The graveyard of good ideas
Solutions that were tried, and what stopped them.
Patents that were rejected or abandoned, products that shut down, projects that went quiet. Borrow the idea, avoid the dead end.
1,395 solutions
- startupShut down2015
Amazon interviewed me about my Amazon fake reviews detection app
Here's how it went down. So last April-May, I built a chrome extension that detects fake reviews on Amazon. It analyzes a combination of factors about the linguistics of the review (part of speech tags, unigrams and bigrams analysis), the reviewer metadata (rank, percent helpful reviews, number of reviews...), and the overall product reviews statistics (standard deviation, percent one time reviewers... etc). At the end the reviews quality are scored on all these factors to give the product reviews a letter grade rating where "F" means that the product is very likely to have gone through a reviews bombing campaign and an "A" grade is for a product that contains mostly reliable reviews from reliable reviewers. On the side I've been applying to Amazon jobs, and the last one I applied I included in my resume that I made such an app. About a couple of weeks later
Why it failed: Here's how it went down. So last April-May, I built a chrome extension that detects fake reviews on Amazon. It analyzes a combination of factors about the linguistics of the review (part of speech tags, unigrams and bigrams analysis), the reviewer metadata (rank, percent hel
vumania
- startupShut down2015
Ask HN: In what order did the best and worst periods in your career come?
edit: I like that a modest amount of people have upvotes this, and thank you to the people who did respond, but just a very quick post mortem on 2 tine periods would be very helpful. If you are a founder, employee, student, unemployed whatever, what moment or timeframe was would you say: "Fuck Yes, I am/am close to my definition of success" and "the sick to your stomach, cold sweat, vomit in a trash can before work, abject failure monent/s in your life" what order did they come.
Why it failed: edit: I like that a modest amount of people have upvotes this, and thank you to the people who did respond, but just a very quick post mortem on 2 tine periods would be very helpful. If you are a founder, employee, student, unemployed whatever, what moment or timeframe was would
vonklaus
- startupShut down2015
Ask HN: Struggling to pay rent this month. Can I help you with a gig?
Hi HN, long-time contributor with ~1500 karma; throwaway for obvious reasons. When I used to see these posts, I always was thankful for the position I was in. I never hesitated to send a personal message with my regards and best wishes, and most of the time I'd include a small bit of help. I'm hoping this all comes full-circle, because I desperately need it. Let's not make this about financial planning (it's otherwise pretty good) but a client has just told me (after telling me they were waiting on a third-party...) they're unable to pay their invoice this month and it's put a strain on me. About 2 years ago I had an excess of $100k in my bank account. As someone in their early-mid 20s, I was doing very good. I don't live lavishly or have super nice things; I'm pretty frugal and basic. But after some hospital expenses and some very bad luck, I'
Why it failed: Hi HN, long-time contributor with ~1500 karma; throwaway for obvious reasons. When I used to see these posts, I always was thankful for the position I was in. I never hesitated to send a personal message with my regards and best wishes, and most of the time I'd include a sma
_whynow
- startupShut down2015
Ask HN: Average savings per month?
Hi, I usually read about devs making 110-130k in the West Coast, and generally less in other states... But I'm curious about how much on average do they end up saving at the end of the month. I know it differs a lot depending on the lifestyle, but how much is the norm? (For a single, with no kids, to simplify things) A simple breakdown of the main expenses would be greatly appreciated, i.e. taxes, rent, food, health, services, leisure, rest=savings. What percentage of your salary do you end up saving? Thanks! (Answers from other countries would be interesting too, for a richer comparison!!)
Why it failed: Hi, I usually read about devs making 110-130k in the West Coast, and generally less in other states... But I'm curious about how much on average do they end up saving at the end of the month. I know it differs a lot depending on the lifestyle, but how much is the norm? (For
molmalo
- startupShut down2015
Ask HN: Feeling pressured to accept startup job offer quickly
Hi, I recently got offered a startup job at a nice little company in SF. Everything seems OK with the company and job. After going back and forth a little on the compensation we came to an agreement. However, they are pressuring me to take the job asap because they have a short list and who ever says 'yes' first gets the job. I've never encountered this situation before. Is this normal? Here's something else that makes me suspicious: I'm a terrible interviewer and not a great programmer and am suspicious that there's a company that will accept me. The interview process was a bit long and through with a phone screen and an office visit and a follow up interview. Maybe this is the interview I finally just nailed after many failed interviews. I can't really tell. I'm a little worried about leaving my current job because now I'm wondering if this
Why it failed: Hi, I recently got offered a startup job at a nice little company in SF. Everything seems OK with the company and job. After going back and forth a little on the compensation we came to an agreement. However, they are pressuring me to take the job asap because they have a short l
yahth
- startupShut down2015
Ask HN: My tools broke, and I am broke, what now?
