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 down2011
Show HN: Sparkmuse, story and beta of my side project
TLDR: The beta of my my site, Sparkmuse, has begun. Please join me at http://www.sparkmuse.com/invitation/Hacker-News . The Story: Well here it is, the beta of Sparkmuse. I'm pretty happy to "get there", but I'm really just relieved. Don't get me wrong, I'm F'ING STOKED to get this in front of some more valuable eyeballs, especially the Hacker News crowd. Right now though, I'm just leaning back in a rickety old chair thinking "I did it." Several months ago I was pretty down on myself. I wanted to get out there and meet new people, do cool projects, explore new technologies, and just jump into a swimming pool full of what I love. Some people call it passion and maybe that is cliche, but what is passion if it sits on a couch all night? But it was just a dream, I worked the 9-5 at an enterprise job, put in an extra hour here and there, and then came home to waste time on the tube. I love my
Why it failed: TLDR: The beta of my my site, Sparkmuse, has begun. Please join me at http://www.sparkmuse.com/invitation/Hacker-News . The Story: Well here it is, the beta of Sparkmuse. I'm pretty happy to "get there", but I'm really just relieved. Don't get me wrong, I'm F'ING STOKED to get th
netmau5
- startupShut down2011
Ask HN: Startup promised me a job, then backed out after the internship
TL;DR; Student from Europe, did an internship in a NYC startup, got promised to be hired. After having made all the plans for moving to US, the offer was retracted. In August I began an internship at a New York startup. Since I’m European, I had no expectations that it would have led to a full-time job, given the hassle of getting an H1B visa (in fact, I was already surprised that the company sponsored my J-1 for the length of the internship). After just a few weeks, the company was impressed with my performance (they told me I had already accomplished more than they expected from the whole three months) and they gave me a full-time offer. Compensation, option, benefits, visa paperwork, all there. I took some time to decide, as I was considering other opportunities, and eventually accepted. My girlfriend is American (we met in the UK, where we both did our master’s), and this was the bes
Why it failed: TL;DR; Student from Europe, did an internship in a NYC startup, got promised to be hired. After having made all the plans for moving to US, the offer was retracted. In August I began an internship at a New York startup. Since I’m European, I had no expectations that it would have
throwaway87
- startupShut down2011
Give Back to HN: Advice for New Entrepreneurs
TL;DR: Work smart, work hard, examine the competition, know your strengths and weaknesses and know what success and failure look like. I thought since I've been in the web game now for nearly a decade that I should give back to the community that's given me so much in a useful way, that would benefit those people who are where I was when I started out. So here's some pointers for people new to the business of doing businesses (design, marketing, building, finding clients etc) online. # Gnothi Seauton (Know Thyself) This is the single most important piece of advice I can give. As someone who's worked in agencies, worked in-house and run a business, the thing that stands out most is this: Know what you're good at, and what you're not good at That's not to say that there's things you can't do; on the contrary, I'm much of the mindset that just about anyone can do just about anything, if the
Why it failed: TL;DR: Work smart, work hard, examine the competition, know your strengths and weaknesses and know what success and failure look like. I thought since I've been in the web game now for nearly a decade that I should give back to the community that's given me so much in a useful wa
pwatsonwailes
- startupShut down2011
Internet's DNS infrastructure been under attack for days. Anyone else noticed?
