25 Startup Ideas for 2012 • Hacker News Board

Re: 25 Startup Ideas for 2012

#131

Post by potatolicious » Sun, Jan 29, 2012, 7:57 PM UTC

mitakas wrote: post #70

Am I the only one who has realized, that all you startup people are scared of science? Are the ideas on the list really that hard to fund? We have some very real problems in this world, but all you seem to care are iPhone/Android apps and stupid websites (copied from one another I guess).

Yes, these "science" ideas (actually, traditional engineering) really are that hard to fund.

One thing software people always forget is how expensive it is to perform R&D on real, physical things. Software is practically free to produce in comparison - your big campus of 1000 engineers, with free lunch and masseuses, is practically free in comparison to say, the cost of developing a new drug, or introducing a revolutionary new jet engine.

I don't think it's necessarily true that VCs only care about iPhone/Android apps, but they honestly cannot afford to invest in "real" engineering. The risks are just as great, and the stakes are far, far higher, beyond the deep pockets of many angels and VCs.

Re: 25 Startup Ideas for 2012

#132

Post by stevenou » Sun, Jan 29, 2012, 8:04 PM UTC

frisco wrote: post #25

Why is Stripe for ACH payments necessary? Why isn't that Stripe?

As far as I know Stripe does not do ACH? We've actually been looking all over the place for an ACH processor with an API (aka a Stripe for ACH) and have had absolutely no luck. And the one company we found, for some reason, wouldn't take us on as a client (I guess we're considered high-risk). Anyway, I wholeheartedly agree with the need for an "Stripe for ACH". If you actually know of one please let me know.

Re: 25 Startup Ideas for 2012

#133

Post by egypturnash » Sun, Jan 29, 2012, 8:19 PM UTC

"Wonga for USA"

googles Wonga

"Welcome to Wonga. We can deposit up to £400 in your bank account by 20:39 today. Representative APR 4214%."

Cost of implementing this idea: your soul, your self-respect. Even if you pour all of the proceeds into "build a holodeck".

Re: 25 Startup Ideas for 2012

#134

Post by sbashyal » Sun, Jan 29, 2012, 8:21 PM UTC

tomgallard wrote: post #49

One I'm looking at - Google Analytics for print/billboard ads. Adwords/Analytics is great, because you can see exactly how much money you're spending, and exactly how many sales/conversions/downloads you're getting for that money. In the print world, this becomes much harder to measure. I'm looking at easy ways to make that happen

Are you looking for a solution or looking to work on it as a start-up idea? I am interested in this domain and have few ideas.

Re: 25 Startup Ideas for 2012

#135

Post by drone » Sun, Jan 29, 2012, 8:28 PM UTC

jforman wrote: post #6

"This satellite would self deploy/build itself at least partially to reduce weight..." ...I'm pretty sure you're not going to save much mass by soaking in a year of sunlight...

I'm not sure that "lean start-up" and "self-replicating, consuming machines" go well together. I mean, the competition has had a 3.9 billion year[1] head-start. Considering the number of algorithmic mistakes[2] made specifically involving consume + replicate features of products purchased from the current leader in the industry, I'd prefer to see that done on a slower timeline. Perhaps some careful decades of engineering are called for. Same goes for "making and inserting DNA sequences at your desk for under $1,000."

[1] http://www.reuters.com/article/2009/05/20/us-asteroids-idUST... [2] for example: http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=10...

Re: 25 Startup Ideas for 2012

#136

Post by daveambrose » Sun, Jan 29, 2012, 8:29 PM UTC

stevenou wrote: post #130

There's actually a lot of "AirBnB for Activities." Our company used to be Skyara ( http://www.skyara.com ). We ended up pivoting to RAVN ( http://ravn.com ), which is more of a "Amazon for Activities," per se. I think we were definitely one of the first ones to try to enter the "AirBnB for Activities" space but had a very hard time. While in theory it sounds like a great concept, the key to realize is that no "AirBnB…

Besides you guys, who else is doing something like this?

Re: 25 Startup Ideas for 2012

#137

Post by hdlnd » Sun, Jan 29, 2012, 8:42 PM UTC

daveambrose wrote: post #136

stevenou wrote: post #130

There's actually a lot of "AirBnB for Activities." Our company used to be Skyara ( http://www.skyara.com ). We ended up pivoting to RAVN ( http://ravn.com ), which is more of a "Amazon for Activities," per se. I think we were definitely one of the first ones to try to enter the "AirBnB for Activities" space but had a very hard time. While in theory it sounds like a great concept, the key to realize is that no "AirBnB…

Besides you guys, who else is doing something like this?

Check out http://www.dotheglobe.com/

Re: 25 Startup Ideas for 2012

#138

Post by dkural » Sun, Jan 29, 2012, 8:43 PM UTC

jayzee wrote: post #128

Often the path to a discovery is not direct. Facebook stumbled upon social search several years after putting up college yearbook profiles online first... So I like 7, building a database of biology but to tackle that head on would be impractical (financially). That is the end goal that we have at my startup, but we are starting out by helping labs manage their reagent and chemical inventories first. Sounds mundane b…

We're working on idea 7 as well, but a completely different angle compared to your company, check out http://www.sbgenomics.com -- instead of all of bio, we start with genomics, and also emphasize computation. Sounds like we're compatible pieces of the puzzle!

Re: 25 Startup Ideas for 2012

#139

Post by kurtvarner » Sun, Jan 29, 2012, 8:43 PM UTC

daveambrose wrote: post #136

stevenou wrote: post #130

There's actually a lot of "AirBnB for Activities." Our company used to be Skyara ( http://www.skyara.com ). We ended up pivoting to RAVN ( http://ravn.com ), which is more of a "Amazon for Activities," per se. I think we were definitely one of the first ones to try to enter the "AirBnB for Activities" space but had a very hard time. While in theory it sounds like a great concept, the key to realize is that no "AirBnB…

Besides you guys, who else is doing something like this?

http://www.vayable.com/

http://skilloop.com/

Re: 25 Startup Ideas for 2012

#140

Post by stevenou » Sun, Jan 29, 2012, 9:03 PM UTC

daveambrose wrote: post #136

stevenou wrote: post #130

There's actually a lot of "AirBnB for Activities." Our company used to be Skyara ( http://www.skyara.com ). We ended up pivoting to RAVN ( http://ravn.com ), which is more of a "Amazon for Activities," per se. I think we were definitely one of the first ones to try to enter the "AirBnB for Activities" space but had a very hard time. While in theory it sounds like a great concept, the key to realize is that no "AirBnB…

Besides you guys, who else is doing something like this?

Someone already posted some below: http://hackerne.ws/item?id=3524864