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.
2,500 solutions
- startupShut down2023
Ask HN: Whatever happened to the “coming wave” of delivery drones?
I feel like a few years ago all the rage was that Amazon and other retailers were going to deliver things via drones, straight to your doorstep Food delivery companies as well seemed to be testing out robots that would bring your food to you albeit in a more sidewalk bound way Its been a few years and I have yet to have a single thing drone delivered to my house What happened to that alternate future? Are companies still working on it? Or did we move on from that idea for some reasons we discovered?
Why it failed: I feel like a few years ago all the rage was that Amazon and other retailers were going to deliver things via drones, straight to your doorstep Food delivery companies as well seemed to be testing out robots that would bring your food to you albeit in a more sidewalk bound way It
cgb223
- startupShut down2023
Tell HN: Sometimes you don't realise how bad something is until you leave
I was in two minds about writing this but in the end the thought of preventing someone going through what I went through is enough to tip the scales. As per title, sometimes in life you don't realise how toxic something can be until you leave it behind, no matter that be a bad habit, a relationship or even work. Sometimes it can be so toxic that you'd consider ending it all (as i did) because there is no visible way out and keeping the money flowing in at the same time when people depend on you. I am here to say thats not the case. Good stuff can happen. Under another name on here I wrote about my previous job and I felt stuck because if I left I walked away on a large chunk of stock options. That and my age made me feel really depressed and unwanted. I was driven to actively contemplate suicide due to my boss and his shitty attitudes and issues but no one actually seemed to ca
Why it failed: I was in two minds about writing this but in the end the thought of preventing someone going through what I went through is enough to tip the scales. As per title, sometimes in life you don't realise how toxic something can be until you leave it behind, no matter that be a b
Goleniewski
- startupShut down2023
Ask HN: My startup failed, now what?
I was a non-tech cofounder of a hard tech startup that raised a seed round of 500K. The startup failed for a bunch of reasons unrelated to this topic after 2 years of existence. Now I need to get a job, and I have no idea what kind of job I am qualified to get in the tech world. Before the startup I have one brief business development stint but nothing major, and a degree from a prestigious university. I don't even know where to start regarding what positions I can get? I can certainly try business development again, but I want to be more involved in the product.
Why it failed: I was a non-tech cofounder of a hard tech startup that raised a seed round of 500K. The startup failed for a bunch of reasons unrelated to this topic after 2 years of existence. Now I need to get a job, and I have no idea what kind of job I am qualified to get in the tech world.
quotz
- startupShut down2023
Ask HN: What do you put in a “in case of death” file?
I recall seeing a guide on what to put in a text file so that surviving family have an easier time dealing with all of your loose ends, e.g., digital accounts, safe deposit boxes, utilities, etc. Do any of you have thoughts on what to put in a file like this? Here is a rough list of things: - Will - Living trust - Power of attorney - Life insurance policy - Birth certificate - Marriage license - Bank and credit card accounts - Loan documents - Automobile titles - Property deeds - Copies of keys to automobiles, safe deposit boxes, etc. - Account and device passwords
Why it failed: I recall seeing a guide on what to put in a text file so that surviving family have an easier time dealing with all of your loose ends, e.g., digital accounts, safe deposit boxes, utilities, etc. Do any of you have thoughts on what to put in a file like this? Here is a rough list
cjohnson318
- startupShut down2023
Ask HN: Did anyone write a book in Nano?
I discovered that some people deliberately choose to write stories in terminal-based text-editors like Nano or Vim, because it forces you to spend more time on honing the story instead of being distracted by formatting and other fancy features. I'm attracted to this idea, in the same way that the dwm window manager forces me to focus my attention. I was curious to know if anyone here actually did that, and what their experience was. Did it make you more productive? Was the editing process a mess? Any anecdotes?
