Ask HN: What business would you start, given $100K?

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9973449

by phalgunr • 11 years ago

17 24 11 years ago

news.ycombinator.com

MarkCole3• 11 years ago

What business, or what tech/software business?

Software wise, I'd probably look into developing something that helps with localization management. The tools around for managing various translations of copy, images, and so on for websites at the moment are pretty terrible. Maybe one of the reasons a lot of sites are available only in one language.

A simple way to on-board a team of translators and let them manage revisions of copy, manage different variations of copy (for example singular and plural, 1 comment, 2 comments. One minute, two minutes). Then there are more complicated things like functions where you need to say something like "You have just purchased $x apples". This all needs to be wrapped in a simple UI, and then an API/export function that can export this to the WIDE range of formats people use for translation (XLIFF, po, etc to name a few).

In addition to selling the actual software, you can also sell approved translations. You offer to translate their content into another language, with accuracy, for a fee with a reasonable turnaround.

zatkin• 11 years ago

In my experience, localization is best done by referencing to indices in a key-value 'database'. So instead of saying "You have just purchased $x apples", you say $translate.instant('purchasedApples') (angular example), which references to en_US.json, which returns the English translation.

MarkCole3• 11 years ago

Oh I think you have misunderstood. On the code side for the website/software that is being translated that's what would happen.

This theoretical software is for gathering all of the translations, and having editors and translators (multiple) manage them with ease. Then generating all of the JSON/XML/XLIFF/Other_Format files for every language for use on the site/software. I have yet to find software that can do this well.

flowerpot• 11 years ago

Haven't used it too much myself, but people seem to be happy with http://www.transifex.com/

kluck• 11 years ago

If I had $100,000 I would select a software idea that really solves a problem and develop it open source. I would be the only developer so would probably need $2000 per month. So I would be able to program roughly 4 years with the money. Of course I would publish the code early on and when there would be enough traction I would found a non-profit organisation that would oversee the further development.

ionised• 11 years ago

I was thinking something along the same lines.

alpguneysel• 11 years ago

2000 * 12 * 4=$96000, hence $100000.

gchokov• 11 years ago

I would not start a business with my own money :) Shoot for business with someone paying for what you do from day 0, that's the ultimate validation of what you are doing. Keep the money to support you and your family.

phalgunr5• 11 years ago

Valid point, but I was trying to aim more along the lines of business ideas that are high risk and require a lot of initial capital to get started.

eip• 11 years ago

I would replicate the work of Stan Meyer.

phalgunr5• 11 years ago

Just looked it up, very interesting!

atsaloli2• 11 years ago

Training in system administration. I've been doing it part-time for 5 yeas, would love to do it full-time.

mrfusion• 11 years ago

Can you expand on that a bit more? Sounds interesting.

atsaloli2• 11 years ago

I've been a sysadmin for over 15 years. For the last five years, I've been organizing (and more often than not, delivering) trainings in public and private venues.

Example of a public venue -- I rent a hotel conference room for 3 days and people fly in to take a class. Or I teach at a conference, usually a half-day or a quarter-day course. Occasionally full-day.

Example of a private venue -- a company flies me in to teach their staff whom they also fly in so we are all in one room. :)

I've taught CFEngine, vi, and Time Management for System Administrators (based on Tom Limoncelli's book)

I'd do 2-6 trainings a year.

I was doing this on the side, while holding down a regular full-time job.

Here's the pitch deck I put together last October when I was exploring getting funding to do this full time: http://www.verticalsysadmin.com/vsa.htm

However, I managed to fall into a 1 year CFEngine consulting project which keeps me almost too busy to train (plug -- I have a public CFEngine training coming up in Prague in October -- USD 5K for 6 days of training for one student -- https://www.eventbrite.com/e/cfengine-3-course-and-policy-wr...)

I'd love to offer more training -- specifically I want to be able to take in a computer user and turn out a sysadmin ("infrastructure engineer" or whatever the modern term is) -- my first step toward this was working with LOPSA (Professional Content Committee) to create a sysadmin reading list (http://www.sabok.org/)

I really enjoy training, I find it quite gratifying when students light up with new-found understanding.

