Free business ideas - looking for partners

The only question is - what's to stop AirBnb from simply re-purposing and rebranding their technology to do this exact thing? That was my initial concern when thinking about this idea.

#1 is a great idea. Really really great idea. There are a couple of things to consider (I'm sure you've already thought of them) - mainly even healthier restaurants have unhealthy items and the reverse applies to unhealthier restaurants. There ought to be a way for limitation and inclusion. Attemtping a partnership with Yelp might be of some use interms of trying to keep partner restaurants honest.

Also, like any association - the guidelines of this healthy-restaurant-coupon-association will be public and under intense scrutiny - especially from the big boys in the food industry.

#2 - This is a bit crowded right now.

#3 - I don't know if this is already being done and if so, in what capacity, but.. there are many resources for building confidence, empowerment etc... this will be a marketing-heavy project.

#4 - So now rich people have even more escape route incase they blow up the world ten times over? :P. I think its a fantastic idea... fear sells. This is a well-known fact.

#5 - Pretty cool. How about a cross-roads style exchange program built into a basic-goods store instead? I bet someone like IKEA could probably run this (not sure if it has already been pitched). This has cool written all over it. One might even get away with running it like Netflix (order a care package... it comes with a box that you can return the whole thing in).

#6 - Neato. I'll second that AirBnB can already do this with their existing tech... but why would they want to? Unless they're really looking to expand their business horizontally. On the other hand, craigslist could really do this and they wouldn't be shifting focus at all (its just office space for rent).

#7 - A way to "humanize" them isn't good enough. We're talking about putting people's pictures and stories online - I mean, its bad enough that these people have zero privacy. There have to be massive benefits for them to want to do this... why should I, homeless Joe, tell you my story? Whats in it for me? Whats in it for anyone?

There's a spreadsheet of people available to join a startup floating around on HN. I'd highly recommend contacting some of them - there are some amazingly talented people on it!

Anyone got the link? Anyone...? :)

Here's a couple ideas of my own I've never had time to implement:

1) A solution for (web based) businesses that intelligently auto-detects and flags suspected negative activity before it happens using behavioral analysis. I've got pages and page of writing and diagrams on this. Originally developed as a concept around Paypal security but applicable across most websites.

2) A Social Network related to the pay it forward concept promoting compassion among people.

3) Google Voice has an app for Android and Blackberry, but not iPhone/iPod/iPad. Voice may be very difficult, but just making a web interface that looks and acts like a native application to send and receive SMS messages on iPod touch or iPad would be huge.

4) Configurable status boards such as Panic's( http://www.panic.com/blog/2010/03/the-panic-status-board/) or Cultured Code's (http://culturedcode.com/status/) that mesh easily with popular project management systems like Basecamp, etc.

Enjoy

On #5: Don't just aim for students. Anyone renting an unfurnished apartment who doesn't want to fill it with stuff (e.g. because they're just there for the summer) should be able to use the service. The domain Unfurnished.com would be ideal (might be pricey, though).

Here's how I'd implement it: Sell the items, but offer a partial refund on return. (Less risky than rental, for both parties—obviously for the seller, but also for the buyer if they wind up needing the stuff for longer than expected.) Specialize in light-weight, durable items that can be shipped economically: air mattresses, plastic tableware, folding furniture. Include a pre-printed shipping label in the box. The pitch: "Zappos for apartment stuff." (Just checked, and ApartmentStuff.com is being parked on.) Ideally, the stuff should be custom-branded.

1. Maybe this would work in European countries, but I just don't think it would work in America. You're just going to cause your employees to become more disgruntled as they will feel like you're taking away a fundamental personal choice.

2. Meetup.com. I don't think it's reasonable to expect people to organize much faster than that.

3. What is the recent obsession with stopping bullies? I don't have any real thoughts on this other than it seems to be catering more toward the recent media obsessions than anything real. People will always be bullied. Unless your website allows kids to hire a huge, jacked guy to come beat the shit out of their bully, it's not going to help.

4. If there is a catastrophe, how will the rich people get to the bunker in time? Won't the roads, planes, etc. all be out of service?

Related to the homeless page, we see in reddit sad stories of people in desperate situations asking for help. Sometimes they are true and sometimes they are fake, so an idea (non for profit) would be to have a network of volunteers checking out the stories (with web, phone or even in person)

So, it would be like the arks in 2012? That turned out well for them, especially that part where everyone was fighting each other to get onto the boat.