6 ms·

Looking for startup idea feedback

6 points by jkush 20y ago

jkush 20y ago
I trust most people here (usernames I am familiar with anyway) but I'd rather not post my idea for everyone in the world to see. If you're interested in giving me your gut reaction to an idea I have, please send an email to john at todotoh dot com, or alternatively drop your email address in reply. You'll have my sincere thanks!
- Sam_Odio 20y ago
  You shouldn't worry about sharing your ideas. They are, after all, not really worth anything to us: Actually, startup ideas are not million dollar ideas, and here's an experiment you can try to prove it: just try to sell one. Nothing evolves faster than markets. The fact that there's no market for startup ideas suggests there's no demand. Which means, in the narrow sense of the word, that startup ideas are worthless. http://www.paulgraham.com/ideas.html http://www.paulgraham.com/ideas.html
sergiutruta 20y ago
why don't you post the idea here? I think the man behind the idea is the best to implement the idea, so posting it here doesn't look like a real threat, at least in my opinion...unless the idea is really brilliant :)
- jkush 20y ago
  Ok. Here's a list of what my startup would help you accomplish: Create an online memorial Make it public; for the world to see Make it private; just for friends and family Collaborate with friends and family; create the memorial together Collect and organize your memories, stories, videos and pictures Save it forever. Some notes: This might sound a little morbid but people do this stuff when a relative or friend passes away. Why not make it easier? My wife calls it MyDeadSpace. Funny gal.
- jkush 20y ago
  Ok. Here's a list of features my startup would provide. It would make it easy for you to: -- Create an online memorial -- Make it public; for the world to see -- Make it private; just for friends and family -- Collaborate with friends and family; create the memorial together -- Collect and organize your memories, stories, videos and pictures -- Save it forever. Some notes: This might sound a little morbid but people do this stuff when a relative or friend passes away. Why not make it easier? My wife calls it MyDeadSpace. Funny gal. I don't plan on using that name. [EDIT] Sincere thanks for everyone's feedback. If anyone does have any other thoughts - feel free to email me (john at todotoh dot com) or continue commenting.
  - jkush 20y ago
    Judging by the lack of comments, does this idea fall in the realm of mediocrity?
    - BrandonM 20y ago
      I don't think the issue is one of mediocrity. I can certainly see the merit of your idea, but it all depends on execution. Would I use it? I don't think so. I know plenty of people who would, though, and if they created such a memorial for a friend of mine, I would be compelled to visit and add to it. So in a sense, it is viral, and as someone else mentioned, there is certainly a market for it. So go for it. It doesn't seem like a super-complex idea involving crazy algorithms or anything. You are going to have to really consider design issues about how such a site should be navigated, if perhaps it should be linked with MySpace or Facebook or something so that friends can refer people to memorials on the site or something. Or come up with a different plan altogether. The point is that it doesn't matter how good the idea is if you don't have a good design in mind and the motivation to make it happen. I think it would be great, but can you do it? (That's meant to be a motivational challenge in order to help get you started on it.)
      - SwellJoe 20y ago
        The design also needs to take into account that the vast majority of customers for a memorial site will be older folks (I've seen enough memorial services being planned to know that it's the grandmothers and great aunts that do the work...everybody else is too wrapped up in their own grief to get anything done...maybe this is just in the matriarchal south, but I suspect it applies across the country). That's a really hard market to design for. But, craigslist has shown that if you take a newspaper product and dump it onto the web with a perfect implementation (say what you will about craigslist and how ugly it is...but it's a beautifully functional ugly that's a joy to use), you'll get lots of users. Every day there are thousands of obituaries published. The paper gives you three or six or whatever lines for free, and you can pay for bigger ad-style layouts. Just like classifieds being really cheap for a few lines, but getting more expensive the more copy you write, you can remove the expense of extra copy and adding pictures. So, taking something that's currently inconvenient (call the newspaper, spell the name three times, struggle with the family about who gets listed under "survived by", since you're running out of words, etc.) and making it convenient and free sounds like it'd be a winner. It's the "free" part that makes it hard to make money on. Who wants ads for home mortgages and crap all over their grandfather's obituary? But I dunno if people will pay for it.
