Idea validation? | Hacker News Reader

Idea validation?

1 pointyrashk13 comments

Ok, so I have yet-another-idea and trying to research whether it makes sense to continue with it (yeah, I already started it and spent some time and money on it).

I am researching it myself on the internet and by talking to people, but I would love to hear your opinions about it.

So here we are.

I would not be able to disclose certain details I've developed that could be a kind of competitive advantage, but I will try to provide as much information as I can do.

The fundamental idea is very simple: you assess your level of wellness (the state or condition of being in both good physical and mental health) and your location on the globe (unless it was specified by you in your previous assessment, of course) and this assessment is reflected on an overall "wellness synoptics" map (i.e. all assessment are synthesized in some way and all you see is some map with transparent colored overlays).

Basically, that's all. A global map that tells how do people feel at different locations.

Of course, I have some features-to-add and some promotion/monetization strategies in my mind (I do really enjoy this project), but I'd really like to ask you guys, what do you think about it?

If you focus your idea more, I think you might have something. I founded and funded a company that did something along these lines, although I think our portfolio company was a bit more focused on trying to solve specific problems and generate revenue.

Our portfolio company developed watches and mobile (cellphone) software that worked with biofeedback attachments to monitor various aspects of health for users. It all integrated with an online system, which tracked location and company/community trends, among other things. There were games that helped people lower their blood pressure, etc. There were also systems to monitor wakefulness, to predict heart attacks and strokes, etc. I think we had around 80 specific use cases. We were working with an EAP company and several wellness/insurance companies.

All of this is past tense, because the company never made it to market. We presented at a single tradeshow and were promptly sued by about a dozen companies. We also got cease-and-desist letters from quite a few major companies (Nokia has several patents in this area, for example.)

Just like with location-based apps, there are a slew of overly broad patents that seem to tie up most of the basic functionality you would want in such a device/service. Many startups don't realize the unbelievable amount of 'IP' that has already been sewn up by companies in these areas. The patent holders don't usually go after you until you announce a big funding round or gain some traction in the market. We had to write off most of our investment because we weren't equipped to fight the legal battle at the time.

There are a ton of startups that are still working in this area, though...and I think there is a huge market. If someone can figure out a way to circumvent the existing patent mess, I would be interested in investing again.

From a hacker point of view, there are some interesting open-source projects. OpenEEG, for example:

http://openeeg.sourceforge.net/doc/sw/

good point about patents, thanks!

My only question is what problem are you solving? It would no doubt be cool but who is the target for this, who is truly in need of it?

I am trying to make some people at least a bit happier — _at least_ by understanding that they are not alone (note that I said "at least")

Different people might need it:

* those who feel bad

* those who want to validate some area's "wellness climate" — like "where to go today?"

* those who want to express their happiness/wellness somehow

Wouldn't you just get an overall feeling of wellness that is skewed negative though?

I mean, if I'm happy, I'm not really too concerned that I don't live in a "happy town".

that's a very reasonable and important point; it is a challenge to motivate happy people to assess their wellness level.

So what I need is just to get this information without trying to motivate them much ;)

As per my initial efforts to get some real sample data, that seems to be quite doable by household/street polls performed by either volunteers or paid buddies.

Further plans include some extra methods to get this information but as for now self-assessment and some kind of polls seem to be feasible and be a reasonable way to get more or less balanced information.

How about linking in to facebook, twitter, etc and monitoring key words, symbols and punctuation in status updates to contribute to a user's wellness level? Example: :) = wellness up, :( = wellness down.

it is planned to launch it on fb first, yeah

I feel like if you have the capability to create this, then you also have the capability to create something else that will actually improve people's state of happiness not just something that will show people that other people feel like crap too.

pardon me? I am not sure I understood your statement completely.

though yes — you're right — only showing people that other people feel like crap too wouldn't help them much; but in order to add some features/services that might actually help somehow, I anyway need this map first, right? just as a thing to start at.

I meant that I think your talents can be applied to something that creates happiness and not just shows or maps it. Solve a problem for people that's making them unhappy or frustrated.

everybody has his/her own reason to be unhappy or sick, I guess

A different approach, but this may be worth a look from the emotional perspective, at least.

http://www.wefeelfine.org/

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