my_name_is_sarah
New member
Hi everyone. I have been aggregating a weekly list 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 this subreddit might find them interesting. Here are the 10-12 that 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. There are no good tools for building my church’s community online
"This might sound a little weird but I am part of a congregation (church) and I wish that we could have a way to build our community online. I imagine something that combines Slack, Facebook Live, Shopify and Patreon.” All of these things can be done independently today but a software that bundles everything together would remove a ton of friction.
4. 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 for someone to solve this problem.
5. 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."
6. There is a need for tools (e.g. CRMs) for creators that will make use of Instagram’s new Checkout feature.
"This week Instagram launched checkout. There’s a massive opportunity to help a new generation of creators and creatives more easily become entrepreneurs." These sellers will be phone-only, and there are no good CRMs and adjacent tools to help these creators manage their business.
7. In the US It's extremely hard to compare prices across hospitals
"Hospitals in the USA are now required to publish online price lists of the services they provide. I hope someone is working to aggregate and make these easily searchable/comparable."
8. I wish there was something like MoviePass but for museums and other attractions
“It sucks that I have to pay $25 to go to SFMoMa. As a college student I got free access to all of these museums in New York. I wish there was something like MoviePass but for museums and stuff like that.”
9. A good karaoke app out there (for individuals or bars) is something that doesn't exist
“For a while now I've been trying to find a good Karaoke app that works with Spotify or Apple Music but there's nothing out there. Smule and Musixmatch are ok for lyrics but this isn't actually Karaoke. The same thing applies for Karaoke bars. They either use YouTube or some crappy software. One app that creates a great user experience for individuals and clubs/djs/bars etc. could be a game changer.”
10. Discovering new content on YouTube sucks. You pretty much depend on the algorithm.
“I wish there was something like Product Hunt for YouTube Channels! Youtubers can get "hunted" and we can find cool stuff to watch without being dependent on YouTube's suggested section and algorithms.”
11. There's no easy way to share, store and annotate podcast snippets.
"I really want to be able to store the best parts of what I listen to on podcasts in text in one place so that I can search and read later. How can I do this?"
12. A good alternative to Facebook events is something that doesn't exist
"As people continue to leave Facebook, the need for an event planning/management solution that ties well with other social networks (beyond just “here's a link to my evite!”) continues to grow. Anyone know why there hasn’t been a leader in this area? Maybe something I’m missing?"
Would love to hear your thoughts on any of these problems. What current solutions do you see to them? Do you think some of them could work or nah?
(Edit: Quick update! I send a weekly list like this with 5 problems. It’s free! If you’re interested you can check it out here)
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. There are no good tools for building my church’s community online
"This might sound a little weird but I am part of a congregation (church) and I wish that we could have a way to build our community online. I imagine something that combines Slack, Facebook Live, Shopify and Patreon.” All of these things can be done independently today but a software that bundles everything together would remove a ton of friction.
4. 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 for someone to solve this problem.
5. 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."
6. There is a need for tools (e.g. CRMs) for creators that will make use of Instagram’s new Checkout feature.
"This week Instagram launched checkout. There’s a massive opportunity to help a new generation of creators and creatives more easily become entrepreneurs." These sellers will be phone-only, and there are no good CRMs and adjacent tools to help these creators manage their business.
7. In the US It's extremely hard to compare prices across hospitals
"Hospitals in the USA are now required to publish online price lists of the services they provide. I hope someone is working to aggregate and make these easily searchable/comparable."
8. I wish there was something like MoviePass but for museums and other attractions
“It sucks that I have to pay $25 to go to SFMoMa. As a college student I got free access to all of these museums in New York. I wish there was something like MoviePass but for museums and stuff like that.”
9. A good karaoke app out there (for individuals or bars) is something that doesn't exist
“For a while now I've been trying to find a good Karaoke app that works with Spotify or Apple Music but there's nothing out there. Smule and Musixmatch are ok for lyrics but this isn't actually Karaoke. The same thing applies for Karaoke bars. They either use YouTube or some crappy software. One app that creates a great user experience for individuals and clubs/djs/bars etc. could be a game changer.”
10. Discovering new content on YouTube sucks. You pretty much depend on the algorithm.
“I wish there was something like Product Hunt for YouTube Channels! Youtubers can get "hunted" and we can find cool stuff to watch without being dependent on YouTube's suggested section and algorithms.”
11. There's no easy way to share, store and annotate podcast snippets.
"I really want to be able to store the best parts of what I listen to on podcasts in text in one place so that I can search and read later. How can I do this?"
12. A good alternative to Facebook events is something that doesn't exist
"As people continue to leave Facebook, the need for an event planning/management solution that ties well with other social networks (beyond just “here's a link to my evite!”) continues to grow. Anyone know why there hasn’t been a leader in this area? Maybe something I’m missing?"
Would love to hear your thoughts on any of these problems. What current solutions do you see to them? Do you think some of them could work or nah?
(Edit: Quick update! I send a weekly list like this with 5 problems. It’s free! If you’re interested you can check it out here)