Problems that people have that can be turned into meaningful businesses

10 points

7 years ago

Hi everyone. I have been aggregating a weekly list(http://houston.substack.com) of interesting problems that people have shared that if solved might turn into great businesses. A couple of interesting things have repeatedly come up and I thought HN might find them interesting. Here's what seem to have resonated the most with people:

1. I wish the startup I work at allowed me to choose my own perks

"A lot of the office perks I get at work are kind of useless. I wish that I could choose my own perks like free Spotify and Netflix rather than some obscure 'wellness benefit' that I have to remember to expense to get a reimbursement."

2. There's no good software for managing a campaign and running for office.

If you're someone young like Alexandria Ocasio Cortez, it's hard to figure out how to run for office and manage a campaign. NationBuilder is the legacy player in the space you can tell it's not a mobile or video native product (doesn't natively support YouTube, Insta, Snapchat, etc.). Another problem is that this software costs some real money so playing around with the business model might unlock substantial value (e.g., charge a % of $ raised).

3. A dedicated social network for memes is something that doesn't exist

My Instagram is now a basically feed of memes but Instagram itself was not built for this purpose. It’s impossible to create memes on Instagram so creators use other tools, import them to Insta and do a similar process for people that send them memes to upload to their accounts. I think 9gag might have been too early to the game but right now feels like the perfect time.

4. We need a way to process cannabis payments! Processing cannabis payments is too bureaucratic

"I just found out that Stripe will not process CBD payments. I love Stripe, and sure there are many reasons this is the case. But doesn’t this seem crazy in 2019? I can buy CBD products at almost every corner store in Los Angeles, including CVS and Walgreens."

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