Why it failed: I discovered that some people deliberately choose to write stories in terminal-based text-editors like Nano or Vim, because it forces you to spend more time on honing the story instead of being distracted by formatting and other fancy features. I'm attracted to this idea, in
_ixdf
- startupShut down2023
Ask HN: How to minimize career risk from an attempted startup
I am about to ditch my somewhat successful FAANG career to attempt bootstrapping a SaaS business. My goal is to build a lifestyle business, not a VC rocketship, but I still think there is a substantial chance it will not work out. What ca I do to minimize my risk of having lower chances on the job market due to this adventure? What data do recruiters and employers look at to determine if the failed startup listed on a CV is a plus or a minus?
Why it failed: I am about to ditch my somewhat successful FAANG career to attempt bootstrapping a SaaS business. My goal is to build a lifestyle business, not a VC rocketship, but I still think there is a substantial chance it will not work out. What ca I do to minimize my risk of having lower
thw6597
- startupShut down2023
Ask HN: For 10 years I've been trying various projects, still clueless
I have a lot of experience with side-projects and startups. I will briefly explain my experience. I'm coming from small eastern European country, so my perspective on everything might be different. 1. My country is too small and market is small. You can do something here, but everything is so limited that it's terrible. 3.5M people and then when you target certain people who wants your product or service or app or website, you get super small amount of people 2. The Balkans (group of countries around my country where people speak the same language) is a better story, but every nation is so isolated. I asked yourself, how often do I use products/app/websites from the other countries and vice versa? Very rarely. Every country is in its own bubble. 3. European market. Every country has its own language, culture, mentality, etc. it's hard to get into those countries
Why it failed: I have a lot of experience with side-projects and startups. I will briefly explain my experience. I'm coming from small eastern European country, so my perspective on everything might be different. 1. My country is too small and market is small. You can do something here, bu
superdario
- startupShut down2023
Ask HN: I’m falling out of love with coding
I spoke to a lot of software engineers around me and the feeling seems common. I remember the days I started coding, and how much I enjoyed that. I was able to create things with just the power of my thoughts, and it felt like a superpower. Nowadays, I feel like I have to jump so many hoops and spend so much mental bandwidth just to get the permission to code. It would be fair to say that on avg I spend less than 20% of my time coding or solving problems. Any project I work on is connected to a million different tools, workflows and services, that all do things their own way, and everything lives in a totally different place, where it’s hard to monitor what’s going on. I feel like anything can break at any moment and ruin my day. I don’t understand any of the tools well enough to be confident that it’s stable, and the worst problems are the silent ones. This is giving me anxiety. I work
Why it failed: I spoke to a lot of software engineers around me and the feeling seems common. I remember the days I started coding, and how much I enjoyed that. I was able to create things with just the power of my thoughts, and it felt like a superpower. Nowadays, I feel like I have to jump so
zikero
- startupShut down2023
Shutting down my legal torrent site after 17 years
I ran Legit Torrents for ~17 years and shut it down recently. The homepage is now a nostalgic look back at that time.
Why it failed: I ran Legit Torrents for ~17 years and shut it down recently. The homepage is now a nostalgic look back at that time.
en3r0
- startupShut down2023
Ask HN: Self-hosting in 2023: Nextcloud on Linode, or...?
I have always chafed at handing any aspect of my life over to a corporation, but the ease and convenience of Google's ecosystem has herded me in over the years, and I never want to be without that type of "cloud" style document and data storage again. I'm also ready to do what is necessary to stop relying on some faceless entity to manage it, I'm just not sure what to use, or where. Plan A: Nextcloud on Linode. Probably not the dirt cheapest choice, but affordable as a steady expense right now, and it seems to provide a lot of resource headroom while I get on top of how it works and what my actual needs are gonna be re compute and bandwidth and so forth, as well as allowing me to stand up any extra services I may want on this web presence - Nextcloud's open nature is good for that as well, but I want access to the system itself. What I need: I will be using
Why it failed: I have always chafed at handing any aspect of my life over to a corporation, but the ease and convenience of Google's ecosystem has herded me in over the years, and I never want to be without that type of "cloud" style document and data storage again. I'm also
jtode
- startupShut down2023
Ask HN: American friends life is falling apart badly. What can I do to help?
