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YC: Requests for Startups

ycombinator.com

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Re: YC: Requests for Startups

#31

Post by duxup »

rgrieselhuber wrote: post #21

I’ve mentioned this one before but I would really like to see a startup make an attempt at prison reform. It’s not completely a technology problem but I do think there are ways in which a combination of technology and smarter segmentation of types of prisoners can work more toward rehabilitation and careers post-incarceration, while also supporting families and relationships.

I wonder if this is a case where you could really facilitate a better outcome when government policy is not in your control?

You can't make prisoner's lives better / post prison lives better IF the voters and politicians don't wish to / pay you to do so...

Re: YC: Requests for Startups

#32

Post by natpalmer1776 »

atlasunshrugged wrote: post #25

The defense-tech one is interesting. I wholeheartedly agree that more people should be involved in the space and it is critically important -- I think the war in Ukraine clearly shows the need for the Western world to be prepared to fight for freedom and democracy -- but as far as venturebackable business models go I don't really understand how many defense tech co's will fit. Most defense firms, other than perhaps P…

If I'm not mistaken the 'monetization model' (for founders / investors) in defense related investment looks significantly different due to the blurring of the line between public and private sector funding.

Re: YC: Requests for Startups

#35

Post by monero-xmr »

dpflan wrote: post #28
monero-xmr wrote: post #24

Great that they are looking at Stablecoins, and by extension blockchain / crypto. The unwarranted hate on HN for this tech is a very interesting mirror on perspectives of economics and finance. The crypto economy advances year after year, as does the tech, but you would never know it perusing HN.

Do you have some ideas for this request? What’s a stablecoin development that’s needed?

With USDC and local fiat-crypto exchanges available in nearly every country, it is now possible to hire a truly global workforce and pay them with a crypto-payment vendor. If some company systematically went country by country, learned the local HR laws, partnered with the most trusted exchange, and then handled all accounting and taxes, a truly global HR and payment system could be built to make onboarding and paying everyone 10x simpler.

Even better is the employees could keep most of their money in USDC and only convert to fiat when they need to pay bills. Now they have a dollar bank account and avoid local inflation.

Re: YC: Requests for Startups

#36

Post by islewis »

gnicholas wrote: post #26

This list variously refers to AI, LLMs, and models. Any idea why it would use different terms where it does, and what each means?

I doubt there's much thought behind it, and just the fact that each "Request" is written by a different person.

Re: YC: Requests for Startups

#38

Post by LunaSea »

atlasunshrugged wrote: post #27
rgrieselhuber wrote: post #21

I’ve mentioned this one before but I would really like to see a startup make an attempt at prison reform. It’s not completely a technology problem but I do think there are ways in which a combination of technology and smarter segmentation of types of prisoners can work more toward rehabilitation and careers post-incarceration, while also supporting families and relationships.

I think this was actually an idea that Palmer Luckey was exploring before Anduril took off. I also agree that there should be something done in the space but have no clear idea on a venture scale biz that doesn't end up being exploitative. https://twitter.com/PalmerLuckey/status/1530604281732116481?...

If you follow Palmer Luckey's business plan, wouldn't you need a huge initial investment to stay afloat during the first years before getting paid?

(Not sure how long you would need to wait before getting paid?)

Re: YC: Requests for Startups

#39

Post by toomuchtodo »

rgrieselhuber wrote: post #21

I’ve mentioned this one before but I would really like to see a startup make an attempt at prison reform. It’s not completely a technology problem but I do think there are ways in which a combination of technology and smarter segmentation of types of prisoners can work more toward rehabilitation and careers post-incarceration, while also supporting families and relationships.

https://www.ameelio.org/ sort of followed this route with prison communications. Non profit startup, but needed policy as rocket fuel to nuke entrenched for profit incumbents. Prison reform feels much more weighted towards policy work, but perhaps I'm missing a path.

https://hn.algolia.com/?q=ameelio

https://old.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/hy70st/i_am_zo_orchin...

https://www.npr.org/2023/01/01/1146370950/prison-phone-call-...

> When the law goes into effect next month, Massachusetts will join Connecticut, California, Minnesota and Colorado in eliminating prisoner phone call fees.

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38454743 (citations)

Commissary Club (formerly 70 Million Jobs) tried on the post incarceration jobs topic, but did not obtain traction (casualty of the pandemic).

https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/commissary-club

(some solutions simply cannot succeed when profit is a requirement; they require systems you throw money in and outcomes come out instead of profit)

Re: YC: Requests for Startups

#40

Post by frfl »

monero-xmr wrote: post #24

Great that they are looking at Stablecoins, and by extension blockchain / crypto. The unwarranted hate on HN for this tech is a very interesting mirror on perspectives of economics and finance. The crypto economy advances year after year, as does the tech, but you would never know it perusing HN.

A lot, or at least some, of the "hate" comes from the speculative, exploitative and get-rich-quick schemes, rather than the underlying technology behind it or any advancements. If you were able to separate the two, the socioeconomic and the technological aspects, I don't think the typical HN negative attitude would be as negative.

As a concrete example, if someone posts an article about Merkle tree, it would get maybe 10-50 votes and 5 comments, and probably not much hate if any. Yet (according to wikipedia, I'm not into cryptocurrencies) it's a part of the underlying technology of "the Bitcoin and Ethereum peer-to-peer networks"

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