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
Ask HN: Pivoting my startup, how should I submit to AngelList?
I'm in the process of pivoting my startup, and for this new product we'll need to raise money. The product was half built some years ago but the timing was bad and it was shelved. Today the timing is excellent for it. I started filling up an entry in AngelList about the new product, but it's asking for questions about the operation of my company, for which the answers would show we been running for 4 years, while the product even though we built part of it ages ago, it's not in operations and it's nothing more than a landing page. The reason why I wasn't creating the profile with my company name is that if someone look at our company's website, we have other products, including some experimental, lower profile stuff that really doesn't need the funding I'm trying to raise. What should I do? Any advise? This is my company: https://Car
Why it failed: I'm in the process of pivoting my startup, and for this new product we'll need to raise money. The product was half built some years ago but the timing was bad and it was shelved. Today the timing is excellent for it. I started filling up an entry in AngelList about the
pupeno
- startupShut down2015
Ask HN: Has the HN Community changed for the worse?
Increasingly I have felt a hesitation to post my thoughts on HN as it seems that more often now than in the past my comments are down-voted because of a disagreement with my opinion rather than a reflection on the quality or "rudeness" of my comment's content. Sometimes I can be rude, and down-votes are not unexpected in those cases of course. Some possible reasons for this are: 1. I've become more sensitive. 2. The quality of my comments have gone down. 3. More people are using the down-vote privilege to express simple disagreement. Of course, this is not a complete list. #1 is unlikely, I am doubtful that my personality has changed much over 3 years. #2 is possible, as I get more comfortable on HN I am more likely to post poorly thought out or emotional comments. My theory behind how #3 could be the reason is that the type of user that is gaining the down-vote privi
Why it failed: Increasingly I have felt a hesitation to post my thoughts on HN as it seems that more often now than in the past my comments are down-voted because of a disagreement with my opinion rather than a reflection on the quality or "rudeness" of my comment's content. Some
wuliwong
- startupShut down2015
Ask HN: Sell, open-source, or abandon a $10k/year Mac app?
In 2011 I wrote a low-end GIS program for Mac, called Magic Maps. The idea for the app was to make a simple, Mac-like alternative to ArcGIS and QGIS that makes it easy to plot points, import Shapefiles, and create chloropleth maps and animations without first wanting to open your veins in a bathtub. It was my first desktop app, so the code isn't great, but it's found a loyal user base over the years has netted over $50k since 2011. Unfortunately, Magic Maps is now suffering from neglect and bit-rot, and some of the users are starting to revolt. At the very least, it needs a bit of work to fix crashes, ensure it works smoothly on Yosemite, etc. I'd do this work myself, but I am putting all my time into another app, and as much as it pains me, I just don't have time to invest into Magic Maps any longer. I'm putting this out there because I'm honestly not sure
Why it failed: In 2011 I wrote a low-end GIS program for Mac, called Magic Maps. The idea for the app was to make a simple, Mac-like alternative to ArcGIS and QGIS that makes it easy to plot points, import Shapefiles, and create chloropleth maps and animations without first wanting to open your
EvanMiller
- startupShut down2015
Ask HN: I don't know how to launch; I'm scared to. How do I follow through?
Long-time reader, adequate poster, but obviously shy. I'm very young (early 20s) and I haven't hit any homeruns, gone to school, or even finished a course online - ever. My back story is quite interesting, and is the reason for why I am where I am. Do I regret it? No. Would I like to change some things? Yeah, in a way. Regardless, and perhaps thankfully, I've always been curious enough to learn how things work, and how to make them work in my favor. I have two products (web) that I have completely finished, tested, and have developed the site, its content, done the FAQ/KB, setup a helpdesk, payment gateway is ready to go, ToS/PP are written, all that stuff. One of them will take off like a rocket and I'm convinced of it -- I've never been more convinced of anything in my lifetime actually. The other one is a longer-play and will take some time to develo
Why it failed: Long-time reader, adequate poster, but obviously shy. I'm very young (early 20s) and I haven't hit any homeruns, gone to school, or even finished a course online - ever. My back story is quite interesting, and is the reason for why I am where I am. Do I regret it? No. W
scaredtolaunch
- startupShut down2015
Zirtual may have just abruptly shut down
Slack message from my ZA 10 min ago: I'm up late tonight and received an email to my personal email from Zirtual that for financial reasons, they cannot continue as a company effective immediately. I would still like to help you in any way I can! I no longer have access to my Zirtual accounts, including the secure system where I had saved your passwords, but I'm glad I can still access this Slack! I can still access your calendar, too. I would be happy to discuss how to continue our assistant-client relationship if you would like. I'm also sending you an email from my personal email [redacted]. This would be a difficult transition, but once I have access to everything like [redacted] again, we can just continue as we had been before
Why it failed: Slack message from my ZA 10 min ago: I'm up late tonight and received an email to my personal email from Zirtual that for financial reasons, they cannot continue as a company effective immediately. I would still like to help you in any way I can! I no longer have access to m
opendoorryan
- startupShut down2015
Ask HN: No time to maintain our project, what do to?