I am a German university student. Through a hobby project of mine i got to talk to a trans women from Tennessee. She seemed genuinely interested in my project and made valueable contributions. However her capability to contribute has plummeted so i asked her what's up. From what i gathered she works as an independent contractor and was barely making ends meet, then her hours were cut by 10 hours per week and she is in the red and her savings were non existent. I was shocked she has been contributing from an linux environment on her mobile phone! She can't afford getting enough to eat (!!!), her only phone has a broken touch screen, barely works, her car is slowly dying and dangerous to drive. She has been building and rebuilding a computer at home from discraded parts and it keeps failing. I am honestly at a loss. She seems smart, really interested, has projects which i find pr
Why it failed: I am a German university student. Through a hobby project of mine i got to talk to a trans women from Tennessee. She seemed genuinely interested in my project and made valueable contributions. However her capability to contribute has plummeted so i asked her what's up. From
freemint
- startupShut down2023
Jobs for the formerly incarcerated rises again, this time with AI help
I'm the founder and ex-CEO of 70 Million Jobs (1st national, for-profit employment platform for people with criminal records). We helped thousands of deserving men and women land jobs, but when the pandemic hit in force, it destroyed our business. Several months ago I announced with great sadness that I was ceasing operations. Both the HN and Y Comb. (I was in S17) were incredibly supportive. I'll never forget that. But I'm not done with my work. Like most, I'm amazed at the potential of AI. I know that employing it to help people with records land jobs would be enormously effective, so I am planning to launch a new company, SecondChance AI. Most of the people coming out of prison have no clue on how to land a job; how to create a resume and cover letter, where to look, how to apply, etc. And that's assuming they have the most basic of tech skills--which many don
Why it failed: I'm the founder and ex-CEO of 70 Million Jobs (1st national, for-profit employment platform for people with criminal records). We helped thousands of deserving men and women land jobs, but when the pandemic hit in force, it destroyed our business. Several months ago I announ
RBBronson123
- startupShut down2023
Ask HN: What made your startup fail?
Just wanted to pose this question to anyone who has the experience of starting up a startup/business from scratch or that worked in one for a longer time until it failed. In retrospect - what do you think was the most significant factor that made it fail? Bad market research? Wrong product design? Engineering failure at executing properly?
Why it failed: Just wanted to pose this question to anyone who has the experience of starting up a startup/business from scratch or that worked in one for a longer time until it failed. In retrospect - what do you think was the most significant factor that made it fail? Bad market research
margorczynski
- startupShut down2023
What's special about Erlang and Elixir?
I'm intrigued by the claims about them but also don't entirely understand the marketing "Elixir is a dynamic, functional language for building scalable and maintainable applications." OK, there are lots of languages that are either or both dynamic and functional, and they can all used to build scalable and maintainable transactions. "Elixir runs on the Erlang VM, known for creating low-latency, distributed, and fault-tolerant systems." Let's skip over "low-latency", because virtually all programming languages and VMs are "low-latency". "distributed" and "fault-tolerant" are what's most often touted as "special". I'm not sure what "distributed" means here? Any app in most languages can be coded to be "distributed" both on the scale of within a single machine and at the scale
Why it failed: I'm intrigued by the claims about them but also don't entirely understand the marketing "Elixir is a dynamic, functional language for building scalable and maintainable applications." OK, there are lots of languages that are either or both dynamic and function
bedobi
- startupShut down2023
Ash HN: How can I make my idle CPU time useful to others?