This is an email I received from my DNS hosting provider after reporting an unusual spike in number of queries for one of my zones that has been being hit steadily by nearly 140k queries per day since November 29th. Since November 29th, 2011, about 150,000 domains in [DNS hosting provider name] management have been under an ongoing DNS attack. This is not an attack on [DNS hosting provider name], but actually attack on specific domains. We have confirmed this since we have moved many of these domains to different providers and the attack traffic has moved with it. These attacks represent about 15% of all domains under [DNS hosting provider name]. These attacks tend to come for a few hours and then go away; but they do come back, and they are everyday. These DNS attacks are actual queries to live domains that [DNS hosting provider name] is authoritative for. Once again, these are an attac
Why it failed: This is an email I received from my DNS hosting provider after reporting an unusual spike in number of queries for one of my zones that has been being hit steadily by nearly 140k queries per day since November 29th. Since November 29th, 2011, about 150,000 domains in [DNS hosting
gabriele
- startupShut down2011
Follow up to "I'm building a TechCrunch alternative that focuses on startups"
Three days ago I submitted an article describing my intentions to launch a news site that is focus on Startups. The original thread can be found here: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2153038 . The response so far has been over whelming. I've had over 100 startups reach out to me from HN and I've responded to every single email I received (before today). I must say, the quality of submissions was phenomenal. There are some really sharp people here. If you're a startup and still want to tell us your story, please get in touch with me by emailing me at paul@codesketch.com. In other news, MediaTemple has very generously offered to be a sponsor and handle our hosting for us. I've already began writing several articles and we will be soft launching this Thursday. The site is looking fantastic, and the startup coverage will be unparalleled. If you would like to sign up for our weekly news l
Why it failed: Three days ago I submitted an article describing my intentions to launch a news site that is focus on Startups. The original thread can be found here: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2153038 . The response so far has been over whelming. I've had over 100 startups reach out to
g0atbutt
- startupShut down2011
Inspire HN: Persistent determination
YC deadline is soon, so I just wanted to give some inspiration to all YC applicants. Hope this will help, or at least, you’ll find it worth reading. First, ask yourself a question: if you failed, then how do you know if you failed because it’s impossible or because you just wasn’t determined enough? Well, really, how do you know that? Every real life case falls into two possible categories: either someone succedeed or not. If he or she falied then there is always a lot of obvious reasons for that, because it’s easy to judge when you’re looking into the past. From formal, scientific point of view one can’t prove something is impossible just because someone who tried failed. I challenge you with the hypothesis that the only reason you can fail is insufficient determination. The great Russian mathematician Andrey Kolmogorov discovered evolutionary epistemology principle. It says that humans
Why it failed: YC deadline is soon, so I just wanted to give some inspiration to all YC applicants. Hope this will help, or at least, you’ll find it worth reading. First, ask yourself a question: if you failed, then how do you know if you failed because it’s impossible or because you just wasn’
bloodcarter
- startupShut down2010
Ask HN: Lack of self-discipline driving me hopeless. Tips?
Dear Hacker News, I am a longtime member here. I would never think I would be one of those writing this but here it goes. I have a terrible problem with focus and discipline. I simply cannot manage to achieve both for any prolonged period of times. For the last five years, I have tried very conciously to become disciplined and no matter what, after a few days or weeks at best, the pattern breaks and I am back to my unproductive, terrible self. I also cannot really enjoy or focus on anything or anyone for too long. This is the most scary part. I cannot be in a relationship for more than a week or two before becoming very ambivalent after the initial high. I cannot continue working on projects--all of them I would say I enjoy--for more than a few weeks at most. I am 23 and finishing up school(took some time off to do failed startup). Much of this could be accepted during my teen years and
Why it failed: Dear Hacker News, I am a longtime member here. I would never think I would be one of those writing this but here it goes. I have a terrible problem with focus and discipline. I simply cannot manage to achieve both for any prolonged period of times. For the last five years, I have
Damnit
- startupShut down2010
Ask HN: What to do about "grand ideas" in fields you have no expertise in?
