4 ms·

Ask HN:What valuable company is no one building?

26 points by kevinwdavid 14y ago

kevinwdavid 14y ago
What important problem is no one solving?
deleted 14y ago
[deleted]
qrlawified 14y ago
Confidentiality agreement negotiations. If you could streamline the process and get an NDA agreed in an hour, take a slice of each NDA signed (licence), you would be rich and loved.
- kennywinker 14y ago
  This is interesting. Having not had to sign many NDAs (thankfully) I'm not sure that's a large enough slice to pay for the development of a cool tool for negotiation. There are lots of people selling boiler-plate NDAs that seem to work for most people, but if you could create a platform for contract negotiations... that sounds like a winner to my non-lawyer ears.
- neilk 14y ago
  http://contractual.ly/ http://contractual.ly/ aims to streamline signing of forms, as well as negotiating contracts. NDAs among them. I don't see how you would be rich just focusing on NDAs... I lived in Silicon Valley for six years and I think I maybe signed three or four. It's not exactly the next iPod.
mindcrime 14y ago
I don't know, but if you're looking for ideas, try here: http://paulgraham.com/ideas.html http://paulgraham.com/ideas.html http://ycombinator.com/ideas.html http://ycombinator.com/ideas.html http://paulgraham.com/ambitious.html http://paulgraham.com/ambitious.html http://www.quora.com/Startup-Ideas/As-of-2012-what-are-some-Frighteningly-Ambitious-Startup-Ideas-other-than-the-ones-mentioned-by-Paul-Graham http://www.quora.com/Startup-Ideas/As-of-2012-what-are-some-... If I had to recommend one area to explore, I'd say something to do with lightweight, portable electrical power. As handheld and portable computing devices proliferate, battery life and recharging shenanigans are becoming more and more obnoxious. Especially at airports like O'Hare where electrical outlets are in short supply. A breakthrough in fuel cell technology or something of that nature would be nice. Also, anything based on allowing people to self-organize into groups for mutual purposes, in such a way as to reduce (or eliminate) the status of "government" as-we-know-it as the default mechanism for communal / collective initiatives.
- dholowiski 14y ago
  I'm working on one of PG's highly ambitious ideas right now. That's a great, inspiring list.
phomer 14y ago
http://theprogrammersparadox.blogspot.ca/2012/02/software-clearing-houses.html http://theprogrammersparadox.blogspot.ca/2012/02/software-cl...
zbruhnke 14y ago
Usually its in plain sight ... try something that affects you daily. For me its paying bills ... it sucks, so now im building something to make it suck less. When I built my last house I also found things that sucked like components for hanging tvs on the wall. I wanted a junction box that was interchangeable and could work specifically for each tv, so I made that too. There are probably hundreds of thousands of valuable things no one has executed well on yet, it does not mean no one has tried and just because someone has tried and failed it does not mean it is less valuable either.
- zackgilbert 14y ago
  Just curious, what is the actual pain point for you? Is it the actual paying of the bills, remembering to pay them, splitting them between people, or something else?
  - zbruhnke 14y ago
    for me its the amount of bills I actually have and trying to keep track of all of them. I have about 16-17 bills monthly (mainly because I own two homes) but I have to remember to login to each of those accounts and make sure all of the payments went through even if they're on autopay, I'm also anal enough that I like to check every single bill to make sure there are no charges I did not make etc. I'm making my version of this now and hopefully launching soon to some feedback. check it out. http://cloudbill.com http://cloudbill.com
- yashchandra 14y ago
  "For me its paying bills ... it sucks, so now im building something to make it suck less." I have the same pain point. I posted this on HN today http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4107367 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4107367
- nodemaker 14y ago
  Usually its in plain sight ... try something that affects you daily. "You" and me are not a very good target market.For starters we dont like to pay.
- 14y ago
farseer 14y ago
The question you should be asking is which one of the many complex problems haven't been solved. Company building is a secondary stage. Of-course you'd want to solve a problem that would make you rich.
mammalfriend 14y ago
An actual, disruptive solution to the US healthcare crisis. There's a ton of economic value to be created, but the current ecosystem is shockingly resistant to non-incremental innovation.
neilk 14y ago
One of my heuristics here is to look for misuse of technology. Look for people persisting in their use of a tool unsuited for a particular task. It means they really really want something new, and might even pay for it. An example: some of the biggest projects on Kickstarter (in terms of dollars) are about totally unanticipated uses of the site, like consumer electronics and game development. Surely this means something.
SuperChihuahua 14y ago
More ideas: http://www.ideaoverload.com/Find-ideas/#Finished http://www.ideaoverload.com/Find-ideas/#Finished
impostervt 14y ago
I haven't heard of anyone working on equity crowdfunding. It's like kickstarter for startups, only you get actual stock in the startup. The JOBS act, signed in April, allows for this. Previously, only "accredited" investors could get in on that kind of thing. Whoever makes this kind of site will have to jump through some hoops, so that will rule out 95% of the possible competition right up front. Interesting Forbes article on it: http://www.forbes.com/sites/johnwasik/2012/06/06/what-you-need-to-know-to-profit-from-crowdfunding/ http://www.forbes.com/sites/johnwasik/2012/06/06/what-you-ne...
Mankhool 14y ago
Location based tasking for professional journalists (word, photo, video, radio) that is 100% anonymous (including payment). Disrupt the need for every news gathering organization on earth to maintain ANY foreign bureaus. Users of this app ARE the bureau.
jp 14y ago
Converting YC internet points into anger management classes ?
seclorum 14y ago
A hardware manufacturer that can compete with Apple. Someone should build this company before its too late ..

