How to Get Startup Ideas • Hacker News Board

Re: How to Get Startup Ideas

#221

Post by j45 » Wed, Nov 21, 2012, 7:27 AM UTC

One thing I believe is that if something is revolutionary, it's going to be revolutionary without you having to say it.

This essay made me feel a little unsettled. It described things I find myself doing (solve small problems and let them grow) for the sake of solving problems, which hasn't been popular with all the people working on being revolutionaries in my life.

After I read Startup = Growth, I felt I read the YCombinator Manifesto, and so much clarity packed into an essay where most others replace one set of confusing concepts with their own.

Together, I think this essay speaks to something bigger that I've believed in. You are the only, and most important start you'll ever work on. learning to learn, recognize, focus on and solve the right kinds of problems is what will make all of the difference.

After reading this essay, I get why YC focuses so much on a person's tenacity.

I could apply with any of my ideas that mostly live in the future, are useful, functional, valuable, and most of all, simple and obvious. I didn't know if I could belong in an accelerator, but, just for the personal mentoring alone for becoming a better creator of what's missing in the future, I'd do it to just be around the conversations.

Re: How to Get Startup Ideas

#222

Post by OafTobark » Wed, Nov 21, 2012, 7:41 AM UTC

Post states Jeff Bezos couldn't hack, he graduated in EECS according to wikipedia and a few other sources noted he was a CS major.

Re: How to Get Startup Ideas

#223

Post by flyinRyan » Wed, Nov 21, 2012, 8:35 AM UTC

OafTobark wrote: post #222

Post states Jeff Bezos couldn't hack, he graduated in EECS according to wikipedia and a few other sources noted he was a CS major.

That doesn't mean he can code.

Re: How to Get Startup Ideas

#224

Post by icebraining » Wed, Nov 21, 2012, 9:19 AM UTC

flipside wrote: post #105

emmett wrote: post #99

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Can you explain, in one sentence, what it is that you're building that's different from existing movie ratings sites? Try this template: "it's like Rotten Tomatoes, except ..." It's like Rotten Tomatoes, except you rate on 3 axes instead of just 1. It's like Rotten Tomatoes, except you rate the movie by answering questions about what parts you liked. It's like Rotten Tomatoes, except your ratings are automatically po…

It's certain that the problem is me, and my poor communication skills, I never blame the audience. Describing what we're doing and illustrating the pain points aren't the same thing. How about this: Tinj is a rating system that lets people externalize opinions about movies in context so they can receive comprehensive recommendations. See? Told you I still suck at this. Here's a problem we're solving: Given that opini…

I use Criticker. It matches me with people with similar tastes and estimates how much I would grade a movie based on their grades.

Re: How to Get Startup Ideas

#225

Post by josephlord » Wed, Nov 21, 2012, 12:02 PM UTC

avk wrote: post #212

> "This is an instance of a more general rule: focus on users, not competitors. The most important information about competitors is what you learn via users anyway." I found this to be the strongest way of saying don't obsess about your competition. Focusing on users will probably help address other issues as well (i.e. working on the wrong problem, building the wrong thing, not making as much of an impact as you cou…

And I would agree with both of you but you do need to be better at something for someone than your competitors. You don't need to be better at everything or everyone but there needs to be a reason to use you rather than your competitor for at least a subset of people..

Re: How to Get Startup Ideas

#226

Post by OafTobark » Wed, Nov 21, 2012, 1:06 PM UTC

flyinRyan wrote: post #223

OafTobark wrote: post #222

Post states Jeff Bezos couldn't hack, he graduated in EECS according to wikipedia and a few other sources noted he was a CS major.

That doesn't mean he can code.

Nor does it mean he can't

Re: How to Get Startup Ideas

#227

Post by nicholas73 » Wed, Nov 21, 2012, 3:08 PM UTC

vadimoss wrote: post #92

An online Art Gallery in 1995 is not a bad but rather a premature idea for that epoche. It's a norm for the Art to be a decade or so behind the technology world. No wonder Google launched this idea with Google Art Project in 2011, which is more appropriate as far as timing concerned. How about the lost art gallery? http://galleryoflostart.com @PG - you are just ahead of the crowd. Timing and luck are two ingredients…

Try reading "The 15 Million Dollar Stuffed Shark"... basically the art market is smoke and mirrors. The dealers actually don't want a website, as that would reduce their mystique and commoditize their wares. A small local dealer might be convinced to sell online, but as one shop owner said to me on this: "don't bother".

Re: How to Get Startup Ideas

#228

Post by nlh » Wed, Nov 21, 2012, 3:58 PM UTC

kirubakaran wrote: post #217

nlh wrote: post #162

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thanks! The answer I generally give to "who are your clients?" is "yes" -- it's so across the board that even I was surprised. The median client really varies on location -- in NY it's typically a guy heading out to the Hamptons or Jersey Shore for the weekend of fun, but it's also women looking for a fun gift, celebrities looking for better service (though, somewhat surprisingly, celebrities more frequently rent wha…

I'm trying to make a reservation but Ferrari F430 Spider seems to be "sold out" even if I pick a date months from now. Can you please help?

Shoot me an email (see my profile) and I'll do my best to assist!

Re: How to Get Startup Ideas

#229

Post by nlh » Wed, Nov 21, 2012, 3:59 PM UTC

joonix wrote: post #79

nlh wrote: post #12

This is a spectacular essay. PG is dead-on correct here. In fact, one of the strongest reactions I had while reading it just now was "Shhh Paul, you're giving away the secret!" :) And this doesn't just apply to tech startups... The business I currently run (an exotic car rental company) started out precisely as described -- it was an idea I had to solve a problem I was facing (I wanted to rent a super-fancy car to dr…

I'm really surprised to hear NYC of all places didn't have one of these 9 years ago. I feel like there's always been a bunch of them here in Texas. I'd love to hear more about your early days. I'm guessing you had to convince a bank to loan you money to buy a Ferrari, but you were a new business with no established credit history. How did that go? I'm also very interested in learning about determining pricing for a s…

Shoot me an email (see profile) and I'd be more than happy to give you some background/chat/pricing thoughts.

Re: How to Get Startup Ideas

#230

Post by nlh » Wed, Nov 21, 2012, 4:00 PM UTC

joshmlewis wrote: post #210

nlh wrote: post #12

This is a spectacular essay. PG is dead-on correct here. In fact, one of the strongest reactions I had while reading it just now was "Shhh Paul, you're giving away the secret!" :) And this doesn't just apply to tech startups... The business I currently run (an exotic car rental company) started out precisely as described -- it was an idea I had to solve a problem I was facing (I wanted to rent a super-fancy car to dr…

I'm a huge fan of your service, I've read a lot about you, GTC, and have been interested in the whole aspect of it for awhile. This is a shot in the dark, but could I email you a couple questions? I promise not to take too much of your time.

Absolutely. Never a waste to time chatting with HNers - give me a shout whenever.