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>Yeah, sure, you can talk about individuals having exit strategies, rather than just companies, and you could conceivably be an entrepreneur trying to build a c

by bloaf 13y ago

>Yeah, sure, you can talk about individuals having exit strategies, rather than just companies, and you could conceivably be an entrepreneur trying to build a company to the point where you can sell all your interest in the company, but … why? Maybe there is a product or service you want to have that is not currently available. For example: say you really want an app to automatically scan+OCR your grocery receipts and keep track of the prices you pay for various items. You may not think the problem is very interesting, but you suspect that a market exists. So you make a company that will develop the app, but plan to sell your interests in the company once you are satisfied that the app meets your needs.

fian 13y ago
The receipt scan idea is an app I have wanted for ages, though I don't think OCR is good enough to handle all the cryptic abbreviated product names on a standard super market receipt. It would be cleaner if the printed receipt included a QR code linking to an itemised list for download, but that approach may have some privacy issues. Better would be to transfer a text file from the point of sale system to your phone via NFC.
- bloaf 13y ago
  If you got a list of the most common supermarket codes/abbreviations and used them as a dictionary to train your OCR program I think you could do OK. I think there is a reason grocery stores generally don't let you see your purchase history even though they record it with those shoppers' cards: that sort of information would make it too easy for customers to comparison shop. So I would operate under the assumption that grocery stores wouldn't be falling over themselves to support this sort of app, unless it got really popular. I've always worried more about the scanning part. Ideally I'd like the app to work with a cell phone camera only, but I have no idea how feasible getting a sufficiently clear picture of an arbitrary length receipt is.

by bloaf 13y ago

fian 13y ago

The receipt scan idea is an app I have wanted for ages, though I don't think OCR is good enough to handle all the cryptic abbreviated product names on a standard super market receipt. It would be cleaner if the printed receipt included a QR code linking to an itemised list for download, but that approach may have some privacy issues. Better would be to transfer a text file from the point of sale system to your phone via NFC.

bloaf 13y ago
If you got a list of the most common supermarket codes/abbreviations and used them as a dictionary to train your OCR program I think you could do OK. I think there is a reason grocery stores generally don't let you see your purchase history even though they record it with those shoppers' cards: that sort of information would make it too easy for customers to comparison shop. So I would operate under the assumption that grocery stores wouldn't be falling over themselves to support this sort of app, unless it got really popular. I've always worried more about the scanning part. Ideally I'd like the app to work with a cell phone camera only, but I have no idea how feasible getting a sufficiently clear picture of an arbitrary length receipt is.