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.
3,100 solutions
- startupShut down2017
Dev Bootcamp is shutting down
The email sent out to alumni (closing paragraphs elided, in consideration of the character count): "I am reaching out to let you know of some very sad news. After considering all of our options, we have made the heartbreaking decision to wind down DBC operations. In other words, DBC's final cohort will start on July 17 and will graduate in December 2017. Campuses will officially close on December 8, 2017, as we are committed to providing our currently enrolled students with full delivery of the program, including seeing them through the entire curriculum and providing at least six months of career support for these students after graduation. Please know that we did not come to this decision lightly, and it is one that deeply affects us all. We’re so proud of what our students, alumni, DBC team (past and present), and community and employer partners have accomplished over the pa
Why it failed: The email sent out to alumni (closing paragraphs elided, in consideration of the character count): "I am reaching out to let you know of some very sad news. After considering all of our options, we have made the heartbreaking decision to wind down DBC operations. In other wo
Techowl
- startupShut down2016
Ask HN: What were the most promising YC startups that ultimately failed?
And why?
Why it failed: And why?
_82mp
- startupShut down2016
Posiba shuts down office in Vietnam without paying their staff
Company hasn't paid the staff since Jun 2016. Now CEO decides to close office in VN without clear path to pay us. PosibaVn is the core engineering team and it's not their failure. Is there anyone can help us?
Why it failed: Company hasn't paid the staff since Jun 2016. Now CEO decides to close office in VN without clear path to pay us. PosibaVn is the core engineering team and it's not their failure. Is there anyone can help us?
EDreicer
- startupShut down2016
Ask HN: What to do when a Chinese startup clones your website?
Dear HN, I'm CEO of a Germany-based eSports startup and we have a problem. Today we were approached by a Chinese user of our website who told us that a China-based startup has launched a direct clone of our website aimed at the Chinese market. Our website https://strivewire.com is a host of for-money eSports tournaments in the Hearthstone vertical, but we are working on expanding to other games as well. The website in question is a very obvious clone of ours and has both .com and .cn domains: - www.haogegebisai.com - www.chosengamer.com Basically they copied all the design and even our logo down to the actual URLs. I've added their CEO on WeChat and inquired about this, and he said they are big fans of our startup. But he also mentioned that they already have investors. Their website launched two days ago and already has a bunch of activity. We've talked about th
Why it failed: Dear HN, I'm CEO of a Germany-based eSports startup and we have a problem. Today we were approached by a Chinese user of our website who told us that a China-based startup has launched a direct clone of our website aimed at the Chinese market. Our website https://s
bflesch
- startupShut down2016
Apply HN: Zippy, self driving sidewalk meal delivery robots
At Zippy, we're building self driving delivery robots that navigate the sidewalk to deliver meals from restaurants to homes. They use self driving technology including 3D cameras to go from a pizza/burrito place to the customer's front door, avoiding pedestrians along the way. The robot cart currently is driven via 3G connection remotely over the internet, so it can be in another suburb over, with it streaming live video back. We've driven it down to the end of the street & back remotely. And we're working with GPS, sensors etc for SLAM. (We'd love to work with Varden Labs to cross-pollinate our self driving tech, that golf cart looks rad. http://abc7.com/technology/driverless-shuttle-giving-students-rides-around-mt-sac/1229716/) Dominos recently launched a self driving pizza delivery robot in Australia, and other startups a
Why it failed: At Zippy, we're building self driving delivery robots that navigate the sidewalk to deliver meals from restaurants to homes. They use self driving technology including 3D cameras to go from a pizza/burrito place to the customer's front door, avoiding pedestrians al
tomjacobs
- startupShut down2016
Apply HN: Gresham Dollar – Viral Currency for Basic Income
Gresham Dollar (GD) is a currency designed for the purpose of providing people a basic income (i.e. regular income independent of the labor market) without the need for government funding. Gresham Dollar is backed by the United States Dollar (USD). It is pegged to USD at par (one-to-one) using a novel mechanism such that it requires far fewer USD reserves than a central bank would normally need in order to sustain a new USD-backed currency. Gresham's Law is an economic principle describing the observation that "bad money drives out good." For example, when the United States discontinued minting silver quarters, people held onto their old silver quarters, preferring to spend the new less-valuable quarters. Thusly, the old silver quarters were quickly driven from circulation. Gresham Dollar's core mechanism uses a hack on Gresham's Law that causes people similarly
Why it failed: Gresham Dollar (GD) is a currency designed for the purpose of providing people a basic income (i.e. regular income independent of the labor market) without the need for government funding. Gresham Dollar is backed by the United States Dollar (USD). It is pegged to USD at par (one
Suncho
- startupShut down2016
Ask HN: Do SMBs still care about their websites?
