
Startup Ideas - July 2011 - tansey
http://wesleytansey.com/startup-ideas-july-2011/
======
avdempsey
"Does this fit me" has been a dream of mine for awhile. Imagine a world where
everybody's clothes fit. Where clothing can be spontaneously gifted, and
you'll be sure it fits like a glove.

I think he sells himself short here. Women aren't the only people that have to
hunt for a fit. I'm a tall, lanky guy. Most medium shirts are too short, and
my shoulders swim in a large. Like any good scientist, I've trialled and erred
my way to brands that fit (thank you American Apparel medium 50/50s), but this
discovery process is a pain in the ass. Here's the upside, browse through
clothes online, and everything fits, see how it looks on someone with your
shape.

There are some big challenges of course. A brand's sizing will vary from
design to design. I bought a pair of Nike 11s that fit, after trying another
Nike 11 that didn't. Then, how consistent is the sizing after manufacturing,
after washing?

Sigh, somebody start this, and I'd love to help.

~~~
rw
Another one is Clothes Horse. They're trying to solve this problem using
machine learning: <http://www.clotheshor.se/>

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dwhittemore
I love this idea - which is why I co-founded Clothes Horse ;) thanks rw and
gsiener for the comments! Hopefully you'll see us everywhere soon. Hit me up
if you wanna get involved - @dwhittemore on twitter

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paliopolis
was trying to sign up using the form on the website, but cant seem to submit
the form :-(

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naeem
I'm worried that a lot of these ideas are taking Paul Graham's adage of
solving simple problems a little bit too much to heart. The amount of effort
that would be expanded into these ideas - and various other start-up ideas
nowadays - generally appears to me to be more than it's worth.

I suppose my point is that entrepreneurs are spending too much time solving
mundane, every-day problems which aren't that bad as opposed to looking at the
big picture. I mean, don't get me wrong, I recognize that not everyone is
going to build the next facebook... but if we don't strive for that, doesn't
that eliminate the risk - and ultimately, the charm - of entrepreneurship? Or
am I just bitter?

I'm starting to think it might just be the latter.

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tansey
_> not everyone is going to build the next facebook... but if we don't strive
for that, doesn't that eliminate the risk - and ultimately, the charm - of
entrepreneurship? Or am I just bitter?_

First, I really wouldn't say Facebook was a big idea when it started. It was
about getting Harvard students laid, with some long-shot plans about
connecting the world together gradually over time. I could come up with some
half-baked paths that a few of my ideas may follow to become a huge company,
but of course that is more about luck down the road. I like to focus on ideas
that can solve a problem right now and make money.

Second, risk is not a binary concept. You have an efficient frontier of
risk/reward points and you simply choose your spot along that line. If you
want to start the next Facebook, you might be looking at 1,000 competitors. If
you want to build a Settlers of Catan clone, it's more like 3. There's still
risk, but it's greatly reduced, and with that reduction comes a reduction of
potential return. Feel free to swing for the fences-- but every team needs
guys who can get singles and RBIs, not just home runs.

Happy to hear some examples of ideas that you think have sufficient potential
and charm. :)

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naeem
Good points. I guess I'm not as concerned about entrepreneurs pursuing ideas
which are inherently doomed, as much as entrepreneurs grasping for straws.

I'd like to think the idea I'm working on now has sufficient potential and
charm! :-)

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dbingham
With regard to the source control for recipes, I've been trying to get an
StackExchange/Reddit sort of thing for recipes that includes some wiki editing
off the ground for a year and a half. Haven't had much success, but working on
version 3 in my spare time now. Maybe with a nicer design (a real logo) and a
core written in Zend as opposed to Cake things will pick up speed more. Here's
the current version: <http://www.fridgetofood.com>

~~~
tansey
Cool idea and nice looking site!

I think the reason why Github is a better model than reddit is because of the
developer-centric model of Github. I use Github because it's how I manage my
own code-- it's first and foremost about me. The social aspect of it is what
makes it go viral when a cool library is pushed, but that's a vitamin, not a
painkiller.

