Ask PG: Will you post an update to "Startup Ideas We'd Like to Fund"? • Hacker News Board

Re: Ask PG: Will you post an update to "Startup Ideas We'd Like to Fund"?

#41

Post by aray » Tue, Jul 09, 2013, 9:33 PM UTC

TaylorAlexander wrote: post #6

I thought I had read in one of those that PG really wants to replace banks and credit cards. Or maybe it was someone else. Either way, that's one of the things I'd love to get into as far as "big picture" stuff (along with a cloud-based "space station" on venus, but the bank thing might be slightly less difficult). I'd completely revamp the entire purchase process, as much as legally possible (and realistically doing…

Just responding to the specific example, I've been very happy with square / square wallet in this regard. The system recognizes my card, and offers to send me an itemized receipt via email for any transaction. I can use this to clearly see the merchant, date/time, and what I paid for. Simple (the bank) is making inroads in this as well, and even PayPal's receipt emails are more descriptive. Maybe a bit too complex of an issue for a startup to hit now (look at what happened to Dwolla) but certainly still a lot of "pain points" to solve left.

Re: Ask PG: Will you post an update to "Startup Ideas We'd Like to Fund"?

#42

Post by scott_s » Tue, Jul 09, 2013, 9:41 PM UTC

thufry wrote: post #39

scott_s wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not sure what imbalance, exactly, that you mean, but I don't see anything of the sort as the reason that online dating isn't going anywhere. The fundamental problem I see is that meeting new people is hard. Particularly after school, with a full-time job, if you recently moved to where you live, and if you don't live in a city (being close helps, but it's not the same).

On what basis are you saying that "online dating isn't going anywhere?" One could call Facebook the most successful online dating site, one-third of married couples last year met online, and couples who meet online are less likely to divorce. That sounds pretty impressive to me!

I mean that online dating is not leaving us; online dating is here to stay; online dating is obviously a service that people like using and get something out of. I was disagreeing with the parent poster about why online dating is here to stay, not that it is here to stay.

Re: Ask PG: Will you post an update to "Startup Ideas We'd Like to Fund"?

#43

Post by jarek » Tue, Jul 09, 2013, 9:43 PM UTC

Havoc wrote: post #35

lquist wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not sure that your example proves that YC is no longer interested in RFS #5. I think RFS# 5 covers companies that could be huge, but I'm not convinced that I would ever want to code on a tablet.

>I'm not convinced that I would ever want to code on a tablet. Well when I type on a on a 10 inch tab - two thoughts cross my head A) This is not working B) This could work given a bit more size and refinement. So I would not discount tablets as dev devices. Perhaps not as a hardcore workstation, but as a starbucks dev station sure - soon.

> Well when I type on a on a 10 inch tab - two thoughts cross my head A) This is not working B) This could work given a bit more size and refinement.

A bit more size and refinement, a nice keyboard, and a stand gets you a 11-12" laptop.

Re: Ask PG: Will you post an update to "Startup Ideas We'd Like to Fund"?

#44

Post by mgirdley » Tue, Jul 09, 2013, 9:45 PM UTC

Charos wrote: post #19

taylorbuley wrote: post #5

News will morph significantly in the more competitive environment of the web. So called "blogs" (because the old media call everything published online a "blog") like PerezHilton and TechCrunch are one sign of the future. News sites like Reddit and Digg are another. But these are just the beginning. I'll make the bold claim that we haven't yet seen this "morph" in media. The blog concept is now staid yet Buzzfeed is…

This is something I've been thinking about recently. If you boil down the 'news problem,' the dominant solutions are traditional news channels (TV networks, newspapers) and sites like Reddit and Digg. I would categorize bloggers as very small-scale traditional news sources, and RSS feeds as a way to combine these traditional and nontraditional sources. The strength of traditional news is partly cultural, but also due…

Is this what medium.com is doing?

Re: Ask PG: Will you post an update to "Startup Ideas We'd Like to Fund"?

