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Launch HN: InstaKin (YC S21) - Help immigrants to manage tasks in home countries

news.ycombinator.com

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Re: Launch HN: InstaKin (YC S21) - Help immigrants to manage tasks in home countries

#61

Post by neither_color »

kcarter80 wrote: post #34
arkitaip wrote: post #21

Super exciting. If you can solve the many trust issues, this could become an unicorn that could service millions of immigrants in virtually every country on the planet. One of the very few Y! startups that I actually believe can do some good as opposed to create a less shitty fart app. Nitpick: the UI needs a makeover. Feels bland and dated. Also, is this only available for Pakistani citizens right now? Because my co…

First, "Y!" is Yahoo, not Y Combinator. Second, YC goes to great lengths to fund unusual, socially conscious, and wide eyed startups. Do you have an informed view that contradicts this widely stated goal of theirs or were you just commenting extemporaneously?

Agreed. I follow Launch HN's because it's full of start ups that what want to make the world better, it's not some app flea market.

Re: Launch HN: InstaKin (YC S21) - Help immigrants to manage tasks in home countries

#62

Post by khanzain »

foolinaround wrote: post #55
khanzain wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Great feedback. In our workflow, as soon as a task request is submitted via the app, the customer (immigrant) is matched with a vendor back home. The customer will know by name which vendor they are matched with and can even collaborate with the vendor through a messaging feature. If the customer wants more info they can view vendor details and bio within the app also. In your point #5, not sure exactly what you are…

in this case, i would have an US credit card, whereas Zomato requires an indian credit, along with an OTP pin sent to the phone number linked to the credit card.

Exactly.

Re: Launch HN: InstaKin (YC S21) - Help immigrants to manage tasks in home countries

#63

Post by go_elmo »

H8crilA wrote: post #46
khanzain wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It is also a mindset of many immigrants: always have a backup plan. My parents have lived outside of Pakistan for over 40 years and recently moved to the USA. In all that time they always had a home back in Pakistan and kept investing in more property. I am sure this is the case with immigrants from most other countries also.

I am a younger immigrant and plan on doing exactly that. One big part of the "oh shit, let's go back" plan is that it's usually so much cheaper to set things in your country of origin. Some real estate, some investments and you're set for life for a fraction of what it costs in a more expensive country. Or, alternatively, you can see this as an arbitrage: get income in a high income country, spend it in a low income…

Only thing I dont get: why not save / invest otherwise & buy there when youre "sure" youll use it? I think the norm is already to sell properties of 20 years later, realizing they wont or cant really be used and having quite large missed revenues due to it. Why e.g. have a huge house & use it 2 weeks a year max?

Re: Launch HN: InstaKin (YC S21) - Help immigrants to manage tasks in home countries

#64

Post by m0hit »

Congratulations on the launch! I’ve hoped for a service like this to help with documentation related tasks, for simple things like delivering gifts and often timers to support friends and family in need.

One thing as a US immigrant I have to do pretty often is return to my home country for a visa renewal which includes various tasks including documentation collection, payments in home currency, transportation when I go back to the embassy, photocopies, printing etc. Supporting visa processes could be an good package to offer.

A few things I could not learn in my cursory look:

- How does pricing work? Given that being misuse of funds is one of the primary problems you’re solving I’d want to know how the payments process works, what is the platform cost, and how is misuse prevented.

- The top call to action on your website is “Post a request” which is great! The secondary action for me is “remember this website” for when I need it. Love the fact that I can install the app, but the ability to quickly add an email/WhatsApp number to my contacts is probably the best recall value for your service. Offering users a way to start a thread without needing to post a request would solve the same need.

Congratulations again! This is a great idea.

Re: Launch HN: InstaKin (YC S21) - Help immigrants to manage tasks in home countries

#66

Post by baybal2 »

notsureaboutpg wrote: post #49
anovikov wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My question - why do they keep property back there? Are rental yields in Pakistan very high?

In South Asia, land is at a premium due to high population. You can buy basically any piece of land anywhere and its value rises a lot each year. My father-in-law owns swampland in South Asia which is still rising in value despite being a huge burden to actually develop. In addition, property ownership is limited in a way it is not in the West (only citizens can own property, as an example, in India), so it's an adva…

It's also because more land can be farmed, and thus farming is still a very valid option to earn income for small land owner.

You can't make any money with a 10000 kanal plot in Russia.

In Pakistan, you can't buy 10000 kanal plot for any money, such big plots are almost never sold. An average person can live a carefree life with a cash cow plot 10 times smaller.

1000 kanal plot reasonably close to a major city in Pakistan will cost in tens of millions, and are very rare finds.

Re: Launch HN: InstaKin (YC S21) - Help immigrants to manage tasks in home countries

#67

Post by H8crilA »

go_elmo wrote: post #63
H8crilA wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I am a younger immigrant and plan on doing exactly that. One big part of the "oh shit, let's go back" plan is that it's usually so much cheaper to set things in your country of origin. Some real estate, some investments and you're set for life for a fraction of what it costs in a more expensive country. Or, alternatively, you can see this as an arbitrage: get income in a high income country, spend it in a low income…

Only thing I dont get: why not save / invest otherwise & buy there when youre "sure" youll use it? I think the norm is already to sell properties of 20 years later, realizing they wont or cant really be used and having quite large missed revenues due to it. Why e.g. have a huge house & use it 2 weeks a year max?

Oh, I'm going to lease my apartments for sure :)

Local stocks are also pretty attractive, not nearly as much attention is being paid to them as to the big international names.

Re: Launch HN: InstaKin (YC S21) - Help immigrants to manage tasks in home countries

#68

Post by khanzain »

m0hit wrote: post #64

Congratulations on the launch! I’ve hoped for a service like this to help with documentation related tasks, for simple things like delivering gifts and often timers to support friends and family in need. One thing as a US immigrant I have to do pretty often is return to my home country for a visa renewal which includes various tasks including documentation collection, payments in home currency, transportation when I…

Thanks for feedback. It is very valuable.

As for the payments process, a customer would simply pay through a credit card. The payment is held in escrow until the vendor has completed the assigned task and the customer confirms that it is complete. The payment is then released to the vendor. If the task is not completed or not up to quality, the customer gets a full refund.

So the customer has the confidence that his/her money is safe and will only be released once the task is complete. The vendor is motivated to do a good job and has the guarantee that once the task is complete payment will be received.

This whole process is automated and happens within the app.

Re: Launch HN: InstaKin (YC S21) - Help immigrants to manage tasks in home countries

#70

Post by go_elmo »

H8crilA wrote: post #67
go_elmo wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Only thing I dont get: why not save / invest otherwise & buy there when youre "sure" youll use it? I think the norm is already to sell properties of 20 years later, realizing they wont or cant really be used and having quite large missed revenues due to it. Why e.g. have a huge house & use it 2 weeks a year max?

Oh, I'm going to lease my apartments for sure :) Local stocks are also pretty attractive, not nearly as much attention is being paid to them as to the big international names.

This is true! Most money can be made where no one is looking that closely :) but of course there is a larger risk for smaller companies and single, rather developing countries (expect for maybe the US which is hard to hit hard without also affecting any other market)
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