Travel planning software: The most common bad startup idea (2012) • Hacker News Board

Re: Travel planning software: The most common bad startup idea (2012)

#161

Post by tacitusarc » Tue, Sep 14, 2021, 2:05 AM UTC

phsource wrote: post #80

Oh boy -- I'm the cofounder of Wanderlog ( https://wanderlog.com ), a YC W19 startup exactly focused on planning travel. And I've really read all these articles This originally was big on Hacker News in 2014: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8419658 This is really just the latest in a long list of articles about why travel planning startups aren't worth pursuing: - https://www.phocuswire.com/Why-you-should-never-…

Hi! I downloaded your app, and convinced a friend who travels quite a bit to download it, on the basis of this post. It’s pretty great!

We have one piece of feedback: the trip page is very spread out, so there is no good way to see a quick overview of my entire trip, i.e. in city A from days x-y, then city B, etc. Unfortunately, a single day takes up the whole screen. If there was some way to have a more collapsed trip view in the app, that would be awesome.

Keep up the good work, I’m rooting for you.

Re: Travel planning software: The most common bad startup idea (2012)

#162

Post by llampx » Thu, Sep 16, 2021, 8:40 AM UTC

mikevm wrote: post #148

silverpepsi wrote: post #140

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As someone who travels full time, Google's introduction of yellow blobs on the maps in the past year or two has been an absolute game changer for me. I used to look up the name of a known walking street and then try to make sure I'd mastered all that was worth seeing by doing the perimeter including ended up spending hours on alleys that lead to nothingness (car coridors or residential areas of 0 interest at the edge…

what are these yellow blobs?

https://blog.google/products/maps/discover-action-around-you...

> As you explore the new map, you’ll notice areas shaded in orange representing “areas of interest”—places where there’s a lot of activities and things to do. To find an “area of interest” just open Google Maps and look around you. When you’ve found an orange-shaded area, zoom in to see more details about each venue and tap one for more info. Whether you’re looking for a hotel in a hot spot or just trying to determine which way to go after exiting the subway in a new place, “areas of interest” will help you find what you’re looking for with just a couple swipes and a zoom.

We determine “areas of interest” with an algorithmic process that allows us to highlight the areas with the highest concentration of restaurants, bars and shops. In high-density areas like NYC, we use a human touch to make sure we’re showing the most active areas.

Re: Travel planning software: The most common bad startup idea (2012)

#163

Post by llampx » Thu, Sep 16, 2021, 8:45 AM UTC

jrm4 wrote: post #31

Again, I gotta nominate "Tinder, but for pickup basketball" as the most common bad startup (or at least app) idea. I get excited college students hitting me up with this nearly every semester, like clockwork.

www.spontacts.com seems to have been around a while. I also wanted to develop something similar, for tennis (and badminton + squash)

Re: Travel planning software: The most common bad startup idea (2012)

#164

Post by Breza » Sat, Sep 18, 2021, 1:06 PM UTC

TuringNYC wrote: post #145

onlyrealcuzzo wrote: post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I dunno. I am surprised that there isn't something like "walk score" for a "visit score" - especially one where the score is based on what you want to do on your visit. I get that when you're traveling to a new city, you usually have an idea for what neighborhood you want to stay in. A lot of cities - there's only 1-3 neighborhoods that are walkable and good for tourists. Still, I'm surprised there's not an easy way…

Since you mention this, could you provide thoughts on our project if you have a moment? SAFEROUTE: WALK ROUTING VIA BEST LIT PATHS: https://github.com/kineticadb/saferun/blob/master/start-here... We're in the process of app-ifying this, though as a fun project and not a business. The idea would be to identify walking routes optimized by a variety of factors: - best lit (for safety) - most beautiful - best mobile phon…

This would be really useful as an app! I moved to Washington DC back when illuminated pedestrian paths were in weirdly short supply. People were getting mugged on the National Mall in the dark.

Re: Travel planning software: The most common bad startup idea (2012)

#165

Post by azalemeth » Thu, Sep 23, 2021, 9:13 AM UTC

jimbokun wrote: post #100

munificent wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Said more succinctly: It's hard to make a successful product that reduces the time people spend doing something they love to do. Some ways I could imagine addressing this and the problem the article talks about: * Aim to make travel planning not easier (i.e. less time-consuming) but more fun. Treat the app more like a game or media app where users spend more time planning their trip by using the app in enjoyable ways…

Then you would probably want to fold it into something like Lonely Planet or a Rick Steves property. Or of course a feature in AirBnB.

I love the Lonely Planet guides, but I don't like the budgeting that comes with them. I'd quite like an app into which you could say "I have a budget of $THIS_MUCH, plus or minus $THAT_MUCH for the day. I am in $LOCATION and I would like to experience $THESE_SORTS_OF_FUN_THINGS. Please generate, perhaps pseudo-randomly, an itinerary of fun for the next $NUMBER of hours with all that in mind".