Do you see in your local market a movement of B2C SMBs shutting down their websites, leaving their web presence to Facebook/Instagram/Twitter only? Edit: added "B2C" context to question.
Why it failed: Do you see in your local market a movement of B2C SMBs shutting down their websites, leaving their web presence to Facebook/Instagram/Twitter only? Edit: added "B2C" context to question.
rodolphoarruda
- startupShut down2016
Ask HN: If my startup fails, what are the impacts on my future career prospects?
For the seasoned startup vets out there, I was wondering about how working for or starting a failed startup would impact career prospects down the line. Thanks!
Why it failed: For the seasoned startup vets out there, I was wondering about how working for or starting a failed startup would impact career prospects down the line. Thanks!
uptownfunk
- startupShut down2016
Tell HN: Man, I quit
hey guys so I worked on this SaaS since 09. I've made probably 10k since then. Pathetic, yup. it took about 3 years to develop a mature product out but seems like there's just more and more SaaS charging cheaper and cheaper and there's just no more people that are sane as in they understand how much value they are getting but unwilling to pay for it (they can't).It seems that my product failed because I ended up catering and attracting people who didn't appreciate the value it brought them. There was just another guy around the corner who would heoretically do it for cheaper.So after 100k lines of code...I'm finally thinking of shutting down the Saas and I just had a super depressive period where I was in a full state of panic. I'm letting go of my 20s in it's entirety. I've sacrificed so much for so little in gain and it's so fucking dep
Why it failed: hey guys so I worked on this SaaS since 09. I've made probably 10k since then. Pathetic, yup. it took about 3 years to develop a mature product out but seems like there's just more and more SaaS charging cheaper and cheaper and there's just no more people that are
jorgecurio
- startupShut down2016
Apply HN: Remember – Intelligently search all of your files from one place.
Hello HN! Remember is an intelligent personal search engine that lets you find every moment of your digital life. We connect to your computer, phone, wearables and the services you use (Facebook, Twitter, mobile apps, etc.) and make all of your data searchable from one place. Going a step further, we run machine learning algorithms on all of your files to understand context so you can search using natural language. We lose so much time looking for our files; be it notes, messages, photos, videos, audio recordings. "Let me show you a video I sent Jack it's hilarious!" Stares at phone for 15 minutes looking for it "I have a breakthrough idea about mitosis, let me write it down." Never gets back to that note again This must end. We want to help maximise human potential, and we think this as close as we can get to having perfect memory with today's technology. F
Why it failed: Hello HN! Remember is an intelligent personal search engine that lets you find every moment of your digital life. We connect to your computer, phone, wearables and the services you use (Facebook, Twitter, mobile apps, etc.) and make all of your data searchable from one place. Goi
merterdir
- startupShut down2016
Ask HN: As a programmer do you have ups and downs and periods of intense doubt?
Hi all, Am a developer based in Africa and have developed small applications for the company I work for an airline ground handling company and have also created apps for sale on codecanyon. Am a competent programmer not necessarily a good one but am able to get things done when under pressure, For example I made the codecanyon application at a previous job as an intern when we were required to comply with certain ISO regulations within a month. I did it as I had no way out. It has earned me approximately 250USD per month which in Africa is enough to pay rent but not be self employed. The problem comes when I need to do something that I am 100% responsible for. For example create a SaaS app. The usual process goes like this Have an idea, Get excited, come up with all kinds of cool/new features that look marketable/useful, sometimes I go to the extent of buying a domain, when it
Why it failed: Hi all, Am a developer based in Africa and have developed small applications for the company I work for an airline ground handling company and have also created apps for sale on codecanyon. Am a competent programmer not necessarily a good one but am able to get things done when u
Madawar
- startupShut down2016
Ask HN: Can I visit your startup in San Francisco?
