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Help Me HN: Can't think of new ideas I am interested on working on

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Re: Help Me HN: Can't think of new ideas I am interested on working on

#51

Post by open »

cheez wrote: post #47
open wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Neither. It was originally developed as a solution to solve my own problem. The intention was never to create a startup out of it. It wasn't until a few months later that someone pointed out that I should run with it as a startup. The rest is as they say, history...

Ok, but what kept you going? Was it the thrill of getting customers or the thrill of solving that particular problem or...? I'd love to work with someone who has done it before so if I can motivate you, that would be awesome :D

There were multiple reasons but ultimately it was an interesting problem we were solving among various other factors. Your email is not in your profile but if you want to connect, I'm pretty open.

Re: Help Me HN: Can't think of new ideas I am interested on working on

#52

Post by prodigal_erik »

david927 wrote: post #30
prodigal_erik wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Does the SEC really not assert jurisdiction over US residents selling equities (possibly even to other US residents) when they are shares of a primarily US-held foreign corporation, or being offered through a foreign market? Somehow that surprises me.

US citizens can own shares in a foreign public company. That company can sell shares. There's nothing the SEC can really get mad about here.

The SEC can bring felony charges against individuals offering unregistered securities, not just penalize a corporate entity that created the shares. As I understand it, it doesn't even matter whether the securities actually are shares of a corporation, or just some similar enough instrument. Before doing this, I would make very sure either the foreign corporation or the foreign market meet exemptions well defended in case law.

Re: Help Me HN: Can't think of new ideas I am interested on working on

#53

Post by jtheory »

It could help to switch gears entirely for a while; study a trade that involves physical craftsmanship (vs. mental) and/or gets you outside or using your body. Do it with focus, for long enough to gain real skill. You may come back to coding, or you may not.

Another thought -- there's a special kind of burnout when you realize that the "problems" most new products/services solve not really problems -- they are just about moving money around more easily or in different ways, or convincing people more effectively to buy more things they don't need.

How do you define a good idea? "One that makes money" is pretty weak. Some people can motivate themselves purely on the money something will make; the rest of us need to dig a bit deeper when looking for worthwhile projects. One that solves a particular problem you have, for other people, is also pretty weak if your personal problems are all trivialities. "I travel a lot, and it's hard to find shoes that are still comfortable at the end of a long flight."

Re: Help Me HN: Can't think of new ideas I am interested on working on

#54

Post by open »

Tycho wrote: post #4

Do you find the idea of dashboards for businesses interesting? That's what I'd work on if i had lots of time to research, lots of know-how, and lots of business experience. It's exciting because a) building these things makes the world more productive, businesses more agile, b) you can take inspiration from a wide range of sources (science fiction, journals, movies, video games, old inventions), c) there's very excit…

Sorry, not really into the dashboard for businesses thing at the moment

Re: Help Me HN: Can't think of new ideas I am interested on working on

#55

Post by open »

jtheory wrote: post #53

It could help to switch gears entirely for a while; study a trade that involves physical craftsmanship (vs. mental) and/or gets you outside or using your body. Do it with focus, for long enough to gain real skill. You may come back to coding, or you may not. Another thought -- there's a special kind of burnout when you realize that the "problems" most new products/services solve not really problems -- they are just a…

I'm currently burning time learning new programming languages and looking to learn hardware development.

Re: Help Me HN: Can't think of new ideas I am interested on working on

#56

Post by cheez »

open wrote: post #51
cheez wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ok, but what kept you going? Was it the thrill of getting customers or the thrill of solving that particular problem or...? I'd love to work with someone who has done it before so if I can motivate you, that would be awesome :D

There were multiple reasons but ultimately it was an interesting problem we were solving among various other factors. Your email is not in your profile but if you want to connect, I'm pretty open.

Oops, check it now :)

Re: Help Me HN: Can't think of new ideas I am interested on working on

#57

Post by milkshakes »

david927 wrote: post #31
milkshakes wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

check out profounder.com they do just that

Not really. You must have a substantial, pre-existing relationship with the investor and you may only have a few investors. Even then, because these are non-accredited investors, you may have trouble raising financing in later rounds. The idea of OpenStarts is that you can be funded by thousands of people you've never met and there's no penalty later.

while i can't speak to the 'penalty later' part, profounder does make it possible for kickstarter type fundraising from strangers. however, those people can't make more than their original investment back (sort of like kiva, which is not surprising, because Jessica Jackley, the pro-founder CEO, was one of kiva's co-founders)

Re: Help Me HN: Can't think of new ideas I am interested on working on

#59

Post by keeptrying »

petervandijck wrote: post #9

Here's an idea. You'll quickly find many challenges/problems with it, but if you can fix those (that's called innovation) you'll have something. Many immigrants to the US go back to their home country for surgery and similar health services. It's cheaper and often better. Why can't non-first-generation-immigrants take advantage of the same services easily? Ie. why can't you easily go to countryX and cheaply get your…

The market for this already exists.

Its called "Medical Tourism". Basically middlemen (or a startup) hook up a potential surgery customer to a hospital + hotel (5 star usually). They sell you a complete package including air fare, taxis, rental cars and hotel stay. And of course the surgery.

And it still comes to about 1/4th the cost of surgery in the US.

Its a $10 billion industry if not more. And its going to grow I believe.

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