

Inmates Go High-Tech as Startup Mania Hits San Quentin - danso
http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2013/02/24/us/24reuters-prison-usa-startup.html?hp&_r=0

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habosa
Wow, this is extremely cool. I thought the article was a little fluffy but the
end really made me think:

"What's frustrating is that all these companies in the Valley, they're ideas
for the 1 or 10 percent," Collison said. "You have startups like Uber or
Taskrabbit, that's like, ‘Oh, here's something to help you find a driver or
find someone to clean your house.' Are they solving real problems?"

The San Quentin inmates "were talking about urban obesity, or PTSD", Collison
said. "It's a completely different perspective. We actually really need that."

That couldn't be more true. There might be an excess of startups, but there
are too few solving really important problems. It might take the viewpoint of
someone who has been through very hard times to understand what we should
really be working on. It's not another GMail replacement app (although that's
cool too), it's actually changing the physical world we live in.

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confluence
That couldn't be more stupid. There's a very simple reason why startups target
rich consumers - it's because they have money, and without it, resource
constrained startups die.

Important problems are for NGOs, national governements, hundred billion dollar
universities and international organizations to solve. The very reason
problems so important still exist is for the fundamental reason that they
require huge amounts of resources over many years at little to no return on
investment to the business.

Going after "important problems" as a startup is a very fast way of becoming
bankrupt.

~~~
habosa
Rich consumers can have serious problems too. There is definitely a middle
ground between Uber and fighting disease.

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coopdog
They're only in there for drug possession? These people are clearly productive
members of society, let them out...

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acoyfellow
This was my first thought. The amount of money we waste on these types of
criminals (the non-violent drug offenders) is simply horrible to stomach.

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cgag
Well that and the lives destroyed.

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supahfly_remix
This article is a contrarian indicator. Startups have jumped the shark.

While many people reading HN find the "fake it 'til you make it" narrative
appealing, anything worth doing in this life take some smarts and years of
slavish devotion (choose your own definition of what's worth doing). Taking
shortcuts, as these people have done and were punished for, is not how it's
done. I'm all for second chances, but teach them useful skills that will get
them a job when they hit the street again.

~~~
biot
Since Y Combinator is too competitive to get into, can someone recommend a
suitable crime that I can commit in order to be sent to San Quentin?
Preferably a felony whose prison sentence matches the length of the program.
Given that the incubator program in San Quentin accepts 1 in 5 applicants from
the general prison population, as a developer I think I'm a shoe-in for being
accepted.

Thanks in advance for your suggestions and I look forward to submitting a
"Show HN" article once my SQ W2013 startup launches. Goodbye, ramen noodles
and sleeping on my buddy's floor... hello, three hots and a cot!

~~~
fuddle
ha ha!

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sumit_psp
Everyone in life deserves a second chance. Creating products to help the
society progress and move forward is one of the more practical ways to atone
for one's sins.

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jmspring
Interesting that this article comes up along the same time as the Penny Arcade
/ Surface article does.

Both are examples of "out side the echo chamber" tech stories. Personally,
while the article was a little light, I like the idea of encouraging a segment
outside the normal tech bubble to embrace entrepreneurial ideas. As much as it
pains me to say it, any Tom, Dick, Harry, or Mary can learn the basics of
developing sites (or basic mobile apps). We saw this in Bubble 1 and we are
seeing a plethora of platforms and classes today to help in this regard.

What is hard? Interesting ideas and delivering on them -- the drive, the
development, and sticking with it. The themes that come up in the article are
an interesting different take on what people find relevant

One area I've been hoping to see more from are ideas from aging baby boomers
and the problems or challenges they see. We are talking ideas from people in
their late 50s and 60s. One area ripe for the picking -- due in part to many
suffering because of the housing mess -- how to leverage some of their
existing expertise and have an ondemand / skilled work force. Unfortunately, a
lot of them (and this is relevant to the prison population as well), face a
tough time in finding a regular 9-5 job for a variety of reasons.

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nowarninglabel
Tulio, a graduate of Last Mile, is a really great guy that was funded via Kiva
Zip: <https://zip.kiva.org/loans/376> Not only is he working towards other
inmates, but he's learning programming.

Hopefully, we'll get some more borrowers from Last Mile.

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gregpilling
>"Live stream has gone mainstream. Mobile video usage went up and is expected
to increase by 28 percent over the next five years," said Eddie Griffin, who
was pitching a music streaming concept called "At the Club" and happens to be
finishing a third stint for drug possession at San Quentin State Prison, near
San Francisco, after spending the last 15 years behind bars."

Sounds a lot like <http://clubchannel.tv/>

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drigotti
I think this is really great, not only for bringing opportunities to those who
are less fortunate, but also their perspective on what's important and what
needs to be fixed. Refreshing to see them tackling real, hard problems.