People often tell my training is the best they've ever had, e.g.:

"Thank you for such a great class. Been to lots of technical training and you are the best instructor I've had. Beyond standard lecture/lab your examples and willingness to help is unmatched." -- Thomas Nicholson

I've been a regular employee pretty much all my career so working on my own business full-time is new to me. I find it exciting, creative, exhilarating, exhausting. I asked the founder of Pythian (quite successful DBA/sysadmin consultancy) how he grew his company, and what was the key to his success, and he said, a RIDICULOUS amount of HARD WORK. I am finding this to be very true.

johnsocs• 11 years ago

Perhaps this is not the answer you are looking for but I wouldn't start a business just based on how much money I had in my pocket. I'd start a business based on what markets are within my reach, based on connections, skills etc..

Myabe you were asking what those were?

phalgunr5• 11 years ago

I agree that just having the capital alone is not enough reason to start a business.

I was asking more along the lines of, "what controversial/high risk business have you always wanted to start, but that requires a lot of starting capital?"

(Purely software startups probably don't fall into that category)

GFischer• 11 years ago

It depends on your risk aversion level and your goals.

Do you want a business you can run yourself? Maximizing revenue? A "safe bet"? Passive or active investment?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Risk%E2%80%93return_spectrum

http://personalfinance.duke.edu/prepare-your-future/savings-...

It also depends on your location / country, 100K gives you a lot more runway in my country than in the U.S.

Since you're a "college grad" on HN I guess a software-based startup is your goal.

Personally, I'd bet on the Oculus Rift, the guys I knew that struck it rich rode a wave of innovations / new hardware (for example the iPad), I believe the Oculus will open a lot of new avenues (virtual shopping, virtual sightseeing, virtual training, data visualization, virtual everything :) ). 100K might not get you very far in the U.S. however.

Non-software, there are plenty of franchises that give an interesting return on investment.

http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/206466

danielki• 11 years ago

I think there's a lot of interesting things that are going to be happening at the intersection of health and wearables in the next few years. $100k likely isn't enough to start a full-fledged company, but it's enough to create a good enough prototype to get some outside investment

Some ideas for said company that I'll probably never implement because I don't have said $100k:

- Running shoes that give feedback on your running form using pressure sensors and accelerometers. Depending on the type/placement of sensors, could also double as a weight tracking device that doesn't require you to weigh yourself

- Smartwatches aimed at diabetics, which can continuously monitor insulin/glucose levels, while also serving other smartwatch functions. Alerts for low/high levels.

- System that would let paramedics/doctors access recent pulse/skin temperature/etc data from a smartwatch and display it in a usable manner. Could help figure out what happened in the minutes leading up to an emergency call.

phalgunr5• 11 years ago

Just to throw in my own (non-tech) idea, which originally led me to wonder what other people's capital-intensive ideas might be:

I would open up bookstores with a Netflix-like business model. You pay something like $5/month to use it, read any books you want without buying them and not feeling like a freeloader. There can be monthly family plans etc., and when someone does buy a book, their fee for that month can be waived.

Clearly, despite having an entire bookstore in their pockets, people want a physical place to socialize and read, and this offers them a way to do that in the 21st century.

merrua• 11 years ago

Are you making a joke about libraries?

phalgunr5• 11 years ago

No, I'm being serious! I thought about libraries being the same thing as Borders/Barnes & Noble chains (if you're in the U.S.), but there's something about the bookstore (being able to speak at a normal tone, having a coffee shop in there) that seems to attract people more.

This might be a crazy (the wrong type of crazy) idea, or coming from me being sad about the fall of Borders and the eventual demise of B&N.

But I do notice that people prefer to "hang out", stroll around, or spend an evening at a bookstore than a library.

cdvonstinkpot• 11 years ago

I would either buy an already-profitable app on Fliptopia & work on upgrading & maintaining it.

-or-

I'd invest in Real Estate- flipping houses with a builder I know.

If all goes well, I might be able to do both, depending on the Fliptopia market at the moment. I find many apps there seem overvalued.

Ask HN: What business would you start, given $100K?

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