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25 Startup Ideas for 2012

judegomila.com

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Re: 25 Startup Ideas for 2012

#101

Post by prof_hobart »

__alexs wrote: post #91
prof_hobart wrote: post #87

Anyone know what a "google voice" for credit cards is meant to mean?

A proxy card that is actually backed by various real credit cards. Automatically switching your balance across the optimum set of deals? This is kind of like what Simple.com do, except with credit.

That sounds pretty much like what most mobile wallet look like they're going to offer, and I can't really imagine how it would work (or what the real advantage would be) for non-mobile ones - such as the hassle of deciding in advance which card you're using for which transaction.

BTW, from what I've read of Bank Simple, this isn't what their model is. From their FAQ - "Can I use Simple with my current bank? No. Through your relationship with Simple, your money is held in an FDIC-insured account at one of our bank partners."

Re: 25 Startup Ideas for 2012

#102

Post by pilgrim689 »

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).

I don't think you're the only one that's realizing this. I'm seeing more and more posts where people complain that startups aren't solving "real" problems.

Perhaps investors look at FB, Twitter, Google, LinkedIn, and think that these 4 statistical anomalies are examples to follow, and thus fund companies with similar ideas?

On the other hand, I have a hard time believing that the "real problems" aren't being addressed by anyone.

Re: 25 Startup Ideas for 2012

#103

Post by itmag »

jhancock wrote: post #26
frisco wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

While they probably won't support a rogue currency, they may or may not support a rouge one.

cute...fixed it. What we really need is a spell checker that knows what I mean.

I can sell you one for 50 sticks of eye-liner.

Re: 25 Startup Ideas for 2012

#104

Post by dave_sullivan »

A market for IP isn't terrible. But there, volume isn't high enough and transaction costs (ip lawyers in a room talking, are too high) The rest I'm not so sure about.

A few are a ways out and even then are hard sells (even w/ holodecks, how would you sell them? Home, arcades? Who's the market and how much money do they have? Hardly a slam dunk) I'm thinking the 3do times 100 for holodeck development/productization.

Yardsale isn't bad, but Craigslist is pretty close as is (my gf goes crazy when she sees yard sale signs (instant, location based discovery) but she checks craigslist too.

A bunch--I'm not sure what they mean. Even the education one is much harder than it might seem, at least as a business. Im really rooting for codecademy and the like, but they've got a tough road as its hard to get most people interested in educating themselves, and even moreso to get them to pay.

How about starting with a market with money and a problem and working backwards?

Re: 25 Startup Ideas for 2012

#105

Post by itmag »

libria wrote: post #89
jwegan wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> the end of all progress for humanity No.

I think it has hampered the progress of at least a portion of humanity. You could argue that time wasters will always find an alternative, but TV and MMORPGS have addictive qualities and have left people wondering where lost months/years have gone.

The real tragedy is that MMORPGs are better than real life for many people.

Personally, I try to view my life as an RPG. Ie levelling up, acquiring awesome loot, raiding with my loyal guild mates, etc. Fun life analogy.

Re: 25 Startup Ideas for 2012

#107

Post by japhyr »

itmag wrote: post #98

2. Gamify learning core subjects: specially maths and physics to start. 3. Allow the community to make lessons and have voting systems for quality. As someone who is itching to start an e-learning startup, what would be some ways to implement this? For the user-created lessons, maybe have an IDE-like enviroment with a domain-specific "programming language" that enables non-coders to easily create educational modules…

I think this hasn't been done well because it is more difficult than creating something like wikipedia. One of the reasons wpedia works is because you can enforce a non-redundancy policy. There can only be one article on any one topic. In education, however, there are many ways to teach any one concept. So you have to allow people to create different lessons on the same topic, but also create a simple pathway through all these lessons. Khan academy has been successful in this for math, but I think a good part of that is because there is one person clearly running the show, an intensely productive man who spits out several videos a day, for years. Crowdsourcing that work is an interesting challenge.

As a teacher, I'd love to see this done well. But it seems most people who go into these ventures either don't get education, or don't get technology. It seems there is a pretty small group of people in the world who really get both fields. It's also hard to put together a team of people who get both. And finally, the profit motive kills a lot of education endeavors. Education is fundamentally a human right, and profit motives tend to exaggerate the achievement gap. There is plenty of room for new thinking in this area.

Re: 25 Startup Ideas for 2012

#108

Post by tankenmate »

twelvechairs wrote: post #95
tankenmate wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is a solution for retirement for not-so-rich people, it's called tax free, mandatory, funded, and benefactor owned superannuation. It forces everyone to contribute to their own retirement. It stops companies or governments from dipping into the "pot". It's tax free and so allows proper growth not only for the funds in question, but also allows for growth in the economy. Obviously there are some corner cases but…

The downside in Australia is that the great majority of less-financially-oriented people put their money into 'super schemes' which are designed to swindle you and on average give you a worse return for your money than just leaving it in a bank (without even accounting for the excessive fees and charges).

True, most managed funds are a rip off. I remember many eons ago in my first job out of school, I worked at a factory. The company selected super fund sent some peons out to brief us about our fund, but we just shredded them by asking common sense questions. The peons were obviously PR people who had no idea about investment and were hoping that some four colour glossies would keep us happy.

Re: 25 Startup Ideas for 2012

#109

Post by allisonmobley »

itmag wrote: post #98

2. Gamify learning core subjects: specially maths and physics to start. 3. Allow the community to make lessons and have voting systems for quality. As someone who is itching to start an e-learning startup, what would be some ways to implement this? For the user-created lessons, maybe have an IDE-like enviroment with a domain-specific "programming language" that enables non-coders to easily create educational modules…

Interested in a cofounder? I have an idea for how to do this, drop me a line at transtartup.blogspot.com

Re: 25 Startup Ideas for 2012

#110

Post by gamechangr »

potatolicious wrote: post #4

"Build a holodeck", "Read/write cells for under $1000", "biological satellite that... deploys/builds itself", "build quantum gears"... This seems more like 25 Startup Ideas for 2042.

I was thinking the same thing!!! But the list is Great! (save the this one...okay maybe a couple are 2014)
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