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Ask HN - What's your best startup idea?

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41–50 of 187 posts

Re: Ask HN - What's your best startup idea?

#42
post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How this differs from paypal? I understand that for you to propose this there is some fundamental difference, just I can't figure it.

>How this differs from paypal? My assumption is that it won't involve paypal. :-) Seriously though, that's the difference - some way to avoid the third party lock in that paypal forces, replacing it with a simple: "money from my account into your account" method.

um...those are called checks. the reason that paypal got big was because electronic checks and wiring money is riskier than an escrow.

Re: Ask HN - What's your best startup idea?

#46

A social network for people who fly on airplanes regularly that helps people book seats next to each other so that they can enjoy a nice conversation rather than sitting in silence for the duration of the flight.

Along those lines I know there is a very lucrative black (maybe more gray) market in which people will pay big money to find out flight plans of important decision makers. People paid that money so they could try to buy a ticket in the seat next to said decision maker. You've then got X hours to work a pitch.

I know this happens to execs in pro sports a lot (people trying to get sponsorship, get the leagues using their products, etc) and I imagine it happens in other industries as well.

How you make a startup/product out of this I don't know but I thought it was an interesting tidbit to share.

Re: Ask HN - What's your best startup idea?

#49
post #2

An online dating site that uses collaborative filtering on large datasets of people (perhaps Facebook as a dataset). Then inform potential couples when they are physically close to each other via cell phone/geolocation.

I've been thinking about something like this for the last few months. I think the mobile element is a great idea, and a very nice ice breaker - "Hey there, I'm Trent415 and superdate.com said you and I have a lot in common." Plus, you could determine if there was a mutual friend close by to introduce you. I also think there needs to be a wed based version that isn't location based, but I do like the mobile idea a lot.

I think the problem with dating sites at the moment is that they make it easy to lie. If you've ever used Match.com, or something similar, the dates tend to end up poorly because one person who claimed to be into music listens to the radio on the way to work, while the other person who claims to be into music has a Masters from the Royal Academy of Music, has played in professional symphonies and spends eight hours a day practicing. Also, that is NOT and athletic build.

Now, if you monitoring their streams (Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, whatever), you could determine what they liked, where they went and who they knew. I suspect this is way better way to form meaningful connections (it's how I found the love of my life). And if you're just looking for a random hookup there's always craigslist.

I've been looking for a co-founder for the Y Combintor summer 2010 session - http://ineedacofounder.wordpress.com - so if you're interested hit me back and maybe we could team up.

Re: Ask HN - What's your best startup idea?

#50
post #16

I tried a separate post of this but didnt get much response. So round two: In short, more and more people are going to college which makes getting into "top" colleges harder. I know there has been a lot of discussion as to the worth of the college degree these days, but regardless, I think the overwhelming majority of people still believe you should go to the best (highest ranked? best fit? whatever) college you can.…

How would you make money?
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