Ask HN: What problem in your industry is a potential startup?

Re:Ask HN: What problem in your industry is a potential star... by 6stringmerc on Friday December 09, 2016 @03:32PM (#13141584)

A monthly subscription service for a fee of $5 - $10 where every month I get a new kind of quirky instrument (shaker, wind, wood block and stick, whistle, triangle, or other noise maker) as a surprise by mail.

The point of the service in the music industry is to inspire new sounds and the device can either be kept or given away to somebody without a lot of second thought. Getting stuck is a big problem. Also in music it's important to collaborate and giving gifts is a good way to make connections and impressions.

Great tie-in with various Manufacturers or even retailers to get rid of excess stock / failed impulse buy items / etc.

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Re:Ask HN: What problem in your industry is a potential star... by krisroadruck on Friday December 09, 2016 @06:55PM (#13142964)

This would actually be fairly straight forward to launch yourself using something like http://cratejoy.com

Subscription boxes are a thing :-)

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Re:Ask HN: What problem in your industry is a potential star... by 6stringmerc on Saturday December 10, 2016 @06:59AM (#13145259)

Very cool and thank you for providing input! I've already got the 'spiderweb' model in mind so crunching some numbers might be fun, err, well, informative. I'm planning to spend 2017 learning JavaScript and building small things so to have a list of personal projects seems neat. Appreciate your time!

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Re:Ask HN: What problem in your industry is a potential star... by fudged71 on Friday December 09, 2016 @04:58PM (#13142210)

This would be fantastic for educators as well!

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Re:Ask HN: What problem in your industry is a potential star... by 6stringmerc on Saturday December 10, 2016 @07:51AM (#13145437)

Now that you mention it, I think the idea might be inspired by what Dolly Parton does with her reading program. A child can sign up and the program will send them books for free. Considering music and arts funding don't seem to be high priorities in modern US systems (my perspective, could be wrong) having a low-cost or charitable music version sounds like it fits nicely too.

Honestly I'm pulling up memories now of watching other people's kids over the years playing with various music stuff I've handed over (Korg Monotron synths were the biggest hit) and those are really pleasant to recall!

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Re:Ask HN: What problem in your industry is a potential star... by tomcam on Friday December 09, 2016 @04:44PM (#13142106)

$5 doesn't even pay for shipping, sadly. Amazon still pays a average of $6 per order.

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Re:Ask HN: What problem in your industry is a potential star... by 6stringmerc on Friday December 09, 2016 @04:52PM (#13142163)

Eh I was thinking more USPS and less expectation of timeliness. More about the "set it and forget it until it shows up" kind of thing. Point understood though, as $10 starts to get into a competitive space (e.g. Spotify).

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Re:Ask HN: What problem in your industry is a potential star... by alphor on Saturday December 10, 2016 @12:06AM (#13144147)

Yeah, but Amazon's also shipping exercise machines. These can't be more than 2-3 pounds of stuff if they're not worth $5.

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Re:Ask HN: What problem in your industry is a potential star... by ThomPete on Saturday December 10, 2016 @12:59PM (#13146873)

This is a great idea, but the point is to find problems not solutions :)

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Re:Ask HN: What problem in your industry is a potential star... by geuis on Friday December 09, 2016 @07:03PM (#13143000)

Good use of 3D printers to get started for small batches.

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