dawie 20y ago
One major component of your execution strategy is going to be convincing the blogosphere that your company is the next big thing and will change their lives. You can't do this when you're in stealth http://edward.oconnor.cx/tags/paul-graham http://edward.oconnor.cx/tags/paul-graham
rokhayakebe 20y ago
I dont know if this exist or not, but it is a great idea. We all need to remember the ones that are gone. Personaly I have experienced it in my family and it would be nice to have a space where I can upload pictures and videos and have others come in and share their stories about that one person. This is a good way to "rendre Hommage". Go for it. You could put this up in less than a week.
tirador 20y ago
will there be a time when all this web 2.0 will not mean much for folks? or is it here to stay?
omouse 20y ago
I don't want to start a new thread, so I'll post my idea here as well: a web-based personal organization system. Basically a calendar and to-do list, with the calendar possibly integrating with Google Calendar. This may seem like 37signal's Backpackit but it isn't because it won't be just a dumping ground for various notes it'll be much more organized/automated. It'll follow the Getting Things Done system sorta...so if you add a new item to your Projects list, it will create a new list of next actions for that project. Also, any list items that include dates or times will be included on the calendar. I don't know what else I can include to differentiate this from Backpackit, anyone have any suggestions? And is it a good idea to work on even?
- bls 20y ago
  Did you see Nozbe.com? That is the most GTD-centric TODO list I have seen. I also found it to have some good user interface ideas, like drag-and-drop reordering of lists. But, there is also RememberTheMilk.com, toodledo.com, and many others. Toodledo.com has a nice comparison table of the biggest names in this space. IMO, the biggest problem with most of the entrants in this area (Backpack being the exception) was UI clutter.
  - Tichy 20y ago
    What is GTD (Getting Things Done), does it stand for a specific work technique? Which one? Does it work?
    - bls 20y ago
      I just started using GTD-like techniques. The basics of it are this: (1) write everything down as you think of it, so you don't forget anything. (2) very often, go through the list of random items; do the small (two minute) tasks immediately, and organize the rest of them into into (groups of) "next actions." (3) spend all the rest of your time eliminating items from the "next actions" list. I think it is effective. There were many times when I let a lot of email pile up in my inbox. Now, I very deliberately go through my email and respond to everything ASAP; everything that I can't do immediately gets filed away in a TODO list so I don't forget it. My inbox is thus ALWAYS empty. I don't know why but that makes me happy. It also makes other people happy because they are getting their responses faster. And, I get more done because having a list of "the next thing I need to do" makes me want to do things to get them off the list. The other thing I found to be helpful is to schedule all my distractions. Now, I have a reminder that tells me "hey, check your email" and even "hey, check your feed reader." This seems silly, but it is really helpful; I know that I will get the "check your feed reader" reminder soon, so I just keep working until it comes. Sometimes, I get annoyed and refuse (!) to check my email because I'm busy; in fact, I had started with scheduling them hourly but I am slowly reducing it down to three times per day. As a result, I check my email and weblogs WAY less frequently than I did before (even with an hourly reminder), because before I would check my email basically in between each item on my TODO list or even in the middle of something.
yaacovtp 20y ago
Just saw http://www.nichum.com/ http://www.nichum.com/ launched on a jewish yahoo group. I can see niche sites like this popping up to bring together people from all over the world who can't make it to a funeral. As baby boomers get older I'm sure these sites will gain some traction. On a happier note, take a look at http://onlysimchas.com/ http://onlysimchas.com/ It's geared towards Jewish family celebrations - births, bar/bat mitzvas, engagements, weddings, and bdays. I know plenty of people who check it on a daily basis to track their friends and community.