Assume you have a great idea in a field you have no expertise in. Of course, almost all people who are in this situation really don't have a great idea, but for the sake of this thread, let's assume that the idea is indeed great. That is, great in the sense that if people with expertise and a proven track record in the field, and with connections in the industry, and with a lot of hard work, etc, could turn into something valuable. e.g. a dentist having the idea for Tivo years before Tivo was out, or a computer programmer coming up with a design for a better propeller for oil tankers. It seems to me that there is almost nothing you can do in this situation. Breaking into the TV/entertainment business, or the oil tanker business, or similar large industries is close to impossible for outsiders with no expertise in the field. On the other end of the spectrum, I'm always fascinated by how e
Why it failed: Assume you have a great idea in a field you have no expertise in. Of course, almost all people who are in this situation really don't have a great idea, but for the sake of this thread, let's assume that the idea is indeed great. That is, great in the sense that if people with ex
sendos
- startupShut down2010
HN Petiton: Get Google to support SSL on all of its APIs
As a security-conscious developer, I have started switching over my apps to be served over only SSL. Whilst this might end up being a costly exercise (e.g. having to proxy images in user generated content), the added privacy and security for my users is justification enough for me. Unfortunately the biggest pain in migrating to SSL are the external API providers — very few of them support or even encourage the use of SSL. And, surprisingly, Google is one of the biggest culprits. I say surprisingly as Google have been very vocal on the use of SSL and have done the most significant real work in reducing the technical overheads of using SSL, e.g. see the awesome work by Adam Langley, an extra-ordinary Googler: http://www.imperialviolet.org/2010/06/25/overclocking-ssl.html I've had to resort to various hacks in order to support various Google services, e.g. * Using server-side API calls inst
Why it failed: As a security-conscious developer, I have started switching over my apps to be served over only SSL. Whilst this might end up being a costly exercise (e.g. having to proxy images in user generated content), the added privacy and security for my users is justification enough for m
tav
- startupShut down2010
Ask HN: 2011 Predictions
As we near the end of the year, one realises how busy 2010 has been. There is already a post to show off what has been done, but I am interested in what changes and trends you predict will happen in -the general IT fields (mobile hardware, net neutrality and other broad topics) -your domain specifically (ie, what disruption can we expect where?) -your life (what are you working on?)
Why it failed: As we near the end of the year, one realises how busy 2010 has been. There is already a post to show off what has been done, but I am interested in what changes and trends you predict will happen in -the general IT fields (mobile hardware, net neutrality and other broad topics) -
zmmz
- startupShut down2010
Ask HN: Can you code more than 40 hours/wk?
Greetings HN. I have a problem, at least I think I do. I want to code more because I'm really passionate about creating things. That has meant many different things throughout my life, but it has meant writing software since I discovered my first BBS. I have a full-time day job and, while I enjoy it, I want to create something on the side. I've been working on a side-project since early August but I feel like it's developing extremely slowly. I can code about 40 hours a week. And I mean really code, not just being at work: heads-down, super-productive hacking. All told, I spend about 32-34 hours a week at work coding so I usually end up spending about 10 hours a week on my side-project. This comes out to around 6-8 hours coding and 2-4 hours designing, researching, etc. Those numbers change quite a bit depending on overtime so I typically get in about 25 hours a month on my side-project.
Why it failed: Greetings HN. I have a problem, at least I think I do. I want to code more because I'm really passionate about creating things. That has meant many different things throughout my life, but it has meant writing software since I discovered my first BBS. I have a full-time day job a
netmau5
- startupShut down2010
Ask HN: Average coder at dead-end. What now?
Greetings all! I was hoping the fine minds here might be able to help me out a little with the quandary I'm in. Some woeful backstory: I'm a (ahem) PHP developer & been doing it for 8 or so years now. I'll be honest, I'm no 'rockstar', 'ninja' or 'action-monk' but I think I'm reasonably good and have always managed to build whatever is required within a decent timescale. Nothing has even blown the heck up on my watch. I've done everything from proper low-end nonsense to working on/building on a few largeish e-commerce sites (nothing enormous but in the $millions taken through site in a year). Right now I'm earning £18,000/yr (approx $26,708.40 - off the top of my head ;) with ZERO chance of pay rise (it's been 2 years since my last one) and while this pays the rent, that's about it. I can't pay every bill that comes through each month as it stands. The problems I have are twofold: 1.
