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Comment by jemka | Hacker News Reader

The concept isn't new and unfortunately the execution isn't either. The issue with sites like these is the poor signal to noise ratio. We're all capable of blind speculation and these sites seem to be riddled with "ideas" that are nothing more than a faint unattainable wishes.

There are people out there with real problems. They've lived the pain and have stories to share. There are also people out there that if they took the time to listen to that story and ask questions they might be able to formulate a real idea on how to fix or lessen that pain. And if they find a solution to a problem that people are willing to pay for, they'd have the seed of a business.

That's the site I want to see built.

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  There are people out there with real problems. They've lived the pain and have stories to share.

The difficulty there is that many of the people with stories to share can't express them in a way that is meaningful to the people who could solve the problem. It's a division between the haves and have-nots of logical expression.

Which is why you haven't seen a successful idea website. It's not a simple problem to solve. But I don't for one second believe it's not possible. My point, however, was to explain why merely posting "ideas" isn't a solution. It just happens to be the easiest to implement.

The reason we haven't seen a successful idea website like that is because it's a classic marketplace problem.

Such a solution would have to evolve out of an existing platform that has already attracted a diverse community. My guess is sites like Reddit or Quora are best positioned to solve this problem. I have seen several questions on Quora that were basically along the lines of, "I have problem X, can you recommend a tool to solve it?" Either people provide suggestions, or a developer comes along and says "Hey I have this problem too, I'm going to build a solution and let you know when it's live in a few weeks."

I could imagine HN creating IHAP (I Have a Problem) posts where somebody shares a problem they have and others from the community can either provide suggestions or offer to build a solution.

What I can't see happening is a new marketplace forming around this concept. Why would I post a problem to Firespotting, when I'd get a much better response posting to HN or Quora?

As a lover of blind speculation I would love to see more of these. Can you point me at a few nice ones?

Hacker news for problems would be great then.

Yeah. I really like the idea of someplace to wax poetic about unformed/really out there ideas, it really jogs the brain into super creative mode, and is just super fun to do.

Yep. And while I was composing this reply saying the community could help consolidating the problems and stuff, I realized it already exist, it's called StackExchange.

They should add it as a section to their site, similar to how we have the ask section here.

Or perhaps a kickstarter or indiegogo, that is driven by those with a problem, rather than those with a solution? Someone could post a "project wanted" and others could join in, until a critical mass is achieved and someone with the right skills sees it as a validated product and choose to build it and is okayed by enough backers. At that point, the funding from those that said "okay" kicks in and away the project goes.

Interesting idea but it'll need some work. Let's say I have a problem - it takes too long to get from point a to point b. Do I propose a solution to the problem or just post the problem? If it's the former, my suggested solution may be too far reaching or not far reaching enough (teleportation vs make faster cars). If it's the latter, it may be easy to get people to agree a problem exists but hard to get them to agree on what a good solution would be.

Of the two, the latter is probably the better option. Perhaps I list a pain point along with the amount I'd be willing to pay to have that problem solved. Others do the same. There's no tipping point because it's unlikely that by simply having a problem I'd also know how much it would cost to solve the problem.

At any point, users/companies with the skills to solve the problem can propose solutions along with their minimum funding requirements and relevant credentials. I can select more than 1 solution and whichever solution reaches their minimum funding requirements first gets my pledge.

Or instead of trying to compete with kickstarter, this could simply be a step that happens before campaigns are launched on KS. People list their pain points and the amount they'd be willing to pay to have them solved and then you charge companies to add their solution/link to their KS campaign.

Yes, there would have to be some negotiation/matching on price. I'd see it as an iterative process, whereby a set of backers post a problem, with or without a cost estimate. The solver puts forward a proposal with estimated costs and each backer chooses whether they want to accept that proposal. The process then iterates until a tipping point is reached in the funding.

Good idea to see it as an addendum to an existing service rather than a service in its own right. Or an amalgam might work, whereby the "kickstarter for problems" is a separate service, but on reaching the tipping point the project morphs into a regular kickstarter project, that has already reach its tipping point. This would require each backer to also have a kickstarter account (if not the kickstarter project would come up below its tipping point), but it would save a minimum viable product from the complexities of having to handle money.

Totally agree on noise/signal issue, however ... well-thought out, validated ideas are precious. There's probably a small cache of such ideas that people are willing to share, but that'd be a very small cache. Not sure if it'd justify creation of a full-scale news or discussion site. If anything, it'd be more like a infrequent curated newsletter.

Full fledged "ideas" aren't what you'd post. What you would see would be discussions about problems. A site for open consultations where people can express pain points in their daily lives. Of course you'd have to make it conversational enough to where people without the ability to adequately identify and express their pain points can do so with ease. Often people don't realize a pain point until a solution is available.

People with the power to reduce/remove such pain points would stand a better chance at identifying real need and business opportunities.

You can do this with your friends, co-workers, family, or neighbors. You may find a few problems to fix and may even come up with a few solutions. And you might get lucky with a viable solution.

But, expand that premise to the country or the world. Now you're talking about learning about problems you didn't even know existed. Problems that you personally might be able to solve. And you have a community of "solvers" waiting to help. The "co-founder" website finder is built right in.

Everyone's ideas are 'valid' to them, thus validated (in their minds). And "well thought-out"... we've all run in to people who've been thinking about their ideas for years, but that doesn't mean the ideas are really implementable, or that the problems are truly solvable (or solvable beyond that one person).

Sort of like https://www.innocentive.com ?

I completely agree with your second point. The emphasis should be on problems rather than the "ideas". That's how real innovation works. Ideas are cheap, abundant and mostly unimportant. Problems and challenges are the real thing.

Funny, I just ran across this site: http://www.quirky.com/

The video is kind of like what you are talking about. Interesting company, don't you think?

FWIW, http://fundprojectswith.me/ from Agriya looks better approach to me.

I liked the way Quirky works.The company has a long way to go,but it should do it before 3D printing becomes mainstream.

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