Forfeit – An app that takes your money if you don't complete your habits

ycombinator.com

10 points·ritabratamaiti··5 comments

I really don't think this is a good idea. Could potentially open up to lawsuits if the users disagree manual review outcome.

I think what is better is to make a deposit, use an AI to review the progress, if deemed unsatisfactory, then the money is held for 30+ days. After 30+ days, release the money back to the user. The penalty is that the user loses access to the money for 30 days. Maybe the company can then use that window to invest in bonds and return a profit. Charge a subscription price to use, something cheap like $5/month or make it free if the bonds interest is big enough.

Regardless, I think these types of business models don't work longterm.

> Could potentially open up to lawsuits if the users disagree manual review outcome.

That's what user agreements are for. What they usually do is put up a big ugly "I Agree" confirmation button, upon clicking of which all such suing rights are supposed to voluntarily get surrendered to the app maker!

That's not going to stop lawsuits from happening. You'd need to bring in professional arbitrators to review the company's decision. There is just too big of a legal risk for this business model to work. The company is also incentivized to take the money.

And the first person who disagrees with the manual outcome and posts on Twitter is the day this company dies.

So it's what Pieter Levels did many years ago: https://gofuckingdoit.com

https://www.beeminder.com/ does this

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