Hi there, My name is Pedro, I am from ACESSO a Brazilian SaaS company which provides document management services to 30 from the 100 biggest Brazilian enterprises, including banks, telecommunications, retails and construction companies. ACESSO's growth is about 40%/year since 2011, built based in a single platform. Our founder(Diego), our Heads and I are coming to SF tomorrow to stay until may27th so we can make new friends and learn how companies like yours are managing products innovation. If you're doing something interesting, have an awesome company culture, or just like hanging with Brazilians, we'd love to meet you. You can find out more about ACESSO here (http://acesso.io) or https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/acesso-digital/press (crunchabase is with the old logo) , and you can found me at pedro.moreno@acesso.io / @
Why it failed: Hi there, My name is Pedro, I am from ACESSO a Brazilian SaaS company which provides document management services to 30 from the 100 biggest Brazilian enterprises, including banks, telecommunications, retails and construction companies. ACESSO's growth is about 40%/year
pedrohom
- startupShut down2016
Ask HN: Consider banning paywalled articles like those from wsj.com please
I can't read the paywalled articles on wsj.com anymore. So it's breaking my web experience of reading HN. The first post on the page is mostly a TLDR or a link to an alternative article instead of a real comment. For example the current #1 post : Samsung to Permanently Discontinue Galaxy Note 7 Smartphone (wsj.com) - https://gyazo.com/440858bfcc2f94d912a087ca2ef7ce26 There will always be a discussion about paywalled articles and or alternative sources, which takes the discussion away from the topic and there is a high chance that this will be a top comment ( because of upvotes). The current #1 link and #7 link are currently unusable to me : https://gyazo.com/578b105ce67f9b6d14cefe0dfeb43efb The trick with bypassing it through the web doesn't work for me anymore ( and multiple others). This was good in the past, but not anymore. An alternative
Why it failed: I can't read the paywalled articles on wsj.com anymore. So it's breaking my web experience of reading HN. The first post on the page is mostly a TLDR or a link to an alternative article instead of a real comment. For example the current #1 post : Samsung to Permanently
NicoJuicy
- startupShut down2016
Ask HN: What is your viable aka money making startup or side project idea?
I want to be clear before we start. I am not looking for fantasy ideas. E.g. Uber for X , AirBnB for Y. No , it doesn't work that way. I do personally know 3 founders who tried this stuff and failed. Uber is Uber and AirBnB is AirBnb. No more this for that. Also, ideas such as AI, deep learning, space travel require more research work than near immediate monetization opportunities available for solo entrepreneur. Notes app , timetracker, project management software have tons of tools and app so I am reluctant to try in these areas. AI Personal assistant also have large blockade for monetization. At this point I don't have necessary skillset for building AI bots. I am looking for ideas like Improvely, ticket search, fashion cloths and marketplace optimization. I want to know what is your startup idea that could also make money ? We all have ideas but 90 % of them are fantasies o
Why it failed: I want to be clear before we start. I am not looking for fantasy ideas. E.g. Uber for X , AirBnB for Y. No , it doesn't work that way. I do personally know 3 founders who tried this stuff and failed. Uber is Uber and AirBnB is AirBnb. No more this for that. Also, ideas such
uibkend
- startupShut down2016
Ask HN: I need advice, Mid-life crisis
I'm 26. No college degree no job no money single no kids and now a DUI on my record so hard to even hire. I'm not depressed but I feel like I can do better in life. I want to make something of myself but not sure where to even begin. I thought I would want to become a Web developer because I saw it as a way out of poverty for me and my family but I find it hard and give up at times because everything is so overwhelming and I don't have anyone to ask questions to because I have so many questions plus I can't afford bootcamps. I'm leaning towards becoming a PHP freelancer but even that seems hard to me. Because of my record of DUI I feel like being a freelancer is a good route With no money and lack of training I don't know how I'll succeed as a developer. Or get a decent paying job in general I just don't want to end up homeless or poor.
Why it failed: I'm 26. No college degree no job no money single no kids and now a DUI on my record so hard to even hire. I'm not depressed but I feel like I can do better in life. I want to make something of myself but not sure where to even begin. I thought I would want to become a W
alexhakawy
- startupShut down2016
Ask HN: Good source code search engines?