I am from Brazil, that is having a economic hard time right now, also I don't have a regular income for almost an year (and my last real job was many years ago). I got some small freelancing work to do, I was going to deliver a milestone tomorrow, I was using my startup old workstation that was left on my house (after the startup ran out of rent money) to work on that, but the HDD failed about one hour and a half ago, and the diagnostic tools that come with OSX say that it is impossible to salvage. I am broke, almost literally, in Brazil you cannot ask for bankruptcy as individual, if I could I would ask, I am in debt, have no income and I am struggling to pay rent and food. And the work I had to do requires an OSX, I also own a laptop in its last throes (several parts of it already failed or are randomly working only sometimes) but it is one of those that came with a stupid bios lo
Why it failed: I am from Brazil, that is having a economic hard time right now, also I don't have a regular income for almost an year (and my last real job was many years ago). I got some small freelancing work to do, I was going to deliver a milestone tomorrow, I was using my startup old
speeder
- startupShut down2015
Ask HN: What do you wish you knew in your early twenties?
I ask this question to people in my life who, by my standards, "made it". It's usually a person who successfully sold his startup, is leading research field expert or otherwise distinguished in his career (e.g. a president of huge corporation). The question is vague for a reason - to not bias the person. I am interested to hear about everything: technical, financial, social, professional, etc. My thesis is that while we cannot look forward in time (well, not yet) it is easy to look backwards and connect the dots. Hence, I ask this question to learn what's ahead and get prepared for it now. There are few things that usually come up, for example: be humble, work backwards from end-goal, hard work is basis for most things, it's often worth scarifying short term goals for a longer term pay-off, learn to appreciate simple things in life. So, HN audience, what do you w
Why it failed: I ask this question to people in my life who, by my standards, "made it". It's usually a person who successfully sold his startup, is leading research field expert or otherwise distinguished in his career (e.g. a president of huge corporation). The question is vagu
AndriusSutas
- startupShut down2015
Ask HN: Can you give me some advice on writing essays?
I am trying to learn to write some interesting essays/blog post, and I need some advice, because I'm completely stuck. I have had trouble coming up with things to talk about my whole life. I read a lot, and I feel like I know a lot of things, but when I sit down to write my mind goes completely blank, I have nothing to say, or rather I feel like there's nothing worth writing about. I don't have anything to say to people who know less than me, because explaining obvious things seems boring, and I don't know what to say to people on HN/LessWrong, because I feel like they are smarter than me and already know everything I am about to say. For example when I read Eliezer Yudkowsky's essays, I think that I already know a lot of the things he is talking about, so before I've read them I had this information in my head, information that could be turned int
Why it failed: I am trying to learn to write some interesting essays/blog post, and I need some advice, because I'm completely stuck. I have had trouble coming up with things to talk about my whole life. I read a lot, and I feel like I know a lot of things, but when I sit down to writ
rayalez
- startupShut down2015
Ask HN: Bootstrappers, what do you do during down time?
I wish things were always busy. By busy I mean, I'm getting inbound leads, I'm having conversations via email or phone, I'm selling, I'm quoting, I'm fixing stuff on the product. Then it goes from crazy busy to suddenly quiet. I just don't know what to do with the down time. I get super uneasy and anxious. I try to do some content marketing but I make so little progress, it's hard to see any result very quickly, so I switch to optimizing the web or landing page and then get see how my PPC campaigns are doing and then reading HN or listening to podcast on bootstrapping etc. I feel inefficient and spread thin. I feel terrible when things are quiet. I have an urge to start cranking out updates and new features on the product but I stop myself, as I only decided to create features that enough paying users request. I have a terrible habit of playing counters
Why it failed: I wish things were always busy. By busy I mean, I'm getting inbound leads, I'm having conversations via email or phone, I'm selling, I'm quoting, I'm fixing stuff on the product. Then it goes from crazy busy to suddenly quiet. I just don't know what
curiously
- startupShut down2015
Ask HN: How do you deal with after work fatigue?
