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Rate my startup idea

1 points by hecontreraso ↗ HN
Hi guys,

I am working on an idea that could be called "Airbnb for food"

Problem: -There's not enough variety for food. -Food is expensive.

Solution: -Connecting Chef/Cooks with Food lovers. -As a food lover you have a virtual menu on your phone that can grow and shrink based on your filters -As a cook/chef you can startup a restaurant essentially out of your own home. -Two clicks and you can order food, not from a restaurant, but from a cook directly. -Cheaper and healthier with a lot more variety. -Will need a good review system to make sure lower quality cooks get weeded out.

I have never heard about a startup that is doing something similar. Do you any? And, do you think that this idea could work?

8 comments

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angersock
I don't think either of your problems are actual problems. There's plenty of variety of food, and at a reasonable price.

I also think the economics for what you're suggesting don't pan out--have you talked to anybody that actually does one-off dinners as chefs? The planning and costs and time investment are nontrivial.

[dead] green_lunch
This could work, but there are lots of food-related startups already. You will also have to deal with health codes and most likely have to have a good legal team in case someone gets sick/there is bad food.
greenyoda
"As a cook/chef you can startup a restaurant essentially out of your own home."

If you're going to sell food that you made at home, your home kitchen is going to have to comply with all sorts of health and safety laws that govern commercial food preparation, e.g., periodic health department and fire department inspections. You might also run afoul of zoning regulations that prohibit running that kind of business from a residential area. And if you rent your home, it probably violates the terms of your lease.

"There's not enough variety for food."

Where I live (NYC), there's an infinite variety of food. Most other large cities that I've visited also have lots of different types of food available. Where do you live?

"Food is expensive."

Food made by a chef in small quantities will be expensive because it won't have the economies of scale of a large restaurant (e.g., the chef would have to buy the raw materials in small quantities, probably at retail prices instead of wholesale prices).