Why it failed: Greetings all! I was hoping the fine minds here might be able to help me out a little with the quandary I'm in. Some woeful backstory: I'm a (ahem) PHP developer & been doing it for 8 or so years now. I'll be honest, I'm no 'rockstar', 'ninja' or 'action-monk' but I think I'm
forcetenhen
- startupShut down2010
Noisebridge SF might shutdown
From Shannon Lee via Noisebridge-announce: Hi All, We have a problem. Actually, I think we have several problems, but we have one major manifestation of our problem: We are broke. We are not going to be able to pay February's rent at the current rate of input/output. We're currently taking in about $2500/month in dues & donations, and we're spending about $5000 in rent and utilities and whatnot. This is a dramatic drop-off from this summer, when we were doing a little better than breaking even. So, no joke, Noisebridge may close its doors in February, unless we can solve our problem. This is way past the time for "let's have a party and charge money!" -- the thing we need is for people who don't want Noisebridge to close to reach into their wallets and shell out some cash. Some of you will have noticed the new donation box with a sign that says "It costs $165 per day to keep us open"
Why it failed: From Shannon Lee via Noisebridge-announce: Hi All, We have a problem. Actually, I think we have several problems, but we have one major manifestation of our problem: We are broke. We are not going to be able to pay February's rent at the current rate of input/output. We're curren
lowglow
- startupShut down2010
Ask HN: After almost 30 years the romance is over - What now?
For the first time since graduating, I've recently had the possibility to escape the constant mental treadmill that comes with working in most IT departments, and had a look at what life and the world have become in the past 10 or so years. And I've discovered that the main focus of pretty much all of my life fails to excite me anymore - my honeymoon with computers and IT seems to be over. And I'm left asking myself: What now? Let me explain where I'm coming from: Probably like most of you, I've been exposed to computers at an early age. My first conscious memory of using a computer is playing the original Pong on a black and white TV at a friends house when I was 6 or 7. Since then I've been hooked. When my father got an Amstrad CPC when I was 10 or so I could spend hours on end playing on it, playing with it, reading up on how it worked, later on copying code listings from magazines an
Why it failed: For the first time since graduating, I've recently had the possibility to escape the constant mental treadmill that comes with working in most IT departments, and had a look at what life and the world have become in the past 10 or so years. And I've discovered that the main focus
what_happened
- startupShut down2010
Ask HN: Hacker Hobbies?
Hello Hn'ers, What hobbies do you have? What do you do to wind down when you're afk?
Why it failed: Hello Hn'ers, What hobbies do you have? What do you do to wind down when you're afk?
jacquesm
- startupShut down2010
Ask HN / Review my startup: DocuHarvest
DocuHarvest extracts data from documents (PDFs only for now) in a way that is accessible to nontechnical users and economical for small workflows or one-off jobs. https://docuharvest.com The original launch announcement is on my blog here, which provides more background: "Getting valuable data out of documents should not require an I.T. staff, outside consultants, building or buying software, or an up-front investment of hundreds or thousands of dollars, regardless of how many documents and how much data is involved." http://muckandbrass.com/web/x/CwBi To answer probably the three most common questions: 1. Yes, we have a HTTP API coming, probably along with client libraries for some subset of {Java, Python, Ruby, PHP, C#/.NET, ...}. 2. More job types are incoming. As noted in the announcement and on the site's front page, imaging-related jobs are up next. Lots more in the works after tha
Why it failed: DocuHarvest extracts data from documents (PDFs only for now) in a way that is accessible to nontechnical users and economical for small workflows or one-off jobs. https://docuharvest.com The original launch announcement is on my blog here, which provides more background: "Getting
cemerick
- startupShut down2010
Ask HN: Rails or Django?
For the past 5 years I've been a PHP developer. For the past 2 I've been using frameworks to make my life a lot easier. The thing is, I'm a bit bored with PHP. I'd like to expand my horizons and learn a new language + framework. Currently I'm looking at Ruby + Rails and Python + Django. I already know a bit of Python (I write back-end scripts with it), but not enough to have it influence my decision. The criteria I'm looking at are: * Adoption - Are a lot of people using this framework and does it look like it is still gaining followers? * Community - Is there a strong support community around it? Are there good resources for learning? * Jobs - What are the job prospects like for this language + framework? * Scalability - Does the framework scale well? I imagine this is determine by application design too, but lets assume that it's designed well. * Fun - Is it a fun language to code in?
