Ask HN: What's one problem you'd like startups to solve?

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6903512

15 29 13 years ago

news.ycombinator.com

byoung2• 13 years ago

Email. My inbox is overflowing and all the folders and tags in the world don't seem to help. Is there anything better out there?

namenotrequired5• 13 years ago

I'm sure there is! What sort of emails do you think are the largest problem in your case?

benhirashima• 13 years ago

i think it's ridiculous that in order to get a prescription for a simple low-risk medication, i have to call my doctor, make an appointment, wait 45 minutes past when my appointment was supposed to be, and have a physical meeting with the doctor that consists of nothing but talking and takes all of 5 minutes. oh, and i have to pay way too much for it too. i should be able to do this over the phone or internet, and for less money.

sjg007• 13 years ago

This is all about liability.

namenotrequired5• 13 years ago

Yes, I agree! Health care is notoriously hard to get into but some startups are working hard on it, some with quite some succes already. I don't expect a startup to come in and do exactly that right away and be succesful with it; it might have to be more incremental, but I'm definitely looking forward to seeing some improvement in this field come from their side.

draker• 13 years ago

This is often because doctors aren't paid unless they physically see you in the office. Current insurance payment policies do not recognize phone or internet consultation as billable events.*

My doctor provides this service and does so as follows:

I call my doctor leave a voicemail(Name, DOB, Phone#). A "triage nurse" (their exact wording) returns my call. I describe my symptoms and answer a few questions, these are then relayed to my doctor. If he feels the issue doesn't require a visit but requires a prescription the order is placed electronically and a nurse calls back to confirm my desired pharmacy, provide instructions and answer any additional questions.

*While some companies are making efforts to amend these policies, this holds true for the majority in my experience.

reganrob• 13 years ago

FYI, pg made a "Request for Startups" a couple of years ago, detailing problems he'd like startups to solve. You'd also know that those problems are fundable.

http://ycombinator.com/rfs.html

namenotrequired5• 13 years ago

Yes, I'm aware of them, thanks! :) I'm interested in hearing more from other people as well. I'm not looking for any ideas to go after myself - I'm currently busy enough with uni and a startup job - but always love hearing ideas like these!

basicallydan5• 13 years ago

Local product search.

I really, really want to be able to search for what products are available on the high-street in any shop, based on a live stock-room database.

Imagine an application which could recommend what exactly you should do in order to obtain item X based on your location, the amount of time you had and how much money you wanted to spend.

E.g., "I'm at home and I need to pick up a pair of smart shoes. I have an hour, and £50 to spend. Where do I go?" - the application has two nearby places. Place A has smart shoes for £35, and it'll take you 30 minutes to get there, but place B Is only 10 minutes away but you'll have to spend £45 on the shoes. Trivial example, but that sounds pretty useful, no?

If anybody has a solution for this and wants to talk seriously about implementing it, get in touch with me.

patmcc• 13 years ago

This would be huge. I feel like google should be moving towards this, since it would fit in nicely with maps.

basicallydan5• 13 years ago

It sure would.

The solution I originally came up with would be to run a POS system which is free for shops to use, but to take a SaaS approach to the software tools shops are given, and give them an opt-out feature which is to make their stock room publicly available via an API.

For the SaaSy-ness, you'd want to offer different things that the POS system can enable with the data it has - insights into sales, and as a CRM tool, essentially. All-in-one - give them the hardware for free (but on a lease) and charge for the software, make the API publicly available and charge companies to use the API. Maps-type-applications, SatNav companies, and so on, could pay for this.

downtowncanada2• 13 years ago

I thought about this once... one of the added benefits would be that stores and restaurants could automatically be multilingual

you'd probably have to RFID the stock in a retail setting. I feel that restaurants are a better place to start (on account of less fluidity in their offerings)

basicallydan5• 13 years ago

That's a nice side-effect, yes!

Restaurants are an easier place to start, and in fact there are some services which already have databases of restaurants' menus.

As for RFID - I think a lot of people go there at first when discussing a solution to this problem. It might work just fine for smaller shops but in order to get it all over you need it built into the supply chain from the moment something steps out from being manufactured.

namenotrequired5• 13 years ago

Yes, that sounds great! I've had some similar ideas but your proposal is better than I've been able to make it so far. This sounds very useful and I think something like this will exist soon - unless online stores start seriously taking over physical stores.

basicallydan5• 13 years ago

I hope so. I think online stores will start encroaching into the space and it could force traditional retail to innovate a little, which could be good for this Thing.

bliti2• 13 years ago

Been researching this type of system for about two years now. The feedback from business owners has not been very positive. Some do not want their inventory to be readily available to anyone (for whatever reason). Others do not see the value of anything outside of Facebook (the social network has become their own little internet). A couple talked about how expensive software is (they are right). One or two were open to the idea. But were not ready to be used as guinea pigs for research.

One common trait has been the lack of understanding of what online sales are, and what they might mean to them. There is a lot of space to innovate here, but it has to be done in a way that is less take a risk with me, and more this is totally safe and normal to do.

plax512• 13 years ago

Maybe, and all due respect, you're not selling it right

pmiller2• 13 years ago

Milo.com does this.

basicallydan5• 13 years ago

Interesting, but it doesn't seem to be working for me. I'm sure there are grocery shops in London.

GoldfishCRM2• 13 years ago

My grandma wants to communicate with her family trough internet but dont know how to use a computer. Solve that for me.

downtowncanada2• 13 years ago

make a remote control with a mic with one button on it.

the altekaker (your grandma) presses the button and asks her television to do things.

the audio is matched against previous requests, or sent to a call centre with access to her command prompt.

they open skype and call the kid she wanted to call

bill is about the same as cable per month OR for poor ppl, the audio can be sent to her grandson's phone and he can do whatever she asks and not be payed because he loves his grandma

GoldfishCRM2• 13 years ago

Love that idea. Ok if I steal it?

sharemywin• 13 years ago

site to swap skills. earn credits and buy other people's time. ex. designer needs programmer. does some design work earns some credits and hires programmers. not as big a market as freelancing but could be useful somewhere bewteen fiverr and elance size projects.

namenotrequired5• 13 years ago

Sounds a bit like http://www.konnektid.com/ ? They're very early stages though.

wturner2• 13 years ago

In the U.S. dental issues are not considered a serious health problem even though you can die from it. Teeth aren't covered by "obamacare" and well, if the side of your mouth rots out then tough shit. Poor Americans have trouble affording dental insurance. I know this probably isn't as interesting as 'local product search' and the like, but I thought I would chime in. Thanks

iends2• 13 years ago

Do you have any ideas in this space? My wife is a dentist and I've done a bit of work in the EHR space.

The real issue (at least it seems to be the issue to me) is people are lazy (or perhaps uneducated) and don't put any effort in until it is too late.

wturner2• 13 years ago

Well I had dental insurance at my old job and lost it. Then my hours rapidly declined. A filling fell out. Got laid off and haven't been able to catch up. My unemployment is about to run out but I just signed up for Humana with the same assumption that put me off from getting insurance in the first place - even if I had it I still wouldn't be able to afford the tooth pull. So I guess I'm one of the lazy and uneducated. Thanks. Regardless that's not the point. The point is that irrespective of how 'lazy' or 'uneducated' you perceive anyone to be they should still have the basic human right of not having to die from something that is simple and preventable.

Ask HN: What's one problem you'd like startups to solve?

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