Ask HN: Teenager with an idea that I'm passionate about, should I pursue it?
Why am I passionate about that? Well, I've dealt with serious depression over the past few years that has almost taken my life. If the service that I want to create had existed I think my treatment could have been far more effective. In any given year about 10% of the US population (at least among adults), suffers from a mood disorder.
However, even though I'm very passionate about this idea, there are some major obstacles involved. Namely, my service would need to be HIPAA compliant in the US. The more I've read into that process the more I've been discouraged. Ultimately after I build an initial version of the service I hope to run a Kickstarter, but I'm not sure how I would go about achieving the funding I would need to run the site in production. I'm estimating the cost at a few thousand in the first year alone, potentially more depending on the popularity achieved.
So this is where I want opinions, if you had an idea for something that you believed could potentially benefit many individuals' lives, would you pursue it regardless of the obstacles, costs, and time involved? I guess in my mind this could be my chance to change the world, and I don't want to miss out on that, but I don't know if I'm being realistic.
18 comments
[ 3.6 ms ] story [ 53.2 ms ] threadIf you're seriously considering this, shoot me an email at evan (at) indiegogo dot com.
You describe it as a web/mobile start-up and later discuss the importance of it and the opportunity to change the world. I think it is worth being clear in your mind if this is a commercial project that you want to earn profits or a social venture (that may pay its own bills).
I would think about why you want to be secretive about it though. Even with businesses I think PG is largely right that secrecy isn't often worth it, you need to show people how good the idea is before they realise it. See AirBNB etc.
If you tell people what it is you can get some advice and maybe even help. At the crowd funding stage at least you need to let people know what your plan is.
The idea by the way, I'll write a more detailed explanation about it when I'm on my computer, is basically a mood tracker that your therapist/psychiatrist, and potentially friends and family, has access to if you as the user grant them that access. They can view your check-ins and mood graphs at any time from a professional/support account. It also automatically notifies your supports, mainly your mental health professional(s), but also family and friends if you're linked to them through a support account, through text and email if you mark yourself as having suicidal feelings, or feelings of harming somebody else.
Having dealt with depression I know for a fact that actively seeking help was not a concern of mine at my lowest points. However, something as passive as marking my mood as suicidal on an app or website, that's something I could do. And it would in turn have the same effect as if I texted my therapist about my feelings. Along with those features there's a bit more to it that separates it from other mood trackers but I'll only explain those if you're interested in hearing more.
So it's probably not the world changing idea I made it out to be, but I think it could help in the treatment of those facing mood disorders, by allowing their psychiatrist or therapist as well as family and friends to play an active role in monitoring their mood and helping at the lows or highs (for those with bipolar). Maybe it'll never catch on, but even if it got a few hundred users whose well-being was benefited by it, then it's worth it. If it helped saved even ONE life, then it's worth it.
There are other players in the market but that doesn't matter if you know what yours is better at. Have a short answer for someone that says "Why should I use your product rather than xxx". That can be that all the others suck or that yours is easy to use or more private or many other things but you should have an answer.
If I was trying to build a business around such an idea I think I would try to sell the to the medical professionals/practices. I'm sure it would be easier for them to track all their patients on one system than many different ones so they could hand out codes to their patients that would allow easy sign up and associate them with the correct doctor.
Good luck!
You might even be more susceptible to this type of reaction given your condition. So, be aware of it.
I would just do it anyway. Its worth it for the experience. A set of 4 or 5 solid projects from this age on a resume is likely to result in additional interviews, which might find you jobs worth an extra $10,000/yr. So, consider it an investment in your future.
Look asking for permission for pursuing your passion isn't ideal. the best that can happen is you're going to make it and realize your vision . The next best is you can learn way more than you would have by just thinking about whether to do it or not. Either way it's going to be a fruitful experience.
Yeah, I asked kinda planning to do it either way, unless there was a really strong negative reaction, which might have talked me out of it. I think it will be worth it in a lot of ways, even if it never succeeds.
Would it be possible to create a MVP and show that to commissioners / researchers / etc in your country?
You might want to get good quality research to support your idea. Good quality in this context means a cochrane review, or information from NICE (the UK organisation) or something equally rigorous.
I would be keen to hear your idea. Please feel free to email me.
Have you seen the Australian website "Moodgym"? And there are similar other sites.
MVP referring to what exactly? Haha, sorry I'm not familiar with that term outside of it's usual usage and it's web programming usage.
Hmm, I'm not sure how useful that would be to me. I'll send you an email about my idea. It's really not that novel though, just a new take on an existing concept.
And I hadn't, interesting website. Not really a competitor to my idea, but still interesting!
I don't think HIPAA is the main problem you have. The biggest obstacle is whether any healthcare provider would be willing to participate. People in this area have little time, too much work/obligations, are generally not tech savvy, have fixed workflows that they're unwilling to deviate from, and even the smallest amount of friction in your product will make them give up.
If you're going to do this (and you probably should if you're passionate about it), then you have to think of a way to integrate seamlessly into existing workflows and minimize their time commitment. Your goal should be 5-10 mins per day, max, regardless of the number of people being "monitored". Think about the incentives to get providers to participate. How much turn-around time is realistic? I don't see how this will be an "imminent suicide" prevention system and there are already lots of hotlines for that, but it could be great to monitor mood over days/weeks.
Perhaps have a single daily aggregated and anonymized email to a provider's nurse at 7am (when most check their patient data) that updates them on all patients in the practice who are potentially in trouble. They click a link, enter a password, and see the non-anonymized data. Then the nurse can get on the phone and start calling people.
It's instructive to know that the most innovative leaders behind game-changing ideas in arts, science, & business-- often pursued unrealistic goals. Many of them toiled & tinkered for years.
Here's a good read to keep you going> http://www.amazon.com/Mastery-Robert-Greene/dp/014312417X/re...
Out of experience I know that one quality that serial-entrepreneurs (e.g. Elon Musk) have is the ability to fight successfully with the paperwork. The laws are written, some make sense, others do not. Doesn't really matter because you can't change them. Most people are intimidated by the very sight of paperwork. Especially the kind that is written in lawyer's language. You can only become successful if you learn to read this language. From what I've seen, it's extremely valuable asset, no matter what kind of company you want to create.
Another thing I've noticed is that only 10% of the people you'll ever talk about, no matter how they present themselves, really KNOWS what are they talking about. So keep your faith no matter what others tell you.
I would say, go for it. The experience of driving any such venture up to a point where you create something or you stop because you're over your head, will prove extremely valuable anyway. It's the kind of experience that you can't buy with money.
Wish you all the best :-)
ps. If you pursue this path, make sure to write a blog post a let us know how it went in about 1 year or 2 from now.