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I recently had an idea for a startup, related to the mis-use of the old. I have been working with startups that are using a hybrid approach to data gathering,

I recently had an idea for a startup, related to the mis-use of the old. I have been working with startups that are using a hybrid approach to data gathering, using both Natural Language Processing (NLP) and also humans. The NLP works best as a lead-generator for the humans, the NLP can pick out sentences that we are 95% sure have the information we need. Then we have humans read over the data to look for bits that should actually go in the database. One evening I watched a fellow on the data team as he read through a dozen newspapers, looking for any clues that we might have missed. He is part of an 8 person team, and they are all in their 20s. That weekend I went to visit my mom, who has been retired for more than 15 years. As is normal for her, she was reading over The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and a few business magazines. She majored in history, at Hunter College, back in the 1950s, then she did her masters degree in economics. The week before last, Hunter College had its reunion for alumni. More than 2,000 women showed up. I met my mom outside as the event was ending. I saw the thousands of smart, retired women, and it occurred to me: why don't we use these women to read through all the data fetched by the NLP scripts? Why do we rely on people in their 20s? These women are smart, well trained, highly educated, many of them are looking for part-time work with flexible hours, something they could do from home. Most of them have the life long habit of looking through newspapers for interesting data. Most are willing to work very cheap. Most are eager to be in the workforce, most are sad about being out of the workforce. There is, in fact, a whole category of startups that are opening in this area, using the hybrid approach of both NLP and also humans. And it would be an ideal place to use retired people. Only stupid bias keeps startups from pursuing this.

greenyoda 10y ago
"These women are smart, well trained, highly educated, many of them are looking for part-time work with flexible hours, something they could do from home. Most of them have the life long habit of looking through newspapers for interesting data. Most are willing to work very cheap. Most are eager to be in the workforce, most are sad about being out of the workforce." If they actually need the money to survive, why would they work very cheap if they're well trained and highly educated? There's freelance work out there that pays better than "very cheap", e.g., editing or translation. Retired professionals such as lawyers or CPAs can also probably find freelance work in their fields. If they don't need the money (they have enough savings for retirement) and are just looking for something to do, they'd have the option of doing volunteer work for charitable organizations that are probably more fulfilling to work for than some random startup.
- lkrubner 10y ago
  They don't need money to survive, but they don't want to do volunteer work. They want to be in the workforce. Being given money carries meaning for them that goes well beyond the value of the dollar. Just talk to them and this is a theme they repeat over and over again.
dominotw 10y ago
This is a great idea. Human being goes crazy if they are not working, we now have 2-3 solid decades after retirement left due to all the advances in healthcare.

greenyoda 10y ago

"These women are smart, well trained, highly educated, many of them are looking for part-time work with flexible hours, something they could do from home. Most of them have the life long habit of looking through newspapers for interesting data. Most are willing to work very cheap. Most are eager to be in the workforce, most are sad about being out of the workforce." If they actually need the money to survive, why would they work very cheap if they're well trained and highly educated? There's freelance work out there that pays better than "very cheap", e.g., editing or translation. Retired professionals such as lawyers or CPAs can also probably find freelance work in their fields. If they don't need the money (they have enough savings for retirement) and are just looking for something to do, they'd have the option of doing volunteer work for charitable organizations that are probably more fulfilling to work for than some random startup.

lkrubner 10y ago
They don't need money to survive, but they don't want to do volunteer work. They want to be in the workforce. Being given money carries meaning for them that goes well beyond the value of the dollar. Just talk to them and this is a theme they repeat over and over again.

dominotw 10y ago

This is a great idea. Human being goes crazy if they are not working, we now have 2-3 solid decades after retirement left due to all the advances in healthcare.