We are 3, and “MySeeen” is our first project and startup. We have built it from nothing since 2 years, but with a goal: Making an app you just have to open to get a movie you will have fun watching. It could be achieved easily by making a social app allowing you to get movies information (length, casting, posters, …), to share about the movies you have seen or want to see and rate them to finally correctly advice a movie for anyone. MySeeen is available on iOS and Windows Phone. (Info here: http://www.myseeenapp.com) Unfortunately, after 1 great year in the company, as full time job, without knowing how to earn money and how to enhance our baby, we needed money and slowly stopped maintaining our project. Now we haven’t touched the code for 1 year because we all have started a new life and don’t have the time to maintain it. We have a good amount of users, and it still growing d
Why it failed: We are 3, and “MySeeen” is our first project and startup. We have built it from nothing since 2 years, but with a goal: Making an app you just have to open to get a movie you will have fun watching. It could be achieved easily by making a social app allowing you to get movies inf
dimillian
- startupShut down2015
21 year old makes 12k/day selling CS:GO skins
Original article link : http://www.lesaffaires.com/blogues/julien-brault/ce-montrealais-de-21-ans-fait-12-000--par-jour-en-vendant-des-fusils-virtuels/579654?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_content=16-06-2015&utm_campaign=montrealais-12000-dollars-par-jour The text is in french thoses are the highlights of it : * Artur Minacov 21 co-founder from Montreal * website : OPSkins * 120 000$/day selling volume takes a 10% cut -> 12 000$ / day * The website is selling Counter Strike GO skins which are only a design for a gun no added value * 340 000 users plan to get all of the 6.5 millions users of CS:GO * He will sponsor the next ESWC for a total of 100k$ * Dropout from Cegep (college) at 19 years old * Failed a few startups (2) before OPSkins * Refused VC funding (6% for 50k) Sorry if there is mistake it is a bit late and not my
Why it failed: Original article link : http://www.lesaffaires.com/blogues/julien-brault/ce-montrealais-de-21-ans-fait-12-000--par-jour-en-vendant-des-fusils-virtuels/579654?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_content=16-06-2015&utm_campaign=montre
akimc
- startupShut down2015
Assembly is shutting down December 6, 2015
Read more here: http://assembly.com/
Why it failed: Read more here: http://assembly.com/
acadet
- startupShut down2015
Ask HN: What is wrong with Reserve Bank of India?
This is a bit of rant but I'm also wondering if there is anything we (the Indian tech community) can do about it? If you're an Indian startup, I'm sure you must know that the Reserve Bank of India has the worst policies when it comes to charging a credit card. 1) In India, you cannot create recurring subscriptions as the RBI prohibits charging the credit card automatically. Not one Indian payment processor (I've talked to a many) gives you the option to create recurring subscriptions. Can you imagine where half the SaaS startups will be without recurring credit card subscriptions? 2) Add to that, Paypal to Paypal transfer within India is prohibited by RBI. Why? Because certain people used to evade tax by purchasing goods directly with their Paypal balance. So, instead of catching the tax evaders the RBI found it easier to ban the whole thing. They could have made it m
Why it failed: This is a bit of rant but I'm also wondering if there is anything we (the Indian tech community) can do about it? If you're an Indian startup, I'm sure you must know that the Reserve Bank of India has the worst policies when it comes to charging a credit card. 1) I
superasn
- startupShut down2015
Ask HN: How did you get to your current job/startup?
