Earlier quoted context omitted.
Hmm. At the moment there seems to be a pattern creeping in of some of the majors allowing people to do non-deliverable trades against metal prices on futures exchanges (and for that matter NDFs on currencies which aren't liquid, I think it's the same trick underneath). I think this is very cool and wonder whether it could be slowly expanded further. For example - people could instead take holdings into funds linked t…
Huh, wouldn't be able to comment on that. Of course this being Hacker News my interest lies more in changing the way things work through technology , I thought you had ideas that way. I was fascinated by "straight through processing" which can basically cause chains of deals to be executed automatically. It lowers the cost of transactions dramatically, and lowering the cost of transactions has had a broad effect in m…
I have found the term "Straight-through processing" to be quite ambiguous in the way that it is commonly used. It gets used as a synonym for just the post-trade process where messages are send from the trading platform into a customers' RMS whereas - as you say - the term actually means more than that.
Virtually all of my current work is with that goal (logicscope.com). The group took a dirty problem - integrating dispirate banking systems - and wrote a cool abstraction that lets it work as a multiadapter. Plus support, configuration management, etc, etc. By accident, the system also turns out to be a not-entirely-elegant but much cheaper and easier-to-work-with replacement for MQ for many settings.
The idea of queueing and releasing a chain of transactions on the trading side of the transaction may be interesting but I can't see it yet. Are you referring to situations in which you do a single "trade" but with a complex series of legs? If so - this already exists in some organisations but is not widely supported by APIs or major GUI interfaces yet. Or are you thinking more of forming a position across a range of positions and then unleashing it? This could be useful, but I'm not sure who you'd target it at. The banks are likely to have internal software teams doing a mixed job of delivering this sort of fn already, and I'm not sure how you could base a startup on it. I expect there would be some hedge funds that could do this to come up with interesting situations - for example - setting up pricing queues for stocks floated on multiple exchanges and currencies and then doing automatic arbitrage based on this. Algorithmic trading isn't my speciality though, and I'm sure there are smart people doing this already :)
Re: Startup Ideas We'd Like to Fund
#353This is an excellent article and I'm glad you had the gumption to post it. I started KangarooBox specifically because of #7 and #4, #5, & #27 came along for the ride.
While working at a large restaurant company I realized that our issue tracking solution was very poor and/or expensive and that Corporate America would pay for a simple, effective solution. Hence I had the idea to combine commodity hardware with FOSS and sell it with service (maintenance, disaster recovery, updates, etc.) This allows everyone, large & small, to use "Enterprise" solutions at a reasonable cost by outsourcing part of the IT department (or at least the maintenance part :).
Anyway, my list is topped by something that would help me organize and manage the many things in my life. These are really just different themes on the same idea. There are quite a few websites that do some of these things, but none do it really well. For instance, I still haven't been able to find a decent site that allows me to track my automobile usage, maintenance, & info. Throw in a useful, tightly focused user forum and I think you have a winner.
a) A pet/animal web site - reminds me to order their medicine/food - sends birthday notifications - genealogy builder (for professional breeders) - stores current info (pictures, ID #, name, etc.)
b) Household things - Major appliance info (warranty, serial #, model, etc.) - living room paint color - types of plants in the front garden - insurance info - videos of a home walkthrough
c) Automotive things - make & model - info (color, VIN, etc.) - insurance info - maintenance notification (time for an oil change) - mileage, MPG calculator
Later... Richard http://www.kangaroobox.com
Re: Startup Ideas We'd Like to Fund
#354Earlier quoted context omitted.
Huh, wouldn't be able to comment on that. Of course this being Hacker News my interest lies more in changing the way things work through technology , I thought you had ideas that way. I was fascinated by "straight through processing" which can basically cause chains of deals to be executed automatically. It lowers the cost of transactions dramatically, and lowering the cost of transactions has had a broad effect in m…
I have found the term "Straight-through processing" to be quite ambiguous in the way that it is commonly used. It gets used as a synonym for just the post-trade process where messages are send from the trading platform into a customers' RMS whereas - as you say - the term actually means more than that. Virtually all of my current work is with that goal (logicscope.com). The group took a dirty problem - integrating di…
Hm, I said I found FX 'inspiring', but didn't say 'inspiring for a startup'. As I mentioned elsewhere my interest is more in P2P networks, and those elude classic funding strategies.
The STP I'm referring to relates to automatic roundtrips including request for quote > pricing engine > quote > order > confirmation > TMS but the real interesting part is when banks automatically back their orders with purchases from yet other banks, intra-bank. Exotic currencies add an additional dimension, as no immediate pricing for e.g. Mexican pesos in Norwegian kronors is available and the trade needs to be 'routed' through an intermediate currency, usually USD or EUR.
My view of the system didn't go beyond two banks at the time but in theory there could be a long chain. That way the banks would be forming a financial P2P network. In reality it's a pretty hierarchical network as not all banks are created equal, but it'd be interesting if you could come up with financial routing mechanisms that would find the cheapest route in a hypothetical more dense banking network and what you can learn from that for poor man's P2P networks.