Why it failed: For the past 5 years I've been a PHP developer. For the past 2 I've been using frameworks to make my life a lot easier. The thing is, I'm a bit bored with PHP. I'd like to expand my horizons and learn a new language + framework. Currently I'm looking at Ruby + Rails and Python +
vital101
- startupShut down2010
Ask HN: We're building a real-life, location-based MMORPG. Will you play?
Dear HNers, Here's what we intend to have when we're ready - a game that borrows elements from World of Warcraft, Foursquare and Mafia Wars, playable through the browser and eventually via a mobile device. No graphics engine for now, we're thinking compelling visuals + text. Chapter 1 - Architecting the world: We pull in your check-ins from a popular location based service (Foursquare/Gowalla/Facebook) and reward you for checking in (with virtual currency and 'artifacts'). We build a mystical, medieval universe atop these real places. You then compete to purchase these venues and start upgrading them, fortifying them for the impending onslaught. (Yup, this bit has certainly been inspired by Booyah's MyTown, but it's also pretty much where the similarity ends). [Status: Nearing completion] Chapter 2 - Learning the ropes: You begin exploring the universe through your check-ins. Play simple
Why it failed: Dear HNers, Here's what we intend to have when we're ready - a game that borrows elements from World of Warcraft, Foursquare and Mafia Wars, playable through the browser and eventually via a mobile device. No graphics engine for now, we're thinking compelling visuals + text. Chap
amithgeorge
- startupShut down2010
Ask HN: Save my dying Startup
Dear HNers, I am writing this post in hopes of getting some help on saving my startup which is slowly decaying before my eyes; countless hours of work, tens of thousands of dollars spent, and a ton of sacrifice just dying. There is a wealth of knowledge that exists at HN and I’m hoping some folks can steer me in the right direction with my dying startup because at this point I’m not sure what to do? About three years ago, my friend and I thought up an idea for creating a "social network for traders." He had worked in finance for one of the biggest forex brokers and was a trader of foreign exchange. A few months into his work, he realized that this company, with its millions of clients, was missing a critical component that clients constantly kept asking about "can I communicate with other clients regarding certain positions or trends in the market?" Coming from a web development/IT backg
Why it failed: Dear HNers, I am writing this post in hopes of getting some help on saving my startup which is slowly decaying before my eyes; countless hours of work, tens of thousands of dollars spent, and a ton of sacrifice just dying. There is a wealth of knowledge that exists at HN and I’m
traderjoe
- startupShut down2010
Ask HN: Dropbox?
Hi All, I would live thoughts on the Dropbox service. Reliable? Good Customer Service? Horror stories? My goal here is just what they advertise for functionality. Unified across my devices, sharing, etc. I currently backup to a number of devices, etc. Could I make my home directory for My mac my DropBox drive? Smart idea? What do you all think would happen if DropBox went out of business. Would they make sure we all had copies of our data? I have MobileMe now. It is decent for sure. I can buy 60gb more space for $99 for the year (or $49 for 40gb) It seems to have similar functionality. I doubt Apple would give us our data if they decided to discontinue MobileMe. It seems unlikely they would though.
Why it failed: Hi All, I would live thoughts on the Dropbox service. Reliable? Good Customer Service? Horror stories? My goal here is just what they advertise for functionality. Unified across my devices, sharing, etc. I currently backup to a number of devices, etc. Could I make my home directo
jason_slack
- startupShut down2010
Ask HN: When are you allowed to quit a startup?