We all see "success stories" featured on internet blogs (basically every website with the "tech" prefix) and some trends tend to distort how we perceive how people arrived at where they are. I want to know — How did you get your current job or startup? Did you go to college? Dropout? If your did go to college, have you ever failed a course? Did you have to move to a different country? How did you manage that and what was (in general) the biggest obstacle/low-point of your journey so far? Note — Why I'm asking this: Because many of the people in this community may be in a low-point themselves, and reading about how other people persevered and what they did might just make things seem a bit easier for them. Thank you all :)
Why it failed: We all see "success stories" featured on internet blogs (basically every website with the "tech" prefix) and some trends tend to distort how we perceive how people arrived at where they are. I want to know — How did you get your current job or startup? Did you
arsalanb
- startupShut down2014
We’re Shutting Down and I’m Scared – The Aftermath
Between here and Hacker News, it took me two days just to go through all of the awesome words of wisdom and support. I read everything — three times. I even read those of you who told me to “quit whining” and to “man up”. Thank you, ALL, for your support. I’m not yet ready to reveal my company or name, I may never be. But, for all of you who offered your advice, I want to at least share with you how things turned out.
Why it failed: Between here and Hacker News, it took me two days just to go through all of the awesome words of wisdom and support. I read everything — three times. I even read those of you who told me to “quit whining” and to “man up”. Thank you, ALL, for your support. I’m not yet ready to rev
nciske
- startupShut down2014
Ask PG: Postmortem of the outage?
Clarification: This is not meant with any ill-will towards PG or any of the other individuals who help run HN. It is a simple request for a postmortem eventually . Perhaps it's an unneeded request, but I think a lot of HNers echo the sentiment.
Why it failed: Clarification: This is not meant with any ill-will towards PG or any of the other individuals who help run HN. It is a simple request for a postmortem eventually . Perhaps it's an unneeded request, but I think a lot of HNers echo the sentiment.
lukeqsee
- startupShut down2014
Ask HN: How to Find a Developer Job with a Felony?
Background: In 2011, I was arrested for violating the CFAA (I found that Sylint Corporation [usinfosec.com] was running a very out-of-date and publicly vulnerable DotNetNuke for the Infragard Tampa Bay website and raised the alarm publicly, and well, they didn't quite appreciate that) and sentenced to probation in 2012. I'm currently in a period of limbo following the end of the contract portion of a temp-to-perm gig, and I've been trying to find something a little more certain. I live in Orlando, FL, and I never have the opportunity to speak with a company directly. Instead, everyone outsources their talent acquisition to IT recruiters/headhunters that, as a third party, refuse to represent me to prospective employers because of this blemish on my record. The recruiters' oligarchy on the job openings in the area have created a sort of impenetrable barrier. (Iron
Why it failed: Background: In 2011, I was arrested for violating the CFAA (I found that Sylint Corporation [usinfosec.com] was running a very out-of-date and publicly vulnerable DotNetNuke for the Infragard Tampa Bay website and raised the alarm publicly, and well, they didn't quite apprec
sarciszewski
- startupShut down2014
Ask HN: A 19 year old, what should I do?
Hello HN people, I'm feeling lost for a while and all the local people who I've tried getting in contact with, well, they all say the same thing over and over again. I want to drop college. The big problem is that everyone is trying to make me feel bad about this, as if this would be the end of the world, as if there are only 2 choices in life: college or be a bum. For me this feels wrong. I mean, I've started programming for fun at a really young age, and I've managed to get my first (full-time) job in the summer break after 10th grade and continued until I finished my high-school. Since then I've worked with a different company and in my spare time I've tried starting various projects of mine. As I've said, I've started programming out of pure pleasure, and I consider that I've learned a lot like that, and now it feels like the only way to g
Why it failed: Hello HN people, I'm feeling lost for a while and all the local people who I've tried getting in contact with, well, they all say the same thing over and over again. I want to drop college. The big problem is that everyone is trying to make me feel bad about this, as if
coolsebz
- startupShut down2014
Ask HN: How do you balance being a dual-income household with a baby?