With reddit, it's more of a nail-biting, "gosh I hope people like this" sort
of model. Its focus is on the community and a link is a temporary (usually < 1
day) talking point for people.

I think chefs treasure their recipes and carry them around for life. They know
what they like and they're happy to experiment/learn from others, but it's
mostly about mastering their own skills and creating their own recipes.

~~~
aero142
For Reddit, a person can evaluate the quality of an article very quick and
simple democracy pushes it to the top. Also, once I have read the article, I
usually don't care to ever see it again. With recipes, it takes longer to
evaluate, so the credibility of the person recommending it has more weight.
Also, when I find a recipe I like, I want to keep it for life. "Browse
Emeril's recipes" sounds like a site I want to see. (This may be exactly what
you were saying, not sure)

~~~
dbingham
Well, Fridge to Food attaches a StackExchange style reputation to people (that
carries more weight than reddit karma) and does have a page where you can see
user's recipes (similar to SO). Really it pulls more inspiration from
StackExchange than it does from Reddit.

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rglover
Love the idea of github for recipes. I think it'd be great to share and build
recipes with others. Actually, the github/social version idea could work for a
lot of stuff in theory (e.g. music, design, etc).

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abhiyerra
The crowdsourced editing is already done. <http://www.cloudcrowd.com/>

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jamesgagan
I've got a pickup lines site (<http://worldsbestpickuplines.info>) which would
be easy to adapt or clone to the "Pickup Stories" idea - I think I'll do it.
Thanks for the idea!

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tansey
Awesome! Drop me a line when it's up and running!

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jamesgagan
done! slightly modified from the original idea: <http://hookupstories.net/>
now all it needs some content! any hn'ers got some good hookup/pickup
stories???

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eli
> Rewarding Jobs: A jobs site that only posts jobs with a more altruistic
> slant...

I think <http://www.idealist.org/> already fills this niche

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EwanG
Several of these appear to already exist (such as the crowdsourced editing).

Then there is your webcam deal that hits a personal pain point - anywhere
sufficiently exotic will be Mega expensive to get a signal out of. Heck I'd
pay for 50 webcams to be installed throughout Rocky Mountain National Park
myself if it weren't that only a satellite uplink would work for most
locations and a couple hundred a day adds up to real money quick :-)

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tansey
Sure, it would be ideal to have a webcam mounted right on top of Pike's peak,
but I think that's not required. I'm sure somewhere like the Broadmoor hotel
in Colorado Springs has a sufficiently awesome view of the Rocky Mountains,
though. :)

~~~
EwanG
Perhaps. But if I'm more interested in checking our Bear Lake, or the summit
view from Longs Peak (rather than the view of Longs Peak from 30 miles away),
or some of the waterfalls along the Glacier trail, then there isn't anyplace
where I can get that. And if a service ever comes along that DOES offer that I
will be happy to give them a fist full of money because while I can't afford
to work in or near the park, I'd love to be able to take a virtual hike when
I'm stressed out.

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swalkergibson
If you fund my next trip to the Diamond, I will gladly place that webcam for
you :P

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EwanG
But how will I get the pictures back from that webcam on demand and for a
reasonable price? I wouldn't mind paying for both of us to go up there if that
was going to be the lion's share of the cost. But since the trip is maybe 1%
of the cost when you have to use a satellite uplink...

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johnx123-up
Friend of mine posts ideas in <http://fundprojectswith.me/> There ideas are
easily converted to projects with less dollars (500-1000).

I'm going to post these ideas there now:)

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aorshan
I'm a huge fan of the Video Creation Contest idea. I think 99 designs is
awesome and I think having a good landing video is just as important, if not
more important(at least in the beginning), as having a good logo.

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nl
Can someone explain the "Rydex for the global markets" idea? I don't
understand what Rydex does at all.

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tansey
Sure! I just wrote up a lengthy explanation of the idea:
[http://wesleytansey.com/elaborating-on-the-global-rydex-
idea...](http://wesleytansey.com/elaborating-on-the-global-rydex-idea/)

~~~
nl
Thanks - that's very useful

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inittowinit
User Manual Creator

www.ifixit.com

