
ASK PG: What is the next million dollar idea? - ahmedaly
Few years ago, I read a list of ideas by PG, about the next million dollars idea.<p>I am interested to know from PG, and all of you.. about what do you think it could be the next million dollar idea&#x2F;website? :)
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falsestprophet
Work as a senior software developer in New York, San Francisco, Silicon Valley
or London for 10 years.

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cardeo
1\. Figure out a model for advertising online that people will actually engage
with.

2\. better/simpler ways of delivering content that will finally kill the print
industry. Not just converting a magazine to a digital format. A unique take on
content delivery

3\. in the world of the internet of things finding a way to sync and make
devices cross compatible

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tptacek
A million dollars isn't cool. You know what is? Not asking Paul Graham for the
"next million dollar idea". ;)

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massappeal
I feel like Silicon Valley is filled with million dollar ideas. I'm interested
in the next billion dollar idea(s), and I think they are AI and sustainable
energy.

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mattwritescode
I know we have some of the ideas below but still. I want more of it.

Wireless! I dont want my computer, tv, games console having a load of cables
trailing everywhere, How about a smartphone which pulls its power from the
same antenna where it gets its signal.

Wireless power, wireless graphics, Wireless charging.

Whilst we are at it how about a phone which you could use wirelessly without
it having to be plugged into the national infrastructure (we could call it a
mobile phone).

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adotjdotr
"Smart" Household goods i.e a fridge that tells you when you are running low
on milk/food and have that sync to your online delivery service to make quick
purchases on your behalf.

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faq
Build an interest graph. People spend lots of their income on their most
passionate hobbies. If you can help them _do_ their hobbies, you have a chance
to sell them the stuff they need for their hobbies.

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lauradhamilton
Excel killer is worth a billion dollars easily.

Hint: It won't look like Excel.

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orionblastar
I got some ideas:

1) Soyuz rockets and capsules are pretty much public domain after the USSR
fell. Even China is making their own versions of them because the patents have
expired. But the problem is they are based on older technology. Invent a new
ARM based mobile technology to make lighter Soyuz based on GNU/Linux to give
out the same signals that the older 1960's Russian computers used to give out.
You already got a race to space, SpaceX, Virgin Galatic, and even Amazon wants
to salvage old Saturn V rockets from the ocean and rehab them with modern
tech. But this Soyuz system is cheaper, easier to make, and reliable, and all
it needs is a more modern computer and new software to control it. Maybe if
you don't make the Soyuz hardware yourself, you can have companies in China
and India make the hardware where it is public domain, and then write the
software yourself. Since the USA put sanctions on Russia for invading Ukraine
Russia refuses to use its Soyuz rockets to take Americans to the space station
anymore. Which means there are millions if not billions to be made to replace
the Russian service and the docking clamps are made for Soyuz rockets and
capsules. You just make the system in English instead of Russian or Chinese.
That movie 'Gravity' made the Soyuz rockets and capsules famous for some
reason.

2) Make electrical cables and cords that repel cats so they don't chew them. I
cannot tell you how much stuff I had to throw away because my son's cats
chewed through the cord and nobody could replace the cord because it isn't
designed to be replaced and surface mounted to everything it touches and
trying to splice these cheaper wires is a nightmare. I tried everything, sour
apple, hot sauce, ghost pepper sauce, the cats don't care that it is sour or
spicy hot they still chew the cables and wires. I've lost countless headsets,
headphones, microphones, power cords, USB charging cables, data cables, mouse
cables, keyboard cables, etc. When you own a cat or cats that just chew stuff,
you waste thousands of dollars when they chew it up. They chew it up while you
sleep even if the power is off of the device and it is unpluged.

3) Make business applications for alternative operating systems like Haiku,
ReactOS, AROS, and even Linux. Sure Microsoft Windows has a monopoly in
business, but some businesses are getting tired of being forced to use Windows
because the software companies that make their business critical apps only
write for Windows. Not only that but the Windows security model is very
insecure. I mean year sure they could go Linux/WINE with some apps, but not
all. That is sort of cheating if it isn't a native app. You got Valve on one
end leading the Games being ported to Linux, but what about those business
apps? Learn accounting, marketing, business management, and write some
business critical apps and then offer services to customize them to each
business as each business has a different way to do things like timesheets and
project management. Basically everything Microsoft makes, needs an
altenrative, and the apps that run a business need alternatives too like CRM,
HR Management, job cost accounting, invoices, accounts payable, accounts
receivable, inventory, forecasted sales, time sheets, help desk, all kinds of
databases need migrating from MS-Access and SQL Server to MySQL/MariaDB or
Postgres etc. You will sell apps as well as services to migrate from old
Windows apps and databases to new ones.

4) Space Based Solar Power, build a giant collection of solar panels orbiting
the Earth and then beam down via Tesla wireless technology to a base station
giant dish to collect it and convert it into electricity to retire coal and
nuclear plants and save the planet. Start out with solar panels on the roads
and roofs, wind farms, and geothermal sinks. Build up to the space based solar
power.

5) Develop better apps for Blackberry, and promote the Balckberry as a more
secure smart phone that doesn't have an NSA backdoor because it is QNX based
and the company is Canadian and the NSA cannot force them to add in a NSA back
door. Make tools to convert XCode and Android apps to Blackberry using
Objective-C (LLVM/CLANG in Linux) or Java for Android to compile to Blackberry
by converting the libraries from Android to Blackberry. Add in a Visual Studio
plugin that cross compiles to Blackberry, and also one for Mono and others.

My email is orionblastar@gmail.com I come up with good ideas almost all of the
time.

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uptown
@coralreef is right. India threatened to ban them from the country. To avoid
the ban, they opened up their data.

[http://www.itpro.co.uk/mobile/20193/blackberry-gives-
indian-...](http://www.itpro.co.uk/mobile/20193/blackberry-gives-indian-
government-lawful-access-user-data)

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orionblastar
I thought QNX was not made by Blackberry and was open sourced?

What did Blackberry add to their phones that made India ban them?

Even Obama uses Blackberry phones for some reason. I think they are more
secure or something.

