Ask HN: What can I build that would pay a dollar for?

2 points by hai2ashwin 6 years ago | 9 comments

I want to build something of value within one month that a lot of people would want and will pay a dollar a month for. I am open to ideas where usually the market charges $10 or more. I am experimenting on a model that needs zero employees, zero evil, no hockey-stick growth ambitions, and yet delivers a great lifestyle by doing what people want and charging 10x lower.

What is your no-brainer idea?

PS: I am a 2-time entrepreneur with 1 small exit and a reasonably successful product startup.

brudgers 6 years ago |

Probably nothing. Transaction costs (including risk) swamp the value of a $1 online service. Among the risks is the low probability of a viable business of $1 transactions. Unsustainable business models make services unreliable in the long term.

To put it another way, you're competing with Dollar Tree's one dollar duct tape, tortillas, and spatulas.

hai2ashwin 6 years ago | |

Thank you!

I would not do any business that will not have a healthy gross profit margin when bootstrapped. I am looking at ideas where the volume will make up for the free cash that per-sale generates.

There are a lot of 'lifestyle' plugin makers that do this.

PS: I do value the input and the time you took to answer. Thanks!

troydavis 6 years ago |

I'd pay much more than that for an way to "read" (watch) media RSS feeds on Apple TV. Instapaper, Pocket, and other "read later" services expose RSS feeds of their folders - and they are accessible without the user giving their Instapaper/similar password to a third-party app.

Anyone who sends videos to a read-later service like that - rather than using the service-specific version, like YouTube's own "Watch Later" list - would then be able to watch those videos on Apple TV. Basically, a media-only RSS reader (player) for tvOS.

(This would also work for YouTube's own RSS feeds and any others, but I don't see use cases for those.)

hai2ashwin 6 years ago | |

Fantastic idea. I haven't, first-hand, felt this pain. But I will research further. Appreciate it!

kensavage 6 years ago |

People find value when they pay for things not get them at a discount. If a product or service was truly valuable I would expect to pay a larger amount not one dollar. If this is just a trial to get started I understand. Just some feedback

marceloabsousa 6 years ago |

Based on your restrictions, this doesn't sound like a 'no-brainer' idea whatsoever... I think your best option would be to join a team which is building something of value to a lot of people for one month and charge them 30$ as your salary.

hai2ashwin 6 years ago | |

Thanks, Marcelo! One idea I have is to build an email open tracker that does not sell data to third party. Doesn't take time to build and can be priced at a dollar a month. I am looking for tools like these that are not that hard to build if your ambition is not to scale.

qubex 6 years ago |

I’d willingly pay a dollar a month for a service that credited two dollars a month to my PayPal account.

hai2ashwin 6 years ago | |

I will be the genie who will grant that wish, the moment I have the F you money.