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Disclosure: I created Just Landed. Thanks for posting the app on HN!

@frisco: I can understand how you lumped Just Landed in with other Silicon Valley startups some of whom are creating frivolous apps and raising vast sums of money against small ideas. I suppose those irritate me too for the same reasons you mentioned.

However, in this case, you would be wrong to assume that Just Landed is just another overfunded startup trying to conquer the world with an airport pickup app. First off, Just Landed is not a startup. Just Landed is an app, built by myself and two of my buddies, because I kept making the mistake of forgetting to leave for the airport on time to pickup my girlfriend. After finding that no other apps were solving this problem (and that flight apps generally sucked), I decided to take a crack at it.

I don't make any claim that this is an important problem in our society (I built this app for myself), that this would be a good idea for a startup (it probably isn't), or that it's worthy of venture funding (so far it's not a great business). Just Landed was built with $15k of my own money as a fun side project while I figured out what I wanted to do next with my career. Frankly, I'm amazed how successful it has been - it was totally unexpected. Also, it's not even really a company - it was released under Little Details LLC because I needed to protect myself with limited liability (I also plan to make other commercial apps).

Finally, while we have certainly had offers, it is also not my goal to be "acquihired". I'm actually working on a mobile game right now, and am thoroughly enjoying myself. My goal is to be free to work on my own fun projects for as long as I'm able. If I come upon an idea worthy of a startup, something that can really change the world, that's a different story. FWIW I've already failed twice at a startup (went through YC once), so for now I'm taking a break and building apps.

Just Landed is not going to change the world, but it sure saves my ass (and helps hundreds of thousands of other people) when it comes to going to the airport to pick someone up.

Thank you for creating Just Landed. It's worked for me in exactly the scenario you described.

If you don't mind me asking - What did you spend $15k on? For just a "fun side project" that sounds like an outrageous amount so spend, and I can't particularly think of what it would be spent on as I'm assuming flight information is public. Don't mean for this to sound judgmental - just genuinely curious as I must be missing something.

As it turns out, accessing significant amounts of real-time flight data, as required by this app, is neither publicly accessible nor cheap (hence the need to charge for the app). There are also many other costs associated with developing even a small iPhone app to this level of quality.

I'm actually quite proud of myself for keeping the costs so low. Try asking some big companies what they spent on their apps - you might be in for a surprise (think huge numbers)!

Would you be willing to write a post about how costs broke down? It'd be awesome to learn more about what it really costs for a side project.

Makes sense - thanks! Great job on the app!

If you don't mind me asking - What did you spend $15k on?

15k isn't really that much. One month of his time is probably at least 10k, especially once you start thinking about health care and other benefits.

He said "$15k of my own money" not "$15k of my own time"

For many of us, side project time is enjoyable and not thought of as a cost center, but a happy-center.

:-)

Good luck with all of your endeavors.

Any plans to make this a web-based service I can use from my laptop? I think this would be a good replacement/improvement to flightaware.com which I use to track my wife's inbound flights.

We're constantly reading content on here that tells us to follow our passions, take risks and solve problems.

Just Landed does that, but it's not an "important" enough problem to solve. He "wasted" his talent and should have focused on the larger problems that plague humanity.

I get that entrepreneurs need feedback, but there's a difference between helping and just plain being an asshole.

This kind of stuff isn't helpful to the community - we see it over and over. My hope is that people won't be deterred by it in the future....otherwise HN will lose it's value.

@jgraili I think this app is cool - kudos to you for the awesome execution. I'm downloading it - I could have totally used it yesterday :)

Can I just say that this is beautifully designed.

Thanks! Graham Beer & Sean Nelson did an awesome job on the app design and site design respectively.

Are you sure you wouldn't say the same thing if it was 1975 and they'd made a Basic interpreter for a toy computer used by a few hobbyists?

Big things often start small. In fact, usually start small.

And in any case it's just mean of you to piss all over these guys' efforts. It makes me embarrassed for HN when people launch something new, and this is the sort of response they get.

When pg comes to your defense, it's a good day ;)

On the other hand, this issue reminds me of Peter Thiel's TedX talk, where he makes the argument that real technological invention may be slowing: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HOB7nezuQ7g

I agree assisting people to reach the airport on-time may morph into a larger corporate vision, but I disagree it's likely to contribute to solving cancer, making better fuel, or reaching strong AI. ...And it's arguably a distraction of rare talent from that calibre of problem.

No initial product is likely to contribute to solving those problems, because most initial products don't lead to anything.

Conversely, a startup that grows sufficiently big can contribute to the solution of almost any problem, including those you mention.

