This is a very good summary. I especially like the points on enterprise software 2.0 and CRM, and the fact that they are mentioned separately as CRM, in itself, represents a huge untapped opportunity. Right now there is nothing other than Salesforce.com and a whole range of email marketers. These are good technical applications but there are a lot of varied CRM business processes that need to be addresses with a "solution" that is not just a one-size-fits-all application.
Startup Ideas We'd Like to Fund
251–260 of 401 posts
Re: Startup Ideas We'd Like to Fund
#252I tried to read through the comments on this page but just gave up after loosing track of the context and reply and reply-to-reply. Can someone as HN make these comments appear as collapsed thread like in Gmail AND with a title so if I am posting a comment I can add a title to it that defines the context of my comment. There's probably a lot of value hidden in the replies here but I am pretty sure there are others like me who find it tough to read through.
Re: Startup Ideas We'd Like to Fund
#253At the root of many issues I think is interface design. I'm not just talking about software, I'm talking about hardware. Computers really haven't changed how we interact with them for a good, what, 30 years? Is the mouse and keyboard really the best ways to interact with a computing system? Why don't we have integrated HUDs in our glasses, all of our new cars (granted some like BMW have them optionally on expensive m…
Yes. Here's one user interface that should exist but doesnt: marionettes.
An old-fashioned marionette lets the puppeteer control all four limbs, swivel the puppet, and move it in three dimensions - using only one hand.
Connect that to a console and you have a killer game interface.
Alternatively, pitch it at high-end CAD people, and all those little tech shops doing work for Hollywood.
I have no hardware background, so no idea how tricky this is technically. But, conceptually, it seem like a no-brainer.
Re: Startup Ideas We'd Like to Fund
#254I've got a friend working on #28 with his product called awayfind.com
Re: Startup Ideas We'd Like to Fund
#255pg, we are a startup company with patents which address personalized search and semantic advertising. We are also a music startup www.yooglimusic.com with many tools to support independent artists (emotion sensing tool, commerce engine, and promotion). All no cost to the artist. Perhaps you can give us some advice on a raise - $20K doesn't cover two weeks burn rate.
I see three red flags just in this brief message: high burn, lack of focus, and overemphasis on patents. The high burn is the most urgent problem. That will severely constrain your options.
We have 11 people working with us (5 of which are compensated),and expenses related to music data contribute to the burn rate. The search company and the music company are separate corporations and operate accordingly. Our CEO is Rich Marino (former President of CNet Networks) and he feels the patents provide value to IP as an asset. Still interested in options.
Re: Startup Ideas We'd Like to Fund
#256This is a very good summary. I especially like the points on enterprise software 2.0 and CRM, and the fact that they are mentioned separately as CRM, in itself, represents a huge untapped opportunity. Right now there is nothing other than Salesforce.com and a whole range of email marketers. These are good technical applications but there are a lot of varied CRM business processes that need to be addresses with a "sol…
There is pipelinedeals.com and leads360.com as well.
Re: Startup Ideas We'd Like to Fund
#257Earlier quoted context omitted.
I don't know. I was just saying that if you want to beat Google, that's their weak spot. Or at least a big one. Most people who read that one will think "huh?" But if someone reads it and thinks "Damn, how did he hear about what we're working on?" that's someone we'd really love to hear from.
The way to approach the Google problem is to ask, when have I been dissatisfied with google search? And you're right, there are very few weaknesses. One of the startup approaches to the Google problem is to join forces with them instead of competing with them. Provide a page that wraps google search, but adds additional searchable items into the searchbar (search emails, todo lists, events, facebook, google all throu…
I've been trying to do that. Kind of a Quicksilver on the Web. I'd be very happy if anyone from this site would check it out:
Re: Startup Ideas We'd Like to Fund
#258Earlier quoted context omitted.
That's true, but I hear what mechanical_fish is saying, too. I suffer from much the same problem: many elements on the list are things which I have thought about to an extent that I've worked out every single step needed to make them work. The problem is, I haven't the time to pursue everything I would like to. Let's take the "simplified browsing" problem, for example. I worked phone technical support for an internet…
I wonder for how long the demand for simple browsers will exist. Today we still have old people and such who are afraid of computers. But they might go away and all the young ones that come after them might not have their problems. Also, I wonder about the browsers that come with game consoles like the Wii, are they any good? They might be easier to use than full-fledged computers?
“Simple browsers” (#2), i think, has already been solved. Take http://Shiira.jp/en.php or Safari on the iPhone. The larger problem is how to make mass audiences aware without mass advertising, or to make it affordable to those without income. Seeing this problem under the lens of getting computer and media illiterates to open their minds, or employing the permanently unemployed, better reframes the challenge.
Re: Startup Ideas We'd Like to Fund
#259This article was great until it said Craigslist could be improved.
Re: Startup Ideas We'd Like to Fund
#260This article was great until it said Craigslist could be improved.
Surely Craigslist's own developers think that. Do you think they think they're done forever developing new features, and that all they have to do from now on is replace broken disk drives?