6 points by jkush 20y ago

jkush 20y ago

I trust most people here (usernames I am familiar with anyway) but I'd rather not post my idea for everyone in the world to see. If you're interested in giving me your gut reaction to an idea I have, please send an email to john at todotoh dot com, or alternatively drop your email address in reply. You'll have my sincere thanks!

Sam_Odio 20y ago
You shouldn't worry about sharing your ideas. They are, after all, not really worth anything to us: Actually, startup ideas are not million dollar ideas, and here's an experiment you can try to prove it: just try to sell one. Nothing evolves faster than markets. The fact that there's no market for startup ideas suggests there's no demand. Which means, in the narrow sense of the word, that startup ideas are worthless. http://www.paulgraham.com/ideas.html http://www.paulgraham.com/ideas.html

sergiutruta 20y ago

why don't you post the idea here? I think the man behind the idea is the best to implement the idea, so posting it here doesn't look like a real threat, at least in my opinion...unless the idea is really brilliant :)

jkush 20y ago
Ok. Here's a list of what my startup would help you accomplish: Create an online memorial Make it public; for the world to see Make it private; just for friends and family Collaborate with friends and family; create the memorial together Collect and organize your memories, stories, videos and pictures Save it forever. Some notes: This might sound a little morbid but people do this stuff when a relative or friend passes away. Why not make it easier? My wife calls it MyDeadSpace. Funny gal.
jkush 20y ago
Ok. Here's a list of features my startup would provide. It would make it easy for you to: -- Create an online memorial -- Make it public; for the world to see -- Make it private; just for friends and family -- Collaborate with friends and family; create the memorial together -- Collect and organize your memories, stories, videos and pictures -- Save it forever. Some notes: This might sound a little morbid but people do this stuff when a relative or friend passes away. Why not make it easier? My wife calls it MyDeadSpace. Funny gal. I don't plan on using that name. [EDIT] Sincere thanks for everyone's feedback. If anyone does have any other thoughts - feel free to email me (john at todotoh dot com) or continue commenting.
- jkush 20y ago
  Judging by the lack of comments, does this idea fall in the realm of mediocrity?
  - BrandonM 20y ago
    I don't think the issue is one of mediocrity. I can certainly see the merit of your idea, but it all depends on execution. Would I use it? I don't think so. I know plenty of people who would, though, and if they created such a memorial for a friend of mine, I would be compelled to visit and add to it. So in a sense, it is viral, and as someone else mentioned, there is certainly a market for it. So go for it. It doesn't seem like a super-complex idea involving crazy algorithms or anything. You are going to have to really consider design issues about how such a site should be navigated, if perhaps it should be linked with MySpace or Facebook or something so that friends can refer people to memorials on the site or something. Or come up with a different plan altogether. The point is that it doesn't matter how good the idea is if you don't have a good design in mind and the motivation to make it happen. I think it would be great, but can you do it? (That's meant to be a motivational challenge in order to help get you started on it.)
    - SwellJoe 20y ago
      The design also needs to take into account that the vast majority of customers for a memorial site will be older folks (I've seen enough memorial services being planned to know that it's the grandmothers and great aunts that do the work...everybody else is too wrapped up in their own grief to get anything done...maybe this is just in the matriarchal south, but I suspect it applies across the country). That's a really hard market to design for. But, craigslist has shown that if you take a newspaper product and dump it onto the web with a perfect implementation (say what you will about craigslist and how ugly it is...but it's a beautifully functional ugly that's a joy to use), you'll get lots of users. Every day there are thousands of obituaries published. The paper gives you three or six or whatever lines for free, and you can pay for bigger ad-style layouts. Just like classifieds being really cheap for a few lines, but getting more expensive the more copy you write, you can remove the expense of extra copy and adding pictures. So, taking something that's currently inconvenient (call the newspaper, spell the name three times, struggle with the family about who gets listed under "survived by", since you're running out of words, etc.) and making it convenient and free sounds like it'd be a winner. It's the "free" part that makes it hard to make money on. Who wants ads for home mortgages and crap all over their grandfather's obituary? But I dunno if people will pay for it.

