
Ask HN: What are the opportunities in this crisis? - Zelphyr
It has been said that opportunities abound in every crisis and some of the most valuable startups were started during an economic downturn (e.g.; Stripe)<p>What do you think some of the opportunities are around the current economic crisis caused by COVID-19?
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h2odragon
There could be a big market in custom face masks; not just printed fabrics for
disposables but more comfortable and durable fashion accessory masks that take
disposable filters.

lobbying for the Internet access to become a public utility is going to be
big. "Last mile" is hard, so big telcos have stopped trying to do it. They
dont want anyone _else_ doing it either so i don't know if it has a chance;
probably not, without something like strict censorship and tracking to make
the "police state" fans jump on the bandwagon too.

"Back to the land / Self sufficiency / tiny houses" are in for a brief spike
of interest for the remainder of the year and possibly beyond; but that has
limits. Intrinsically rural and when people discover it involves dirt, work,
and failures they get discouraged. Lots of people who have tolerated
cohabitation wont anymore, however, so all sorts of housing will probably
bounce high.

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PaulHoule
For one thing: restaurants and similar businesses have sound fundamentals once
the crisis is over. They need something to help with cash flow in the next few
months.

I've known restaurants that have sold discounted meals in advance of a big
investment (expansion, recovery from fire, ...) to move cash forward in time.

On one hand this is a marketing method (e.g. "gift card";) another way of
thinking of it is an alternative form of finance (e.g. a bond.)

Patrons of a restaurant have more reason to invest in it: not only do they get
discounted meals later, but they get to keep a business they like going, so
they can give better terms than a bank or public market.

Helping businesses like that survive by instituting such programs is certainly
something you could do if you have nothing else to do and want to work at a
breakneck pace immediately. It scales: you could do it for just a few local
businesses that you care about, but it's also a very large market.