Totally agree. When I first joined HN (2100+ days ago) there were posts nearly every day of the 'Show HN: My new startup/website/app/etc' type and the thoughtful feedback and comments were genuinely helpful and insightful. It wasn't uncommon for multiple people to actually take screenshots and rework design elements, provide thorough user interaction impressions and potential improvements, offer assistance in numerous ways (debugging, introductions, alpha/beta testing, etc.), and be generally supportive. HN truly seemed like a community of semi-collaborative or at least fully helpful hackers.

It saddens me that the most common response these days seems to be some version of 'Let me list all the reasons why this is crap.'

What happened?

Maybe it's a matter of adjusting some copy... "Show HN" was appropriate when HN consisted of its higher quality membership. You were showing your project to people who were more likely to provide better quality feedback.

Now that the population has grown, there are more commenters and more Show HNs, yet the presentation hasn't changed to accommodate this (same number of posts per page, same comment layout despite more comments, etc).

Maybe something like "Review HN"? Whatever it would be, it may be time to get more specific. Ultimately you're trying to filter out unhelpful comments. Those will always appear, but now there's just more of them in the same space...

Wow, that sounds like a dream for a startup. I'm getting fairly close to releasing a beta and people like that would be awesome. In fact, I've been thinking that maybe if I charge a nominal amount (a dollar or something similar) to try the beta, it might act as a filter for these kinds of people. Lately, however, the cynic in me is saying that I'll just end up with no one :(.

One time I was really annoyed at how the door to my house creaked when it was opening and closing. It was so loud sometimes that other people would comment on it. I spent nearly half a day oiling the hinges, eventually removing them altogether, and then installing new ones. The world is worse off for me having wasted my precious time when I could have spent that half day learning about biology and chemistry and subsequently pursuing a cure for cancer.

I'm now wasting my time commenting on your comment on a comment about wasting time.

This generation is heartless!

The horror!

Also, is there a word that refers to this sort of cyclical argument? ie: someone makes generalization, I say "all generalizations are bad" in reply, someone else makes a generalization arguing against mine, and so on? I feel like there should be.

Frankly, I find this "first world problem" kind of attitude insulting to the developing world. You want to know who is solving developing world problems every day? The citizens of those countries. I spent most of last year in Turkey, which is rapidly developing. The problems I saw that they faced were largely the same ones I'm facing in the valley. (Frankly, I think Istanbul is more hospitable toward the destitute than San Francisco!)

As to why most software developers aren't working on harder problems, however, is that harder problems usually require more up-front investment and require the investor to take more risk. Without a previous record of success, it is difficult to get that trust.

SpaceX and Tesla don't happen by someone without a track record. Be a little easier on those who are trying to establish one. :)

> (Frankly, I think Istanbul is more hospitable toward the destitute than San Francisco!)

That shouldn't be surprising, Zakat is one of the pillars of Islam...

It goes deeper than Zakat, but that is one element. I'd say that there are issues of shelter security that are solved through slums. As bad as they are made out to be, it is far superior to have a roof over one's head than no roof. Staples are much cheaper, allowing someone to survive on a minimal income. There isn't any restrictions on street sellers, allowing everyone to have a marginal job. The cost of labor is lower, which inhibits the automation and efficiency that we see here.

As Turkey gets wealthier, many of these problems will arise. Homelessness is truly a first world problem, for example.

The 2011 census estimated 70000 homeless people in Calcutta. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-india-21626113

http://southasia.oneworld.net/news/kolkata-slums-face-forced...

They're destroying the slums without making alternative housing arrangements. (Turkey's done some of this as well. Tarlabasi and Sulukule are prime examples. It's destroying communities, but India is much worse about it.)

I'd argue that Turkey is actively trying to destroy cultural identity as an extension of decades old habits, regardless of the government in power. (I'm not a Turkish apologist by any means.) However, I think this is getting off the main point of original post, so I'll stop here.

Maybe the VC model isn't up to the task of funding the future...

As the other commenter pointed out, three people doing a startup like this can easily provide 10-100x times more value to society when compared to them just being regular employees at a random large corporation.

Easier problems are solved first, and that's fine. There's less risk and so more growth per money invested. Not everything should be invested into super-high risk technology or something. Besides, this company might be bootstrapped.

It's also worth to note that first-world people tend to work on first-world problems. There's nothing wrong with that. It makes sense to work on problems that you're familiar with. I wouldn't start a restaurant since I've zero experience in that industry.

The problem is not that they're fixing a "easy problem". The problem is that for some unknown reason it hasn't been fixed yet.

