

Is anyone making something women want? - aswanson

Not being sexist, but they seem to -want- more than us, and walking into any shopping area seems to confirm that vendors know this.  My problem is that from a tech standpoint, it's hard to gauge what a viable need for them is.
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jward
I was on a first date the other week and was explaining some of my ideas and
the lady I was with nearly wet herself with excitement telling me about a
webapp she'd love to have. After thinking about it and asking a few other
women I know, I'm going to start working on it and apply to YC with it.

Most every idea I came up with seems like someone else has already done. This
one... I spent two days searching and found nothing comparable.

~~~
chaostheory
honestly I don't know why you got 5 points since you didn't mention anything
about your app besides that your date "almost wet herself"; and I'm willing to
bet that there are 5 other teams with the same idea.

Is it anything like this: (porn for women SFW)
<http://www.cafemom.com/journals/read.php?post_id=378609>

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pg
In grad school I consulted for a company making CAD software for clothing
designers. They said that 60% of the clothing business is women's clothing,
and the other 40% shared between men and children.

~~~
aswanson
That other 40%, if shared equally between men and children, means that
approximately 80% of the purchasing decisions are made by women. I am basing
this on the chauvinist assumption that women pick out and buy the majority of
clothes for the kids. If this article is correct, that 80% holds for a lot
more than clothes: <http://www.clickz.com/3363331>

~~~
kingnothing
It wouldn't surprise me if women bought, or at least had a say in, a
statistically significant portion of men's clothing as well.

~~~
far33d
I used to work christmas week at a men's clothing store..

90% of our customers were women, even though we didn't sell women's clothing
at all.

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SwellJoe
Most of my other ideas (other than my current Virtualmin, Inc. business) were
targeted to women. One a sort of niche-focused social network, one a
video/photo dating site, and one a porn site (oh, wait...that one would have
mainly attracted men, I guess...but everybody in the valley has a backup pr0n
plan...it's what you talk about after a couple of beers..almost nobody is
really serious about it, me included).

~~~
altay
what? i'm not the only one with a backup pr0n plan?

i'd be so rich right now, if it weren't for these bullshit scruples.

~~~
SwellJoe
No, you're definitely not the only one. I learned at the last YC dinner that
pg and the Viaweb bunch had one, too (a pretty clever one, at that).

~~~
altay
Here's mine. You ever play Erotic Photo Hunt? It's a game on those touchscreen
video kiosks in bars. Each round, you're shown two almost-identical pictures
of a scantily-clad girl. You've got a minute to find the 5 subtle differences
in the two photos. (It's embarrassingly addictive -- for both men and women
alike.)

Build a web-based version of that. After every round, the player is given two
options... "play the next round" or "see more pictures of this girl." The
latter is a paid link. Weekend hack => goldmine.

~~~
rms
That's a great idea. Any reason you're not doing it? Can I do it?

~~~
altay
Hey, thanks! Why am I not doing it? Um, all I can come up with is, "I'm
working on other projects... that are more complex... and less of a sure
thing." =P

Anyways, if you're inspired, go nuts. Lemme know if you want any help building
it. Also lemme know if you want to hear the rest of the idea. (I think Phase 2
could get you one or two patents, and Phase 3 could disintermediate some dirty
old men.)

Uh, is it weird that I've put so much thought into this?

~~~
rms
You should add your email address to your profile so I can let you know if I
get something together. Or just email me so I have your address.

I wouldn't worry about having put too much thought into this, I'm sure we've
all spent a lot of time thinking about some really far-out things.

~~~
altay
You know, it is on my profile. At least, I filled out the "email" input box.
But that doesn't actually show up on my profile.

I'm not sure if this is a feature or a bug. Either way, you can find me at
aguvench on gmail.

~~~
rms
It's a feature, but not a good one.

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german
Well, I think that a webapp should be suited for anyone unless it was created
for a specific group of people. About women... I'm a man, and as any man
should know, It's almost impossible to understand a woman, so asking a lot of
women about your new project sounds like a good Idea to me.

------
palish
Well, I was going to mention <http://www.shoutfit.com> .. but they appear
down.

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skippybosco
So what you are saying is that you are having a hard time understanding
women's needs? ;-)

Since you asked, our company is in stealth mode on a product geared
specifically for women (not a shopping, dating/rating, community or gossip
site).. each demographic has their special needs, we're attempting to address
those needs..

I do agree that a web app should be built for anyone. We are building in
flexibility, for example, for the significant other of a female to gain value
from the app as well..

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jsjenkins168
Statistically, they also use the internet more than males. If you can find
something that they want, It could be a good idea for a startup.

~~~
staunch
According to what statistic? If you mean population count that's not very
significant. There's more males under 65 than females in the US/UK. I'd also
bet men use the internet disproportionately more.

~~~
jsjenkins168
<http://www.emarketer.com/Article.aspx?id=1004775>

Woman users exceed men, and the gap is growing.

~~~
altay
uh, so... does anyone know what they DO online?

~~~
rokhayakebe
they look for Men

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pramodbiligiri
<http://www.mizpee.com/> might gain a sizable audience among women.

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bootload
_"... My problem is that from a tech standpoint, it's hard to gauge what a
viable need for them is ..."_

something like _"all consuming"_ perhaps? ~ <http://www.allconsuming.net>

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falsestprophet
a computer in every kitchen!