For background, my spouse and I both work. We never considered one of us being a stay-at-home parent since we both need the feeling of accomplishment that comes with working and put a lot into building our careers. And thankfully, our jobs are understanding when we have to leave early or stay home because our young daughter is sick, daycare is closed unexpectedly, etc. However, we always end up feeling guilty about it and worry their patience will wear thin soon. Additionally, it seems like we only have enough time to barely keep our heads above water at home, never mind be able to enjoy the few hours a day we get with our daughter. (We haven't cleaned our house or mowed our lawn in over a month, and only read to her 2 or 3 times a week.) Life feels like one long, never ending to-do list where we can never perform well in any area of our life (work, being parents, home, etc), and we
Why it failed: For background, my spouse and I both work. We never considered one of us being a stay-at-home parent since we both need the feeling of accomplishment that comes with working and put a lot into building our careers. And thankfully, our jobs are understanding when we have to leave
mh5
- startupShut down2014
IMPORTANT: Justcoin is shutting down. Withdraw your funds
Dear Justcoin user, Deposits are closed. Trading will close tomorrow, October 29th. We urge all users to withdraw their funds as soon as possible. Final deadline for withdrawals is November 11th. You may find useful information on wallets at https://bitcoin.org/en/choose-your-wallet. Please allow up to 24 hours for your withdrawals to process. We will manually batch withdrawals of all currencies. Cancelling a requested withdrawal will put you in the back of the line. Justcoin is shutting down all operations. Our bank has notified us that it will no longer accept businesses dealing with digital currencies. The same goes for other Norwegian banks. Without a bank account we have no business and need to shut down. This event demonstrates the need for decentralized payment networks. That it happens right after the tfPartialPayment issues is just coincidental. Holds on XRP
Why it failed: Dear Justcoin user, Deposits are closed. Trading will close tomorrow, October 29th. We urge all users to withdraw their funds as soon as possible. Final deadline for withdrawals is November 11th. You may find useful information on wallets at https://bitcoin.org/en&
SandroG
- startupShut down2014
Ask HN: Founders whose startups failed, what happens to VC/angel relationships?
Do they keep in touch with you? Are they open to new ideas? How do you keep your relationships going post failure?
Why it failed: Do they keep in touch with you? Are they open to new ideas? How do you keep your relationships going post failure?
BIackSwan
- startupShut down2014
Joyent us-east-1 rebooted due to operator error
Due to an operator error, all compute nodes in us-east-1 were simultaneously rebooted. Some compute nodes are already back up, but due to very high load on the control plane, this is taking some time. We are dedicating all operational and engineering resources to getting this issue resolved, and will be providing a full postmortem on this failure once every compute node and customer VM is online and operational. We will be providing frequent updates until the issue is resolved.
Why it failed: Due to an operator error, all compute nodes in us-east-1 were simultaneously rebooted. Some compute nodes are already back up, but due to very high load on the control plane, this is taking some time. We are dedicating all operational and engineering resources to getting this iss
hypervisor
- startupShut down2014
Ask HN: living and working in US
Hi everyone, I wanted to ask for your comments. I'll try to keep this as short as I can. I'm a 26yo enterprise Java dev and the sole provider for my little family (wife and toddler). We're EU citizens. We spent the last 8 years in UK, and have recently moved to Belgium looking for a change. And change we got, but not the good kind. So want to move again. My wife keeps saying we should move to US, perhaps California. She thinks we'll finally have some sunshine, lots of affordable fresh food, perhaps live in a house with garden, beautiful nature close enough to actually go camping for the weekends, and friendly and approachable people. And she's probably right about these, but I'm a little scared about what we'd be giving up. Namely, 40h workweek 5 weeks of holiday a year free/cheap health insurance free/cheap education up to university level fo
Why it failed: Hi everyone, I wanted to ask for your comments. I'll try to keep this as short as I can. I'm a 26yo enterprise Java dev and the sole provider for my little family (wife and toddler). We're EU citizens. We spent the last 8 years in UK, and have recently moved to Bel
seminole
- startupShut down2014
Ask HN: Sick of your bank? Want to build a open source, non-profit, online bank?