I don't think the reason is unknown. You already stated the reason: it's an easy problem. Not just an easy one to solve, but an easy one to ignore because it's not just an easy problem, it's a small problem. It causes very little trouble, there is little loss of productivity, there is little to gain by solving it. It hasn't been fixed the way a ding on your car's door doesn't get fixed. That doesn't mean it can't be fixed, but I agree with OC's question, do we have so little other stuff to worry about that we have to go around looking for "problems" so small that most people didn't know they existed until they were told?

That reminds me, I wrote about this after seeing quite a few companies like this at TC Disrupt: http://techcrunch.com/2012/09/14/how-to-disrupt-petty-inconv...

That's a good explanation, I guess I was thinking more broadly about these kind of small problems (but which are slightly larger than airport pickup), not just about Just Landed.

Honestly, better waste some time on doing mundane practice, maybe earning some money along the way, than to fail big, ambitious, and spectacularily, with an idea that was brilliant but wasn't pulled off properly due to lack of experience.I see how this is a small easy problem, but hell, it's practice, and if it works, it's funds for the next big thing that comes into their minds.

This is the quintessential HN holier-than-thou comment. Out of the range of problems facing society that you could solve, of all the ways you could create value by making peoples' lives better, you settled on "pissing on someone's app".

Now, this is probably a completely rational move from your perspective. HN over the last few years has been backstopped by middlebrow-dismissals and other such poo-poo-ings, and bored programmers desperate to win karma are often very willing to waste hours crafting popular but mean comments. From your previous comments at least, it certainly doesn't look like you are just trolling. You're probably a very talented, capable person.

Since you seem to work at Transcriptic, I won't begrudge you your karma. However, I do lament the idea that the best minds of a generation are being focused on getting people to dismiss others' creations and directing all creative effort to what you deem to be "important problems". I don't buy the idea that you wouldn't be focused on a "better" use of your time if HN didn't exist; of course you would. This kind of talent is ambitious and gets things done. The idea that these are the types of comments that rise to the top is just a monumental lapse of discussion quality on HN. Scratching your own itch is an amazing thing, and we can do so much with it. I really think it's just an attitude issue -- people are used to dismissing new technology as frivolous, and mobile apps, in particular, seem totally pointless. How do we become less dismissive and more encouraging to makers?

how self-referential

Entire generation? It's three people[1]. It seems you personally don't find value in this app, and that's okay, but it's a bit hyperbolic to write off an entire generation over it. There are most assuredly people who are doing more than getting people to click on ads and writing airport pickup apps.

[1]: http://www.getjustlanded.com/about

Yes, that's right, the parent literally meant that an entire generation - millions upon millions of people without exception are dedicating themselves to precisely this cause.

I think it's pretty clear what he means and there's plenty of room to argue against that, no need for this kind of post.

It's a rant about how nobody does anything important anymore and an entire generation has been wasted over a post about a new iOS app made by three people. It's a total non-sequitur: the only thing to argue against is how over the top and off-topic it is.

And moreover, it's boring: the complaint could be registered on most of the posts on Hacker News. Not everyone's going to save the world with their work, and that's okay. Tearing down other people's work over some perceived social injustice is not.

I am building an app ecosytem around people waiting in airports either for flights or to be picked up.

I am advertising directly to the people who have downtime between flights, and developing a community around the developers to create apps that are geared and focused on this high-value target market.

We have location based coupons that know, by GPS, when you arrive at any airport in 36 countries. When you land - you are greeted by offers from any retailer in the market, and are given the option to book travel (uber/taxi/shuttle/limo) from the airport to a nearby hotel - we sell the hotel booking as well and make a cut on the room.

We also offer social games for those stuck in airports waiting. Play with people at your gate, on your flight, from your hometown airport or any other place! Again the ads are all from retailers directly around you!

Finally, we even offer a travellers hookup service, so if you want to look for lay-over travelers to hook up with, you can sign-up and hook up. (this product is called 'Laid-Overs' and is our most popular app!

We have an API that people can connect to also!

That sounds very interesting. What is the URL for the site? A preliminary Google search didn't turn up anything...

Its stealth startup idea!

Run with it!

(it was a joke in response to the GP's being upset that great minds were being wasted on improving the Airport pickup experience.)

For someone who genuinely complains about "first world problems," it seems that being upset about what smartphone apps a couple of random guys are building should make it pretty high on the list. I'm sure people living in third world countries would love to have the luxury to experience lamentation about which lucrative business choices a bunch of first worlders are making.

Wow, what an absolutely unnecessary and unwarranted judgment.

I jumped to a similar assumption, but it's not clear this app is their startup. They seem to have a company "Little Details", so this is likely just a pet project they enjoy working on together. If we see them raising millions of dollars for this app, then this rant can stand.