#45

Post by ntaylor » Tue, Jul 09, 2013, 9:46 PM UTC

Kiro wrote: post #29

philfreo wrote: post #22

A little more recent: http://ycombinator.com/rfs.html

I like RFS #7.

http://ycombinator.com/rfs7.html (in case you'd like to know)

Re: Ask PG: Will you post an update to "Startup Ideas We'd Like to Fund"?

#46

Post by pg » Tue, Jul 09, 2013, 9:51 PM UTC

Yeah, I should do that.

Re: Ask PG: Will you post an update to "Startup Ideas We'd Like to Fund"?

#47

Post by canvia » Tue, Jul 09, 2013, 9:53 PM UTC

stephengillie wrote: post #27

TaylorAlexander wrote: post #6

I thought I had read in one of those that PG really wants to replace banks and credit cards. Or maybe it was someone else. Either way, that's one of the things I'd love to get into as far as "big picture" stuff (along with a cloud-based "space station" on venus, but the bank thing might be slightly less difficult). I'd completely revamp the entire purchase process, as much as legally possible (and realistically doing…

Maybe Mint should scrape Amazon and other retailers in addition to bank websites? Would you trust Mint to keep your Amazon password in addition to your bank's? (Maybe Mint should pivot slightly to include password database management? :p ) Right now, our system is pretty much how you describe it, where the financial institution only gets the basic information of who and how much. And if you want more detail, the reta…

What if retailers/banks gave you a separate account login that can only be used to read data? There wouldn't be nearly as much risk in giving this out to third parties.

Re: Ask PG: Will you post an update to "Startup Ideas We'd Like to Fund"?

#48

Post by diminoten » Tue, Jul 09, 2013, 9:59 PM UTC

Havoc wrote: post #35

lquist wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not sure that your example proves that YC is no longer interested in RFS #5. I think RFS# 5 covers companies that could be huge, but I'm not convinced that I would ever want to code on a tablet.

>I'm not convinced that I would ever want to code on a tablet. Well when I type on a on a 10 inch tab - two thoughts cross my head A) This is not working B) This could work given a bit more size and refinement. So I would not discount tablets as dev devices. Perhaps not as a hardcore workstation, but as a starbucks dev station sure - soon.

You shouldn't have to use a QWERTY-like keyboard to enter text into a tablet. The very idea of a flat space with a list of letters which has you individually selecting letters (or moving your finger around on a full list of letters) is a huge waste of space on an already small screen.

Re: Ask PG: Will you post an update to "Startup Ideas We'd Like to Fund"?

#49

Post by thufry » Tue, Jul 09, 2013, 10:23 PM UTC

scott_s wrote: post #42

thufry wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

On what basis are you saying that "online dating isn't going anywhere?" One could call Facebook the most successful online dating site, one-third of married couples last year met online, and couples who meet online are less likely to divorce. That sounds pretty impressive to me!

I mean that online dating is not leaving us; online dating is here to stay; online dating is obviously a service that people like using and get something out of. I was disagreeing with the parent poster about why online dating is here to stay, not that it is here to stay.

ahhh. Idioms at work.

Re: Ask PG: Will you post an update to "Startup Ideas We'd Like to Fund"?

#50

Post by larrys » Tue, Jul 09, 2013, 10:48 PM UTC

I haven't read the 2008 list but just went there based on some of the comments here. This #29 stood out:

"What's the best way to make a web site if you're a real estate agent, or a restaurant, or a lawyer? There still don't seem to be canonical answers. "

There is a huge opportunity here not for a site builder so much as a way for those types of businesses (and other businesses) to keep their site current and fresh once it is built. None of the existing options work that well with this demographic. Either to juvenile or to many features and options and a learning curve. Fix that and the world will beat a path to your door.

Start small with this. Solve the issue of how I know what the specials are from the local sushi takeout restaurant that I visit a several times per month. Then move to other restaurants. Make it dead simple for the busy owner to get me that info. Even if it means simply shooting a picture of the special board and getting it to a single page site that you host in the cloud.