I recently saw an article on HN about how to use GitHub's search as a starting point when writing code. That indeed is a great trick and it has already helped me save a lot of time. Unfortunately, GitHub's search is very lacking and most of the time instead of showing relevant search results it just shows lots and lots of duplicates for the main library. For example, I was searching for this[1], but the search results show the Main SDK files and not the files created with the SDK (which is what would've helped me). I couldn't find a way to suppress the files or duplicate searches. So I tried looking for a good source code search engine and I've find none so far. I've tried almost everything I could find on Google and Quora but most of these services are either discontinued (Google code, etc) or very bad. So, I was wondering what you guys use to search source
Why it failed: I recently saw an article on HN about how to use GitHub's search as a starting point when writing code. That indeed is a great trick and it has already helped me save a lot of time. Unfortunately, GitHub's search is very lacking and most of the time instead of showing r
supersan
- startupShut down2016
Ask HN: What kind of projects should I build for a front-end portfolio?
I have no professional experience, so I'll be applying to junior positions. What kind of projects should I build to showcase my skills? I'm thinking of doing re-designs of a few popular websites (2-3 pages mobile & desktop, wireframes) that I think can be improved. And then coding them into life. Would that make a good front-end portfolio or are there better projects that I can be doing? Also, I'm new to github-- What could I contribute to on there?
Why it failed: I have no professional experience, so I'll be applying to junior positions. What kind of projects should I build to showcase my skills? I'm thinking of doing re-designs of a few popular websites (2-3 pages mobile & desktop, wireframes) that I think can be improved.
Calist0
- startupShut down2016
Ask HN: Need advice.My story:Once an $90k jQuery developer,now a “useless lamer”
I worked as a web dev for 9 years and wrote my first website for money when I was 16. Yesterday, I came for a job interview and was called "a useless lamer" by unshaved, hoodie wearing CTO after a long argument about whether jQuery is obsolete. I finished last contract in April, and didn't manage to get a new one since then. Before, I thought that skill obsolescence is just an excuse to fire old, unproductive people, now it became my own issue. There were years when I was getting multiple calls from recruiters in single day,but I got only 3 calls in the whole 2015. I understand now that my past success was only thanks one trendy buzzword on my resume, and that the hoodie CTO who was interviewing me was 90% right. My weak sides: >I never learnt any real OOPL. I didn't even study JS as a programming language >Bad credentials: BCIT marketing and no-name college in
Why it failed: I worked as a web dev for 9 years and wrote my first website for money when I was 16. Yesterday, I came for a job interview and was called "a useless lamer" by unshaved, hoodie wearing CTO after a long argument about whether jQuery is obsolete. I finished last contract
baybal2
- startupShut down2016
Ask HN: What do you do if you can't pass technical interviews?
I just received yet another rejection email, tonally similar to many of the others I've gotten. This paragraph in particular sticks out [problem details omitted]: "This was a tough decision. We enjoyed talking with you and saw strengths through various parts of the interview, in particular on the [design discussion] and [list traversal] problems. However we made the final decision because we didn't see the overall level of coding we're looking for, especially during the [interactive terminal-based application] problem. The rate of progress on this problem wasn't as fast as we'd hoped and we weren't able to build a nice, generic solution within the time available. There was also a fair amount of confusion on the out of bounds issue, which we feel was the type of bug that would have been caught faster by a more experienced engineer." This is a patter
Why it failed: I just received yet another rejection email, tonally similar to many of the others I've gotten. This paragraph in particular sticks out [problem details omitted]: "This was a tough decision. We enjoyed talking with you and saw strengths through various parts of the inte
Kapura
- startupShut down2016
Ask HN: Is it just me or do a lot of people not know how stock options work?
I work in a startup in San Francisco. We're profitable & growing, about 30 people now. I'm one of the first engineers so I have a good chunk of stock options. A lot of times when I talk to my friends (mostly engineers, mostly in their middle 20s) about stock options they don't even know the basics. A few examples from my life: * A coworker left the company right before the end of his first year. He had ISOs, and it wouldn't be that expensive to buy them, but he still decided to leave right before the 1 year cliff date to go work in another company. * A friend of mine did not sign his stock options paperwork when his employer gave it to him more than 1 year ago. I guess he was just lazy, didn't want to sign something he did not fully understand. I don't know all the details but I assume if he signs it now he loses 1 year of vesting, the grant price will b
Why it failed: I work in a startup in San Francisco. We're profitable & growing, about 30 people now. I'm one of the first engineers so I have a good chunk of stock options. A lot of times when I talk to my friends (mostly engineers, mostly in their middle 20s) about stock options
stockoptionsta
- startupShut down2016
Ask HN: Am I expecting too much?