Hey there, I'm Irish, and here our banks are shady and private. The government owns most of them (through bailouts) yet still there's little to no transparency - they act as the please, grabbing as much profit off their customers as possible. Most people here hate their bank and would gladly move to a half decent alternative, but of course there is none. It's identical in most countries nowadays, including the US. I think we can all agree that fundamentally, the finance industry is backward, greedy and corrupt. It needs to change. Here's the idea: An open source, upfront, transparant and humane bank driven not by profit but by the passion to simply create a bank that people like and enjoy using. A few key ideas or keystones might include: * Transparant/Open Source * Non Profit * Great Customer Support * Few and fair fees * Great User Experience * Mobile First (cl
Why it failed: Hey there, I'm Irish, and here our banks are shady and private. The government owns most of them (through bailouts) yet still there's little to no transparency - they act as the please, grabbing as much profit off their customers as possible. Most people here hate their
niallpaterson
- startupShut down2014
Ask HN: We are looking to “adopt” Android apps
Hi HN Community! We are currently working on a mobile analytics project focused on the Android platform. In the spirit of the lean startup philosophy, we want to be able to run live tests of our assumptions with real users, and iterate really fast. Given that a lot of applications that were developed are now abandoned for a lot of reasons (did not grow big enough, developers moved on to other projects), we thought this might be a good opportunity for us to "adopt" one or more of these apps for us to play with. The applications that would be the most relevant for us are apps that are already developed and have a considerable, organically attracted, number of daily active users (over 1000). These apps are general purpose and keep the user engaged for a longer than average period of time (for instance a news reader app is better for us than a one time use BMI Calculator). If anyon
Why it failed: Hi HN Community! We are currently working on a mobile analytics project focused on the Android platform. In the spirit of the lean startup philosophy, we want to be able to run live tests of our assumptions with real users, and iterate really fast. Given that a lot of application
kiberstranier
- startupShut down2014
Ask HN: I am a good developer but have a serious gaming addiction
Hi HN, I made this throw away account because I am shamed to post with my main one, and also I really need help. I am a great full stack developer who struggled with procrastination all my life and despite it I managed to do some great things. Lately I have quit my well paid job just because I wanted to start my own business. Things are not going that bad, I got a gig consulting for a big company and also got a potential client to sell the project I am working on. Now here is the main problem. Things are going really slow mainly because I lose focus really fast and end up spending most of my day playing(I started with LOL, now playing Heartstone and Diablo). I promised the client a MVP in like 3 weeks because I already had a lot of stuff done, but I managed to do almost nothing in the last month. The thing is I start working and after like 30 minutes- 1 hour I get bored and start playing
Why it failed: Hi HN, I made this throw away account because I am shamed to post with my main one, and also I really need help. I am a great full stack developer who struggled with procrastination all my life and despite it I managed to do some great things. Lately I have quit my well paid job
gameraddict
- startupShut down2014
OpenBSD will shut down if we do not have the funding to keep the lights on
http://www.openbsdfoundation.org/donations.html and http://openbsd.org/want.html
Why it failed: http://www.openbsdfoundation.org/donations.html and http://openbsd.org/want.html
openbsddesktop
- startupShut down2014
Ask HN: (meta) How do you find real hacker news?
I used to love Hacker News. Don't get me wrong, I still enjoy its simplicity and straight-forward approach, but increasingly it doesn't seem to really be about small startups and experimental hacks. What I used to enjoy about Hacker News was the focus on awesome things coming out of small teams -- an awesome mix of creative tech, smart people, business advice, and inspiration from their tiny beginnings. But more often today, "big news" stories get submitted and then upvoted like crazy because they're from companies we already know about. For example, the current top 25 HN stories include the likes of Microsoft, Vice, ArsTechnica, EuroGamer, Aljazeera, Valve, Apple, and Comcast. Sure, those companies and efforts are part of the larger tech landscape, but it's just not what I was looking for (read: there are lots of other places to read those stories). So, sin
Why it failed: I used to love Hacker News. Don't get me wrong, I still enjoy its simplicity and straight-forward approach, but increasingly it doesn't seem to really be about small startups and experimental hacks. What I used to enjoy about Hacker News was the focus on awesome things
akumpf