I started working in programming 3 years ago. Ever since I got into 8h/days programming, I feel really tired after I come home. I'm not able to do the meaningless task, and sometimes I just get into bed at 7 and sleep. I suppose that the nature of our jobs depletes our will and maybe that's why I'm like this. I tried doing some push-ups, going by bike to work, quitting smoking, but didn't solve much. So if anyone was in the same position and found a way to get by, I would really appreciate some advices. I feel I live only during the week-ends.
Why it failed: I started working in programming 3 years ago. Ever since I got into 8h/days programming, I feel really tired after I come home. I'm not able to do the meaningless task, and sometimes I just get into bed at 7 and sleep. I suppose that the nature of our jobs depletes our
zuzuleinen
- startupShut down2015
Ask HN: Losing interest
I learned how to code in University and did pretty well at it after an initial struggle. I studied EE but felt like being a programmer matched my interests better so I got a job in that. I've been working a few years at the same place. I write Python REST APIs at the moment. The other person on my team does UI work, which I started out doing and still do sometimes. I've built the whole back end system from scratch so I feel like I have a good understanding of how everything works and the ability to work on any level of the stack, though I know the most about the back end. I have been feeling disinterested in what I'm working on. My team is only 2 people and we don't work together on much of anything. I find this other person difficult to talk to. A couple of friends from Uni work there but all 3 of us are different projects. My company seems to have issues hiring peop
Why it failed: I learned how to code in University and did pretty well at it after an initial struggle. I studied EE but felt like being a programmer matched my interests better so I got a job in that. I've been working a few years at the same place. I write Python REST APIs at the moment.
thebigspacefuck
- startupShut down2015
Ask HN: Any HN stats analysis been done?
I was just thinking of some questions about HN discussions - things like what does the average discussion look like? How long between replies is common / polite (I seem to let the other end hang for hours) I don't particularly care about best time to post (that's defined by me as when I am struck by something) but there are many interesting questions one could ask the corpus (Which leads to the other question - is there a good way to get hold of the corpus?)
Why it failed: I was just thinking of some questions about HN discussions - things like what does the average discussion look like? How long between replies is common / polite (I seem to let the other end hang for hours) I don't particularly care about best time to post (that's d
lifeisstillgood
- startupShut down2015
Ask HN: Techniques for surviving a job you loathe?
I would love to get some advise from people who have been in less than ideal situations and how they got through it. I would love to know techniques for dealing stress, mundane work environments, and not being challenged. I was involved in a startup for a year that ended early last year because the person funding it got cold feet - it was his idea. As a result, I basically took the first job I could find, which is in the finance industry. My roles to date have largely been around management of people and architecture. My home town is literally at the bottom end of Australia. Beautiful place but there are very few development jobs and no paying startups here. I have a child with another on the way. My partners salary is insufficient for us to live on. My job is a dev at a medium size company (around 300). The development in this company is appalling, non scoring on the Joel test and the w
Why it failed: I would love to get some advise from people who have been in less than ideal situations and how they got through it. I would love to know techniques for dealing stress, mundane work environments, and not being challenged. I was involved in a startup for a year that ended early la
trevaa
- startupShut down2015
Ask HN: How do you familiarize yourself with a new codebase?
My question is pretty straightforward: how do you, hacker news enthusiast, familiarize yourself with a new codebase? Obviously your answer is going to be contingent on the kind of work that you do. Some background: What's motivating me to ask is that I am flirting with the idea of trying to add a couple of features to SlickGrid (https://github.com/mleibman/SlickGrid), Michael Leibman's phenomenal javascript grid widget. Unfortunately Leibman got busy and isn't actively supporting it anymore. The codebase is something like 8k lines of javascript, so it's not ludicrously big, but I'm kind of intimidated thinking about trying to make sense of it. My first strategy is just to open up important-looking javascript files (slick.core.js, slick.grid.js) and read through for comprehension. This seems like a pretty slow way to build a mental model of the
Why it failed: My question is pretty straightforward: how do you, hacker news enthusiast, familiarize yourself with a new codebase? Obviously your answer is going to be contingent on the kind of work that you do. Some background: What's motivating me to ask is that I am flirting with the i
roflc0ptic
- startupShut down2015
Ask HN: Any luck with Stackoverflow careers (employer side)?
I've published an ad for a developer position on stackoverflow careers, but the response has been a bit underwhelming so far... We are offering competitive salary and we do not deviate much from mainstream technologies, so I was definitely expecting more and better candidates. I'm now thinking about shutting down the ad and go for a more traditional route (monster, indeed, ...), which is a pity because I liked the idea of finding quality developers through the SO platform. Did some of you ever try to advertise a position through SO careers? And how was your experience?
