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

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

#51

Post by hnriot »

larrys wrote: post #50

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 o…

too! Seriously, it's not that hard.

"getting it to a single page site that you host in the cloud."

you mean, like a website?

There are a million canonical answers to building a web site for a real estate agent, everything from Pinterest to a simple Wordpress with a domain centric theme.

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

#52

Post by chrsstrm »

larrys wrote: post #50

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 o…

The thing with these types of people (realtors, restaurant mangers, etc.) is that you can make something extremely easy to use but there will always be effort in producing new content; effort they are not willing to expend. Time and time again I've worked with people who couldn't be bothered to enter the data for their new listing or upload photos. They always feel like it is busy work and better farmed out to an assistant or done by myself at a unsustainable cost. Maybe the problem is that most of these people are technically inept and/or can't type more than 10wpm, I don't know. I've completely given up on anything real estate related and refuse to take any projects in that space because the failure to produce new content and maintain a web property always gets reflected back on me, as if I made something too hard for them to do. Plenty of dead-simple options exist to create and maintain a site, I find the issue is lack of cooperation with the site's owner to produce new content.

Now in the food service space, you could easily auto-generate an update based on the POS inventory. The problem there is many restaurants use a system like Micros, which has data access, but refuses to open it up to third-party vendors. If Micros ever wised up and opened an app store where customers could install approved and signed apps, the person who bridges inventory to web will cash in and retire early.

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

#53

Post by chrsstrm »

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…

You know, Google reads all your email and uses it in combination with your search history to populate Google Now cards. When you buy something online, you typically get a detailed email receipt. I bet if anyone knows exactly what you buy, it would be Google. That is, if you are using Gmail.

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

#54

Post by kamakazizuru »

scott_s wrote: post #10
kamakazizuru wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

it probably always will be - so long as the man / woman imbalance with dating doesnt even out!

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).

Im referring to the fact that on most dating sites you'll find "n" male profiles - and something like 0.5n to 0.7n female profiles. Dating for LGBT works brilliantly - and the only location based dating/hookup apps that I know of that actually took off are targetted at LGBTs. The heterosexual space on the other hand still suffers from the same old - problem as high school.

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

#55

Post by stephengillie »

canvia wrote: post #47
stephengillie wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

What if retailers/banks gave you an API (with authentication of course) that can only be used to read data?

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

#56

Post by scott_s »

kamakazizuru wrote: post #54
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).

Im referring to the fact that on most dating sites you'll find "n" male profiles - and something like 0.5n to 0.7n female profiles. Dating for LGBT works brilliantly - and the only location based dating/hookup apps that I know of that actually took off are targetted at LGBTs. The heterosexual space on the other hand still suffers from the same old - problem as high school.

How do you know this is true? Your own experience, or data? I live in a big area, so perhaps I can't see the effect even if its there.

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

#57

Post by drumdance »

Charos wrote: post #33
stephengillie wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

Mint is now owned by Intuit. Are the original founders still with the project? If not, I'd be surprised to see them take such a precient direction.

I believe the founder is still head of product development for all of Intuit.

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

#58

Post by drumdance »

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…

An idea I've been interested in seeing is a regional paywall for online media. Instead of doing it for a single site like the NY Times (who is uniquely positioned to do that), regional newspapers and TV stations could band together and have a shared paywall. The big challenge would be figuring out the revenue share.

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

#59

Post by drumdance »

larrys wrote: post #50

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 o…

It seems to me that LinkedIn would be well positioned for something like this. Allow pro users to create microsites.

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

#60

Post by ryanhuff »

TheMakeA wrote: post #21
cryptoz wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sounds to me like they're very interested in funding RFS5 and that they were grilling you to see your response. Were you exhilarated and raving about all the advantages in a confident, persuasive manner, or did you stumble on why you might even want such a thing yourself?

It's possible. The given reason for our rejection was the market size for our product. Really, we were caught heavily off guard by having to explain why it would be useful. We thought, "It's an RFS, so they already know it could be huge!" and spent zero time thinking about it. Full disclosure: Our demo and Altair BASIC was a way to develop native iPhone apps in the cloud. We wanted to expand to Android apps, and even…

Having to explain why something could be "huge" shows how well you understand the market.
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