Knowing that my computing resources just sit there unused bothers me. It would be relaxing to know that my idle CPU/bandwidth helps others. Previous/older solutions: - SETI (discontinued, [1]) - Leave BitTorrent open (risky) Are there any current distributed SETI-like projects that I can trust? [1] https://setiathome.berkeley.edu/
Why it failed: Knowing that my computing resources just sit there unused bothers me. It would be relaxing to know that my idle CPU/bandwidth helps others. Previous/older solutions: - SETI (discontinued, [1]) - Leave BitTorrent open (risky) Are there any current distributed SETI-like p
puttycat
- startupShut down2023
OpenAI to discontinue support for the Codex API
Just received this email, can't find a blog post yet? On March 23rd, we will discontinue support for the Codex API. All customers will have to transition to a different model. Codex was initially introduced as a free limited beta in 2021, and has maintained that status to date. Given the advancements of our newest GPT-3.5 models for coding tasks, we will no longer be supporting Codex and encourage all customers to transition to GPT-3.5-Turbo. About GPT-3.5-Turbo GPT-3.5-Turbo is the most cost effective and performant model in the GPT-3.5 family. It can both do coding tasks while also being complemented with flexible natural language capabilities. You can learn more through: GPT-3.5 model overview Chat completions guide Models affected The following models will be discontinued: code-cushman:001 code-cushman:002 code-davinci:001 code-davinci:002 We understand this transition may be te
Why it failed: Just received this email, can't find a blog post yet? On March 23rd, we will discontinue support for the Codex API. All customers will have to transition to a different model. Codex was initially introduced as a free limited beta in 2021, and has maintained that status to da
thejosh
- startupShut down2023
Show HN: Beta test Execute Program's interactive "Python for Programmers" course
I'm Gary Bernhardt, founder of Execute Program, an interactive platform for learning programming languages and other programming tools. Our "Python for Programmers" course is in a free open beta for the next week or so. We don't normally do open betas, but the infrastructure behind this course is new and very complex, so we want to stress test it. https://www.executeprogram.com/courses/python-for-programmer... Today, "Python for Programmers" contains 581 interactive code examples covering the core language. It's aimed at established programmers, not beginners. We don't explain basic language features like `while`, but we do show them briefly and note anything special about how they work in Python. We pay special attention to foot guns. For example, we have an entire lesson about Python's mutable default argument foot gun. T
Why it failed: I'm Gary Bernhardt, founder of Execute Program, an interactive platform for learning programming languages and other programming tools. Our "Python for Programmers" course is in a free open beta for the next week or so. We don't normally do open betas, but the
gary_bernhardt
- startupShut down2023
Tell HN: Teddit has been de facto shut down
It appears that Teddit has been effectively shut down via extreme rate limits by Reddit rendering the app unusable. HTTP Error 429 is now returned nearly 100% of the time.
Why it failed: It appears that Teddit has been effectively shut down via extreme rate limits by Reddit rendering the app unusable. HTTP Error 429 is now returned nearly 100% of the time.
housemusicfan
- startupShut down2023
Ask HN: How does a hobby programmer get hired?
I've been tinkering with code since a young age and I like thinking my way through problems and understanding the way computers work, but I've never had a programming job. For the longest time, I went in other directions even though I enjoy it a lot, because I was told that I shouldn't spend my life in front of a computer. It turns out that I do that anyway, just not being paid for it. Without any programming jobs on my CV, what is a good way to penetrate into the market? I've had job interviews where I did a bunch of coding challenges (and passed), but didn't get accepted because of lack of experience. I considered that maybe I need to do a bootcamp as an initial way to back my skills up.
Why it failed: I've been tinkering with code since a young age and I like thinking my way through problems and understanding the way computers work, but I've never had a programming job. For the longest time, I went in other directions even though I enjoy it a lot, because I was told
_ixdf
- startupShut down2023
Re: Did AT&T leak their email list publicly?