You underestimate leverage. If this app takes off and shaves off 15 minutes of time for a million people a month, you are looking at 10k man-days of effort a month being saved. Not to mention the fuel thrown away by cars in "loop arounds."

>I really think it's just an exposure issue -- people are used to web, and fields like the life sciences or hardware seem mysterious and complex. How do those become opened up?

I think that's a really interesting question, but the way the rest of the post is/was written is going to work against it being considered.

I expect you'd have been better off writing something up on the idea in its own context and submitting it on its own.

Off the top of my head, I think we're already seeing hardware being "opened up" through things like Arduino, 3D printing and the ease of making global connections on sites like Alibaba. I can't really speak to life science, but I'm generally inclined to think that more (any?) exposure in primary education would help.

I have spent plenty of time around alternative medicine groups online. I have seen and done some pretty amazing things. I am killing my health site and I have started a comic. No one wants a miracle cure. Talking about what I have done gets me nothing but personal attacks. Doing something people will pay money for, no matter how trivial it seems, is the rational thing for talented, intelligent people to do. If you think saving the world is so important and worthwhile, perhaps you should quit being a hypercritical asshole and go do something "worthwhile." Get back to us losers trying to pay the bills after you win your Nobel prize.

If you want to give out your cure, then just give out your cure for free, without all the preamble and mystery. If you aren't just saying "the way to cure cystic fibrosis is XYZ" (whatever XYZ might be, even if it's 'ocean air and diet coke') then the rest is really just excuses.

I spent a lot of time trying to give it out for free. People are not interested and it gets me very ugly personal attacks. I don't mind helping people but the degree to which people are ugly is a genuine issue, and not of the "my feelings are hurt" variety. I am fairly thick-skinned. And because no one will engage me in discussion, I am unable at this time to move forward on figuring out how to effectively communicate what I have done. That is a non-trivial issue which I cannot solve in a vacuum. So you are basically being an asshole to me over this, which is hardly new. Your remarks amount to an unfounded and unwarranted personal attack and contain zero helpful, problem-solving value.

I'm sorry you feel attacked. Why can't you post your cure here?

I spent 12 years getting well when doctors said it could not be done. It wasn't a simple process. But if you want a super brief summary: Celtic sea salt, coconut oil and glyconutrients. Eat an anti-inflammatory, alkaline diet. Redress years of nutritional deficiencies. Use non-drug antmicrobials. Avoid exposures to germs, chemicals, etc.

I think the link to the site might still be in my profile. If not, it is at healthgazelle.com. There is substantial info in the archive... Edit: linky:

oops sorry that's screwed up and won't be fixed, but this page will get you to the archive -- just don't click on "home":

http://www.healthgazelle.com/oldsite/cfandmoney.shtml

I think the domain name expires in July. So satisfy your curiosity if you wish.

i'm sorry but this is just wrong.

people in the 2nd world and developing world also need to pick people up from airports. they also ALL have phones that are capable of receiving text messages and many of them have smartphones.

and not everyone drives, but everyone sure as hell can call a cab. in case you didn't notice there are LOTS of cabs in the developing world.

quick top of the head guesses for market population size:

entire US: 300M entire EU: 700M+ middle class chinese: 300M middle class africans: 100M (??) middle class south americans: 300M (??)

what percentage of these people have smartphones? what percentage WILL have smart phones in 5 years?

How is this a first world problem? Air traffic is growing means of transport in lots of developing countries. India's air traffic has been growing at 17-20% per year. Smartphone ownership is also growing in developing countries.

Now think of the fuel and productivity costs of airport pickups. Usually if I'm early I end up driving around the airport, or worse, spending lots of money on parking. In India people typically wait at the side of the road with their AC on. If this app works perfectly, there is a lot of real gain to be had, and not just in the US.

"This is the quintessential first world problem."

Aside from being an overstatement, this is correct. And if anyone would think about it, that's something working in their favor. Unless you're one of those "profit is evil" people, when you're building a business with the intention of making money, you'll probably want to target a market that actually has disposable income.

Yep, it's very much a first world problem, but the negativity on that point is unwarranted. I doubt they started it with the intention of fixing society.

I understand what you mean. I don't imagine I could work very long on a project like this with asking myself if it's the most important problem I could be solving.

But we don't know these guys, they may feel the same and this is a means to an end. Luckily the entire generation isn't working in Silicon Valley and there are similarly motivated people in climate change research, biotech etc.

This is a place where we talk about the technical merits of projects and provide useful feedback for making them better.

Posting a comment just to say that someone shouldn't have built it in the first place is profoundly unhelpful. Actually, its worse than that. Its un-useful.

so.. what worthy problem are you working on?

One way to solve huge problems is by first solving smaller ones.