Hi Everyone-- Long wall of text ahead, sorry, but hopefully details will help. I've been working at a startup since the beginning of the year. It has been good thus far -- great environment, great people, great time. I'm the only programmer and our products absolutely require this company to have a programmer on staff. I'm very much enjoying the work -- this wasn't in my area of expertise before (the business end) but I'm really getting a knack for understanding how our product fits in the field. And further, I've been able to really develop my skills to be a versatile programmer/dev. ops. guy. The problem is that I'm looking at the calendar, and listening to all the conversations about sales and what not, and thinking: "Man, this company is probably going to go belly up around Christmas." And while in this part of the world, it wouldn't be too hard for a programmer to get work -- even f
Why it failed: Hi Everyone-- Long wall of text ahead, sorry, but hopefully details will help. I've been working at a startup since the beginning of the year. It has been good thus far -- great environment, great people, great time. I'm the only programmer and our products absolutely require thi
throwaway52
- startupShut down2010
Ask HN: Feedback our Startup Garmz.com - Start your own fashion label
Hi all, i know several HN members have a family and/or professional background in the fashion industry so i am really keen to get feedback :) We do Garmz.com Garmz.com is essentially a webpage where you can start your own fashion label. What we basically do is we provide online portofolios for upcoming fashion designers (think fashion students or young fashion designers). They can upload their fashion designs and get feedback votings etc. If we see demand for a product WE do the actual production and sell it in our webshop and in partner webshops. We launched the very first version of our platform - nothing but an upload button - middle of june and recieved uploads from all over the world within the first week. (Hongkong, India, Brazil, USA, Kanada, Australia, Vietnam, All over Europe - like in a Bad Hollywood Startup Movie but for real) We launched the Design pages end of July and recie
Why it failed: Hi all, i know several HN members have a family and/or professional background in the fashion industry so i am really keen to get feedback :) We do Garmz.com Garmz.com is essentially a webpage where you can start your own fashion label. What we basically do is we provide online p
andreasklinger
- startupShut down2010
Ask HN: Career path for founder of a failed venture backed startup?
Hi guys, this is anonymous for obvious reasons. Say I'm the founder and CTO of a venture backed startup. We had a good run but, for a variety of reasons, the company fizzles after a few years (and series A and B). Now I'm a 26 year old college drop out (from a top tier school), with some pretty cool experience (I've written huge software from the ground up, ran a company, hired/trained a dev team, etc). So, what are my job options? I have the contacts/team/etc to start another company, but I don't have an idea that really excites me and I feel like I need a few years without the huge ups and downs of a startup. (I have offers to go be 'director of engineering' or something similar at a few other startups, but I'd like something a little slower paced for a while ...) Without a college degree can I go to the big guys (Microsoft, Google, etc?). Can I go become an associate at a VC firm (it
Why it failed: Hi guys, this is anonymous for obvious reasons. Say I'm the founder and CTO of a venture backed startup. We had a good run but, for a variety of reasons, the company fizzles after a few years (and series A and B). Now I'm a 26 year old college drop out (from a top tier school), w
anoncto
- startupShut down2010
Ask HN: Have you had laser eye surgery? What was your experience?
Hi, I am a long term HN member writing under an anonymous account as this is a somewhat personal issue for me. I have been short-sighted (myopia of about -5.00 in both eyes) all my life, and generally wear both contact lenses and glasses. I find contact lenses really irritate my eyes when programming (dry eyes due to less blinking when on computer) and am fed up of issues with glasses (steaming, cleaning, etc) and recently have been considering laser eye surgery. I live in the UK, and have booked consultations at the 3 main providers here - UltraLase, Optimax, Optical Express. I'll write my assessment of them each later once I go for my consultation with the last provider at the end of the month, but so far have concluded that one has to really research the area to avoid much of the nonsense that they tell patients especially with regard to equipment and surgeons used and why e.g. Ultral
Why it failed: Hi, I am a long term HN member writing under an anonymous account as this is a somewhat personal issue for me. I have been short-sighted (myopia of about -5.00 in both eyes) all my life, and generally wear both contact lenses and glasses. I find contact lenses really irritate my
lasik