Why it failed: I've published an ad for a developer position on stackoverflow careers, but the response has been a bit underwhelming so far... We are offering competitive salary and we do not deviate much from mainstream technologies, so I was definitely expecting more and better candidate
andrea_s
- startupShut down2015
MacOS is the new Windows
I'm typing this on my late 2010 MacBook Air. Recently I was starting having problems with it (you know when you type your password and the system does not recognize your key presses, etc.). And I thought, “Oh, ok, I have to accept that we live in a world of planned obsolesce (how else faster-than-a-gigahertz multi-gigabyte-RAM machine could become slow? If it is capable of real-time response to user's actions, it should respond in real-time) and I have to upgrade to get my job done”. So I switched to this new aesthetically marvelous wonder: an early 2015 13 inch MacBook Pro. In 5 days I'm using it the machine restarted two (or three?) times "because of problems" though it has much less software installed than my old rock-stable-in-comparison MacBook Air. And now I'm installing an OS update which already restarted my system twice. First it restarted the syste
Why it failed: I'm typing this on my late 2010 MacBook Air. Recently I was starting having problems with it (you know when you type your password and the system does not recognize your key presses, etc.). And I thought, “Oh, ok, I have to accept that we live in a world of planned obsolesce
beyondcompute
- startupShut down2015
Ask HN: The struggle to stay motivated
I'm an engineer at $LARGE_SOFTWARE_CO. I'm just shy of 10 years in the workforce. With some skill and lots of luck, I find myself as the lead for a prominent product with a large, established user base. I've run this project for a couple years and enjoy a lot of creative freedom and influence over its future. The project itself is successful and growing fast. The team is smart and effective. I make great money in this role, which is really the only way I'm able to eke out a decent lifestyle (married, kid on the way) in my hometown, $INCREDIBLY_EXPENSIVE_US_CITY. I set my own schedule, and I never work 40 hours. I carry a pager, but it's not much of a burden. By all accounts, it's a top-notch job and I'm lucky to have it. Problem is, I can't stand it anymore. I'm constantly stressed; I have no motivation to complete anything; when I'm in t
Why it failed: I'm an engineer at $LARGE_SOFTWARE_CO. I'm just shy of 10 years in the workforce. With some skill and lots of luck, I find myself as the lead for a prominent product with a large, established user base. I've run this project for a couple years and enjoy a lot of cr
pupsocket
- startupShut down2015
Ask HN: If I were your dream hire, would you hire me? I live in Somalia
I'm at a dead end career-wise and the job market I'm at does not offer any better alternatives than my current job. The pay is great but I find the work I do pretty depressing compared to the stuff I know I'm capable of. I've tried to demonstrate and explain the value I could be bring if we were to do things differently but I've lost hope that I'll ever get through to anyone. HN has always been inspiring regarding starting your own business and although that is something I want to try, I'm more curious right now about the feasibility of finding a job outside the country. The question is, I don't know if that's even possible. How would a company even determine if I'm worth hiring and going through all the work to get me a work visa if they can't even interview me in person? Would they tolerate my crappy internet if they try to intervi
Why it failed: I'm at a dead end career-wise and the job market I'm at does not offer any better alternatives than my current job. The pay is great but I find the work I do pretty depressing compared to the stuff I know I'm capable of. I've tried to demonstrate and explain t
xtrumanx
- startupShut down2015
Ask HN: How do you deal with professional jealousy and getting older?
I'm a 26 y.o. software dev working on going indie. All my life, I've struggled with procrastination. I find it very hard to sit down and work on a project without an external motivator, and on many nights I end up vegging out in front of the TV or aimlessly clicking around on the internet. As a result, even though I am successful on an absolute scale — CS degree from a top-10, worked at a startup and a large company, enough savings to last a few years of solo development — by my own metric of success, I am crippled by the feeling that it's "too late". Every day, I read an article by some hot-shot young dev who has a handful of fancy projects behind his belt (not to mention a great website and design sensibility) while I have exactly zero — and he's half a decade younger than me! How will I ever be able to catch up? Experience-wise, I'm still a junior de
Why it failed: I'm a 26 y.o. software dev working on going indie. All my life, I've struggled with procrastination. I find it very hard to sit down and work on a project without an external motivator, and on many nights I end up vegging out in front of the TV or aimlessly clicking aro
tastyface
- startupShut down2015
Ask HN: My startup has failed. What comes next?
