HN Explorer

Ask HN: What are your startup ideas that you aren't pursuing?

19 points by marginalcodex ↗ HN
(I'm going to keep posting this topic on HN - partially because I think the answers will be interesting, but also partially as an experiment to see how much randomness goes into a HN post becoming successful).

14 comments

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RantyDave
It turns out that councils (i.e. a city council) don't actually know where their pipes run and in particular don't know where their storm water drains are. This makes flood planning very difficult. So there's money in driving around a la streetview and finding where the drains are. One could possibly license the actual streetview images and mine them, too.
zbuf
Nice try! :)
ganeshkrishnan
I have one of the largest database of camping sites and hostels globally at http://www.wikibackpacker.com/ I get pretty decent organic footfalls and it's stressing out my hosting bills.

I tried to get some media coverage & some funding for it but it's getting impossible from Australia.

It's stuck in a limbo for now until I decide what to do with it.

randomnumber314
Describe someone who is using this service, and how they use it.
[dead] Tvdweg
Just checked your website, it looks really good. I also had an idea to create a travel itinerary site with the affiliate skyscanner and car rental addon. Looks like you have done that. I am not seeing much info on Europe and the UK? Your website has huge potential. Of all my website ideas I went with what I am doing now, which is a hobbies website, with directory - it is such a fun job! http://www.hobbyfinda.com/ - I actually run a Marketing company, which makes advertising and getting my website to page 1 of google very cheap =). love your website though, lots of potential, contact if you want to throw some ideas around. http://www.hobbymediagroup.com/
swcoders
I want to build drone startup.
almostkorean
Ever moved a couch into an apartment with a small and/or winding staircase? It's a huge pain in the ass, and a couple years ago when I moved 3 times in a short period I really wanted to find a better way.

My idea is to use 3d scanning to help you move, using something like Google's project Tango. You scan your couch, bed, or table and the area you want need to move it through. Then it could algorithmically find the easiest path to move it and it shows you directions, so you and your moving partner know exactly how/when to rotate, turn, etc.

I'm sure it's possible because my mechanical engineering friends have software to do something similar for their robotic arms on the assembly line. I think this idea is really cool and hard to make profitable :)

samblr
..like improving education, democracy, gun violence!
merchang
Subscription boxes for very specific fetishes. The market is there, and willing to pay. Problems are: a) Margins don't justify time required for a worthwhile product b) The state of payment processing for anything "adult" is offensive