dawie 20y ago

One major component of your execution strategy is going to be convincing the blogosphere that your company is the next big thing and will change their lives. You can't do this when you're in stealth http://edward.oconnor.cx/tags/paul-graham http://edward.oconnor.cx/tags/paul-graham

rokhayakebe 20y ago

I dont know if this exist or not, but it is a great idea. We all need to remember the ones that are gone. Personaly I have experienced it in my family and it would be nice to have a space where I can upload pictures and videos and have others come in and share their stories about that one person. This is a good way to "rendre Hommage". Go for it. You could put this up in less than a week.

tirador 20y ago

will there be a time when all this web 2.0 will not mean much for folks? or is it here to stay?

omouse 20y ago

I don't want to start a new thread, so I'll post my idea here as well: a web-based personal organization system. Basically a calendar and to-do list, with the calendar possibly integrating with Google Calendar. This may seem like 37signal's Backpackit but it isn't because it won't be just a dumping ground for various notes it'll be much more organized/automated. It'll follow the Getting Things Done system sorta...so if you add a new item to your Projects list, it will create a new list of next actions for that project. Also, any list items that include dates or times will be included on the calendar. I don't know what else I can include to differentiate this from Backpackit, anyone have any suggestions? And is it a good idea to work on even?

bls 20y ago
Did you see Nozbe.com? That is the most GTD-centric TODO list I have seen. I also found it to have some good user interface ideas, like drag-and-drop reordering of lists. But, there is also RememberTheMilk.com, toodledo.com, and many others. Toodledo.com has a nice comparison table of the biggest names in this space. IMO, the biggest problem with most of the entrants in this area (Backpack being the exception) was UI clutter.
- Tichy 20y ago
  What is GTD (Getting Things Done), does it stand for a specific work technique? Which one? Does it work?
  - bls 20y ago
    I just started using GTD-like techniques. The basics of it are this: (1) write everything down as you think of it, so you don't forget anything. (2) very often, go through the list of random items; do the small (two minute) tasks immediately, and organize the rest of them into into (groups of) "next actions." (3) spend all the rest of your time eliminating items from the "next actions" list. I think it is effective. There were many times when I let a lot of email pile up in my inbox. Now, I very deliberately go through my email and respond to everything ASAP; everything that I can't do immediately gets filed away in a TODO list so I don't forget it. My inbox is thus ALWAYS empty. I don't know why but that makes me happy. It also makes other people happy because they are getting their responses faster. And, I get more done because having a list of "the next thing I need to do" makes me want to do things to get them off the list. The other thing I found to be helpful is to schedule all my distractions. Now, I have a reminder that tells me "hey, check your email" and even "hey, check your feed reader." This seems silly, but it is really helpful; I know that I will get the "check your feed reader" reminder soon, so I just keep working until it comes. Sometimes, I get annoyed and refuse (!) to check my email because I'm busy; in fact, I had started with scheduling them hourly but I am slowly reducing it down to three times per day. As a result, I check my email and weblogs WAY less frequently than I did before (even with an hourly reminder), because before I would check my email basically in between each item on my TODO list or even in the middle of something.

yaacovtp 20y ago

Just saw http://www.nichum.com/ http://www.nichum.com/ launched on a jewish yahoo group. I can see niche sites like this popping up to bring together people from all over the world who can't make it to a funeral. As baby boomers get older I'm sure these sites will gain some traction. On a happier note, take a look at http://onlysimchas.com/ http://onlysimchas.com/ It's geared towards Jewish family celebrations - births, bar/bat mitzvas, engagements, weddings, and bdays. I know plenty of people who check it on a daily basis to track their friends and community.