My startup of about two years has failed. We were hanging on for the last couple of months in the hopes of getting a big break. We're out of money now. My motivation levels are also pretty low after so many repeated failures. My question is, for other people that have been in the same situation: What did you do after? Did you start looking for a job? Did you jump straight into your next startup. I'm also considering whether it's possible to pick up small programming jobs on Elance to pay the bills.
Why it failed: My startup of about two years has failed. We were hanging on for the last couple of months in the hopes of getting a big break. We're out of money now. My motivation levels are also pretty low after so many repeated failures. My question is, for other people that have been i
blinduck
- startupShut down2015
Ask HN: Do I give up now?
I've heard failure is good, but 10 years is a long time. That's how long I've been failing for now. I've worked on failed project after failed project, and now at 25, I'm wondering what the fuck I've been doing with my life - my youth. When I was 15 me and my friend started a little hosting website. It was really fun. I learnt to program, and we even made a little bit of money. In the excitement I began to learn about business, startups and programming. I thought it was going to be so easy to make money. I mean, if I could make a bit of money on the web at 15 without knowing anything about business or programming, I'm going to be great at this startup stuff by 20 right? Well, clearly, I'm not. And I read a lot. And I think even more. I just have no idea why I'm not succeeding. Because for the last 10 years I've worked 16-18 hours a day, e
Why it failed: I've heard failure is good, but 10 years is a long time. That's how long I've been failing for now. I've worked on failed project after failed project, and now at 25, I'm wondering what the fuck I've been doing with my life - my youth. When I was 15
smokesigns
- startupShut down2015
Ask HN: What should I do if I feel burnt out?
I'm a 23 year old developer working for a medium size startup. I made the switch to my current employer about four months ago from a corporate job. While I enjoyed the move for the first three months or so, I do not feel the same now. The reason is that recently one of "star" developers at my current employer was poached by another company. As a result, most of his work (which I had no clue of) came on my shoulders. The code that I inherited is unidiomatic and written in a way that only the author could understand. And now, since I "own" the code, I've been putting extra hours and working on it as much as 15 hours a day to understand it and make fixes (which has become my day job). Despite of all this, I've failed to deliver on most deadlines (as the managers had higher expectations from me). To add to all of this, I've been diagnosed with hyperten
Why it failed: I'm a 23 year old developer working for a medium size startup. I made the switch to my current employer about four months ago from a corporate job. While I enjoyed the move for the first three months or so, I do not feel the same now. The reason is that recently one of "
rsjaaji
- startupShut down2015
Ask HN: When do you know your startup has failed?
I'm currently going through a mini depression. We've gone without salary for the last 4 months, abandoned our business model to do pay for hire work in the hopes of trying to raise money to keep the lights on. Honestly I feel like I'm going to be evicted from the house. My rent is already up, and as of now I have < $1 :). My partner is fine actually, he has rich parents and doesn't really depend on the startup for income. Which actually gives my friends and family the illusion that we're both killing it. We have almost 0 chance of raising more money, it's much harder to get money it seems if you're in a poor country. So, if you've had a failed startup, how did you know? Did you run out of money and call it quits? If you succeeded, did you have a patch so rough that you were evicted? I'm 25, I feel like I'm losing at life already. It wa
Why it failed: I'm currently going through a mini depression. We've gone without salary for the last 4 months, abandoned our business model to do pay for hire work in the hopes of trying to raise money to keep the lights on. Honestly I feel like I'm going to be evicted from the h
superpi
- startupShut down2015
Ask HN: Real odds of making a living off a web app
My goal is to make a webapp that makes a middle class income. It does not have to be Bay Area middle class, but say 100k a year. What is the real probability this can happen? Or is it a fool's errand? I'm from a non-software field in my 30's, but I'm tired of grinding it out with a salary that can barely cover the expenses. I'd like to work remotely and live somewhere more affordable. I don't expect anything to happen right away, but over the next 5 years. Because I don't see myself saving my way to retirement, owning a business where you control your time is the only end game I can see. I like building apps and take pride in my work, so it seems like a good avenue for me. Thanks.
Why it failed: My goal is to make a webapp that makes a middle class income. It does not have to be Bay Area middle class, but say 100k a year. What is the real probability this can happen? Or is it a fool's errand? I'm from a non-software field in my 30's, but I'm tired of
savorypiano