I'm apparently on this list: DONOTUSEPOD1NON@list.att.com Here are some screenshots of the debacle [edit: properly redacted now] https://imgur.com/a/MWV2wmk https://imgur.com/a/yRJCKUn It started out when someone wrote to that mailing list with > This is a test to see if external users can email AT&T's internal email list with the most recent email mishap. followed by other responses like > I guess so… > So far, based on the number of unique domains coming back directly to me (and replying all), it appears to be mostly business customers. I am assuming business because I also used my gmail for my business when I set up an AT&T account. Time will tell of course but there's definitely not an insignificant number of people on this list as far as I can tell. > We’re just lucky there aren’t multiple people with vacatio
Why it failed: I'm apparently on this list: DONOTUSEPOD1NON@list.att.com Here are some screenshots of the debacle [edit: properly redacted now] https://imgur.com/a/MWV2wmk https://imgur.com/a/yRJCKUn It started out when someone wrote to that mailing
patneedham
- startupShut down2023
Painful Lesson: Always 'Show and Tell' Your Product Before You Develop It
It's said that amazon asks their product makers to write a press release about the release of the product and work backwards from there. Working backwards has its uses... I recently wanted validation on a product I had already finished developing I thought I needed it so others will too. I put in a lot of time architecting it, designing it with careful UX and UI. When it came time to show and tell through a demo video i couldn't create a simple enough one that explains what it does. So anyway I posted it in some communities and people we just confused and nobody signed up. So I had to abandon the project as there were no takers Cut to about a week back where I had another idea... This time instead of simply developing it further, I jumped straight to see if I can create a explainer video of the product. So with zero expectations about it working I made one without audio or musi
Why it failed: It's said that amazon asks their product makers to write a press release about the release of the product and work backwards from there. Working backwards has its uses... I recently wanted validation on a product I had already finished developing I thought I needed it so oth
anticlickwise
- startupShut down2023
Ask HN: Is there a data loss bug lurking in MS365 backup solutions?
It sounds crazy, and maybe I'm just doing something dumb, but I've seen a similar issue in two different MS365 backup products this year. I can't reproduce it reliably, but feel like there could be a serious issue, even though I can't prove it. My issue is specific to OneDrive. When I reconcile a backup set against live data, files are missing. I've had it happen with both Veeam Backup for MS365 and Synology Active Backup for MS365. Neither system reports any issues when backups run. I don't know the cause and I can't reproduce it, but it happens consistently for at least one of my tenants and seems to get worse over time. I've seen the issue on more than one tenant, so I don't think it's anything tenant specific and the only (untenable) solution I've come up with is to restart the backup from scratch. The tenant that has the most is
Why it failed: It sounds crazy, and maybe I'm just doing something dumb, but I've seen a similar issue in two different MS365 backup products this year. I can't reproduce it reliably, but feel like there could be a serious issue, even though I can't prove it. My issue is spe
ryan87
- startupShut down2023
How Can I Cope With Living In A Dying Nation?
My country (Nigeria) is in shambles. We have a poverty rate of over 80%, illiteracy rate of over 60%, high insecurity and violence. Yet, we just voted in a documented drug trafficker and extremely corrupt person as our incoming President [1]. Most of the votes for this candidate came from the Northern part of the country, the part with the highest poverty, illiteracy, and insecurity. Yet, the people from this region overlook their economic interests and are more interested in tribal and religious politics. Once upon a time, we were improving and seeing progress...until 2015 when we elected a former military dictator who is very clueless about the state of affairs [2]. Since then, we have backslidden on all levels...poverty has become higher, my hometown has become ravaged by separatist violence [3], the economy is very bleak and continues to worsen. I have lost hope. I never wanted to im
Why it failed: My country (Nigeria) is in shambles. We have a poverty rate of over 80%, illiteracy rate of over 60%, high insecurity and violence. Yet, we just voted in a documented drug trafficker and extremely corrupt person as our incoming President [1]. Most of the votes for this candidate
boeingUH60
- startupShut down2023
Ask HN: I'm being pushed out of my job
I’m a backend engineer with ~10 years experience currently working at a fast growing startup with plenty of funding, good market fit and a product that I really believe in. I joined the company before the launch and architected, wrote and implemented all the critical parts of our backend. As an early employee I have a stock options plan. Things have been working almost perfect until a few months ago. In my last one-on-one review with my manager, he was very upset with me. Partly is because of some technical mistakes I had big responsibility (and fixed in record time), but mostly because he’s been hearing bad comments of my work from a co-worker. I came to the conclusion that this person wants my job hence why he’s trash talking to my manager, making the case I am messing things up and I’m not a good engineer. While I’ve done a few mistakes in the codebase, and failed to meet a few deadli
Why it failed: I’m a backend engineer with ~10 years experience currently working at a fast growing startup with plenty of funding, good market fit and a product that I really believe in. I joined the company before the launch and architected, wrote and implemented all the critical parts of our
doomerdeveloper