I work at a large, non-software company in the US as an entry-level software engineer, where I've been working for a little over a year, now. This has been my first job out of college, though I did do freelance work for a few years prior. I'm very unhappy at my company, and I'm wondering whether this is due to the company, or instead due to my own unrealistic expectations. In my organization at this company, each team is assigned one senior engineer, one or more non-senior engineers, and one or more offshore engineers. On my team, I am the only non-senior engineer, in addition to half a dozen offshore engineers. In the ~12 months that I've been on my team, 3 senior engineers have joined and subsequently quit, which has left me to learn the ropes of our (unnecessarily large and often undocumented) application and manage all of our offshore engineers on my own. This mea
Why it failed: I work at a large, non-software company in the US as an entry-level software engineer, where I've been working for a little over a year, now. This has been my first job out of college, though I did do freelance work for a few years prior. I'm very unhappy at my company,
throwawaypotato
- startupShut down2016
Ask HN: I'm depressed, what should I do?
I'm an active member of this community but I'm using a throwaway instead because I don't want this issue to be linked to my identity tl;dr: I graduated Software engineering 3 months ago and I'm currently without a job and back to live with my parents. During school I was always told that I was "brilliant and one of the best". I tried not to show it with any attitude, but after a lot of people repeating over a period of many years, I think it entered the back of my mind but still with impostor syndrome. On my final year I interned at a very prestigious company (not big 4, but still a huge one) with a great salary and an important project. Everything seemed to go the way everybody predicted and expected of me. At the end of my internship, my manger lets me know that I will not be hired because the company is not hieing junior engineers at this time, but he wou
Why it failed: I'm an active member of this community but I'm using a throwaway instead because I don't want this issue to be linked to my identity tl;dr: I graduated Software engineering 3 months ago and I'm currently without a job and back to live with my parents. During s
throwAwayXYZ69
- startupShut down2016
Ask HN: Is it possible for someone to not be cut out for software engineering?
I'm pretty new to software engineering (~1 year out of college as a CS major) and am having some serious problems improving my skillset (particularly with interviews). Background: - I worked as a linux sysadmin at a startup before going to school for CS. After 3 years, I graduated with a decent GPA (>3.6) and a couple internships at a large tech company. - In college, I always felt like I had to work a harder than most of my classmates in order to get the same result. I would regularly spend 60 - 80 hours per week on schoolwork. - Upon graduation, I accepted a job with the company I interned with and have worked there for ~1.3 years. However, I've been prepping to jump to a different role for a few months now. - Recently (past 1.5 months), I've spent 1 - 3 hours per day on tech interview prep using CLRS, Cracking the Coding Interview, etc. My current target is a role at
Why it failed: I'm pretty new to software engineering (~1 year out of college as a CS major) and am having some serious problems improving my skillset (particularly with interviews). Background: - I worked as a linux sysadmin at a startup before going to school for CS. After 3 years, I gra
conflicted_dev
- startupShut down2016
Ask HN: Is Silicon Valley Becoming an Insiders Club?
I've been a web developer my whole career, with a CS degree, and 16 years experience. In 2007 I joined a new VOD startup and quickly rose to CTO position, then over the next 9 years grew it to 7-figure users and revenue, 16 engineers, and a highly respected brand in an industry niche. We hit a rough financial patch, so I left for another seed-stage startup which failed to gain traction. Now, for the first time in 16 years I find myself looking for a job in SV without a direct reference. I was assuming that my broad experience, ability to bridge the technology-business gap, natural programming ability, and entrepreneurial spirit and tenacity would make me the kind of sought after employee that all growing SV companies claim they can't find enough of. Unfortunately after interviewing at ten top companies (mostly later stage YC), I've been declined nine times. The last compan
Why it failed: I've been a web developer my whole career, with a CS degree, and 16 years experience. In 2007 I joined a new VOD startup and quickly rose to CTO position, then over the next 9 years grew it to 7-figure users and revenue, 16 engineers, and a highly respected brand in an indus
svreject