26 points by kevinwdavid 14y ago

kevinwdavid 14y ago

What important problem is no one solving?

deleted 14y ago

[deleted]

qrlawified 14y ago

Confidentiality agreement negotiations. If you could streamline the process and get an NDA agreed in an hour, take a slice of each NDA signed (licence), you would be rich and loved.

kennywinker 14y ago
This is interesting. Having not had to sign many NDAs (thankfully) I'm not sure that's a large enough slice to pay for the development of a cool tool for negotiation. There are lots of people selling boiler-plate NDAs that seem to work for most people, but if you could create a platform for contract negotiations... that sounds like a winner to my non-lawyer ears.
neilk 14y ago
http://contractual.ly/ http://contractual.ly/ aims to streamline signing of forms, as well as negotiating contracts. NDAs among them. I don't see how you would be rich just focusing on NDAs... I lived in Silicon Valley for six years and I think I maybe signed three or four. It's not exactly the next iPod.

mindcrime 14y ago

I don't know, but if you're looking for ideas, try here: http://paulgraham.com/ideas.html http://paulgraham.com/ideas.html http://ycombinator.com/ideas.html http://ycombinator.com/ideas.html http://paulgraham.com/ambitious.html http://paulgraham.com/ambitious.html http://www.quora.com/Startup-Ideas/As-of-2012-what-are-some-Frighteningly-Ambitious-Startup-Ideas-other-than-the-ones-mentioned-by-Paul-Graham http://www.quora.com/Startup-Ideas/As-of-2012-what-are-some-... If I had to recommend one area to explore, I'd say something to do with lightweight, portable electrical power. As handheld and portable computing devices proliferate, battery life and recharging shenanigans are becoming more and more obnoxious. Especially at airports like O'Hare where electrical outlets are in short supply. A breakthrough in fuel cell technology or something of that nature would be nice. Also, anything based on allowing people to self-organize into groups for mutual purposes, in such a way as to reduce (or eliminate) the status of "government" as-we-know-it as the default mechanism for communal / collective initiatives.

dholowiski 14y ago
I'm working on one of PG's highly ambitious ideas right now. That's a great, inspiring list.

phomer 14y ago

http://theprogrammersparadox.blogspot.ca/2012/02/software-clearing-houses.html http://theprogrammersparadox.blogspot.ca/2012/02/software-cl...

zbruhnke 14y ago

Usually its in plain sight ... try something that affects you daily. For me its paying bills ... it sucks, so now im building something to make it suck less. When I built my last house I also found things that sucked like components for hanging tvs on the wall. I wanted a junction box that was interchangeable and could work specifically for each tv, so I made that too. There are probably hundreds of thousands of valuable things no one has executed well on yet, it does not mean no one has tried and just because someone has tried and failed it does not mean it is less valuable either.

zackgilbert 14y ago
Just curious, what is the actual pain point for you? Is it the actual paying of the bills, remembering to pay them, splitting them between people, or something else?
- zbruhnke 14y ago
  for me its the amount of bills I actually have and trying to keep track of all of them. I have about 16-17 bills monthly (mainly because I own two homes) but I have to remember to login to each of those accounts and make sure all of the payments went through even if they're on autopay, I'm also anal enough that I like to check every single bill to make sure there are no charges I did not make etc. I'm making my version of this now and hopefully launching soon to some feedback. check it out. http://cloudbill.com http://cloudbill.com
yashchandra 14y ago
"For me its paying bills ... it sucks, so now im building something to make it suck less." I have the same pain point. I posted this on HN today http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4107367 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4107367
nodemaker 14y ago
Usually its in plain sight ... try something that affects you daily. "You" and me are not a very good target market.For starters we dont like to pay.
14y ago

farseer 14y ago

The question you should be asking is which one of the many complex problems haven't been solved. Company building is a secondary stage. Of-course you'd want to solve a problem that would make you rich.

mammalfriend 14y ago

An actual, disruptive solution to the US healthcare crisis. There's a ton of economic value to be created, but the current ecosystem is shockingly resistant to non-incremental innovation.

neilk 14y ago

One of my heuristics here is to look for misuse of technology. Look for people persisting in their use of a tool unsuited for a particular task. It means they really really want something new, and might even pay for it. An example: some of the biggest projects on Kickstarter (in terms of dollars) are about totally unanticipated uses of the site, like consumer electronics and game development. Surely this means something.

SuperChihuahua 14y ago

More ideas: http://www.ideaoverload.com/Find-ideas/#Finished http://www.ideaoverload.com/Find-ideas/#Finished

impostervt 14y ago

I haven't heard of anyone working on equity crowdfunding. It's like kickstarter for startups, only you get actual stock in the startup. The JOBS act, signed in April, allows for this. Previously, only "accredited" investors could get in on that kind of thing. Whoever makes this kind of site will have to jump through some hoops, so that will rule out 95% of the possible competition right up front. Interesting Forbes article on it: http://www.forbes.com/sites/johnwasik/2012/06/06/what-you-need-to-know-to-profit-from-crowdfunding/ http://www.forbes.com/sites/johnwasik/2012/06/06/what-you-ne...

Mankhool 14y ago

Location based tasking for professional journalists (word, photo, video, radio) that is 100% anonymous (including payment). Disrupt the need for every news gathering organization on earth to maintain ANY foreign bureaus. Users of this app ARE the bureau.

jp 14y ago

Converting YC internet points into anger management classes ?

seclorum 14y ago

A hardware manufacturer that can compete with Apple. Someone should build this company before its too late ..