Re: Startup Ideas We'd Like to Fund
#355Earlier quoted context omitted.
Great design is the difference between Apple's version of no extra crap, and Google's.
searchme.com has an amazing UI. Not only thats cool, but very useful. i believe the next gen of search engines will be directly answering your search query, rather than simply finding appropriate links.
For many noncontroversial, unambiguous queries(1), Google already directly answers the search query. For ambiguous or controversial queries, you're gonna want the references and context of the original source.
Re: Startup Ideas We'd Like to Fund
#356Earlier quoted context omitted.
I have found the term "Straight-through processing" to be quite ambiguous in the way that it is commonly used. It gets used as a synonym for just the post-trade process where messages are send from the trading platform into a customers' RMS whereas - as you say - the term actually means more than that. Virtually all of my current work is with that goal (logicscope.com). The group took a dirty problem - integrating di…
Hm, I said I found FX 'inspiring', but didn't say 'inspiring for a startup'. As I mentioned elsewhere my interest is more in P2P networks, and those elude classic funding strategies. The STP I'm referring to relates to automatic roundtrips including request for quote > pricing engine > quote > order > confirmation > TMS but the real interesting part is when banks automatically back their orders with purchases from ye…
I read this to be the use-case you're aiming to satisfy: (1) getting access to a range of exotics which are only available through certain providers in addition to (2) also getting the best rate available for all ccy pairs. I think this is currently provided by 'portals' like fxall and currenex (bloomberg now too I think) where majors competitively bid on quotes when they want to and the buyer buys that which best suits them.
There's a couple of problem with deliberate chaining of interbank trades in that if the market moves far you might not get your countertrade (the quote will be rejected on the trade attempt - it's more common for quotes to be non-guaranteed than for them to be guaranteed, presumably because it's easier to build and avoids the situation where hedge funds start gaming you); and - irrespective of that - prices tend to get naturally stale fairly quickly (every few seconds but it's usually inconsistent) which means that latency is a factor.
Re: Startup Ideas We'd Like to Fund
#357I'm sure I'm not that rare in my dreams. They might be unusual but I'm certain others share similar hopes. I have an idea for an internet based service and a faith that in its originality and focus that it could have real value, especially within organizations, corporate or otherwise.
The plea comes from a sense of helplessness. I haven't programmed seriously in 30 years. My old skills with 360 assembler mock my ambitions. I have only a general idea of what frameworks and binding types do and couldn't tell a block or singleton method from a hole in the head. I'm not involved in the industry and am as unconnected as they come.
I follow with desperate hope TechCrunch reviews of companies offering "anyone can build" tool sets for web development only to lose hope at the limitations of rich media presentation tools and form/database creators. I need rule/logic driven input, association, display and export functionality along with the identity, security and database functionality that frameworks might provide (i.e. the equivalent complexity of a Digg 1.0).
I have a life with family, job and community responsibilities that make the learning curve of modern internet development beyond what I alone can achieve. I need a place to go with my concept that, accepting its value and in exchange for a fair part of its potential, might work with me to fulfill my vision.
I need Y Combinator Plus. Help!
Re: Startup Ideas We'd Like to Fund
#358I'm sure I'm not that rare in my dreams. They might be unusual but I'm certain others share similar hopes. I have an idea for an internet based service and a faith that in its originality and focus that it could have real value, especially within organizations, corporate or otherwise. The plea comes from a sense of helplessness. I haven't programmed seriously in 30 years. My old skills with 360 assembler mock my ambi…
Can you come up with a a one page description of the service/software that you want to build; describing in detail what it does so that someone else can implement it?
Can you afford to pay someone skilled to develop it for you?
If you are going to play the role of the idea guy, you had better be able to bring more resources than the idea itself if you want to be successful.
Re: Startup Ideas We'd Like to Fund
#359This is one of the most intense links and discussions I've ever seen on HN/YC. I'm going to have to take an hour at least to sift through 185+ comments because I've already seen several valuable insights. Just incredible response.
Agreed! Here's hoping for more conversation-inspiring posts like this in the future.
Re: Startup Ideas We'd Like to Fund
#360I'm sure I'm not that rare in my dreams. They might be unusual but I'm certain others share similar hopes. I have an idea for an internet based service and a faith that in its originality and focus that it could have real value, especially within organizations, corporate or otherwise. The plea comes from a sense of helplessness. I haven't programmed seriously in 30 years. My old skills with 360 assembler mock my ambi…
Can you come up with a a one page description of the service/software that you want to build; describing in detail what it does so that someone else can implement it? Can you afford to pay someone skilled to develop it for you? If you are going to play the role of the idea guy, you had better be able to bring more resources than the idea itself if you want to be successful.
I could provide a one page combination business objectives statement and high level requirement specification, but a detailed spec would necessarily be longer and more complex in format.
No, I can't fund the development effort. If I could I wouldn't need a Y Combinator Plus.
I appreciate your observation about the seemingly limited value of just "the idea itself", but that's just the issue I was raising. The clear vision of why, what and how is indeed all I have to bring to the table.