Crowdsourcing Starting Up 2, the Ideas

Part Two, And A very Terrifying Part Two

As for 1:

• Of ideas this is the most  planned out, though there are plenty of kinks: A Wiki/closed social network for lawyers that separates them based on firm, state, bar, and practice area.  This would allow them to securely discuss lots of lawyer technical issues and plan documents.  They tend to screw this up, I’ve discovered.  Their are mailing lists based off practice area across the country (and the most common question is someone similar in a different area of the country, or some theoretical issue).  They also are really insecure about document protection.  The best way around this would be to just secure everything in one place, on some simplistic surface platform from their end, while in the back it is super secure, so that they have a harder time sharing privileged stuff.  Also allow them to self police more easily, and find “that guy in Kalamazoo who can finally draw up that weird document.”  Some fun stories how I discovered this one.  More and more layers of possibility keep getting discovered in this if I think about it, due to a combination of usability and security concerns, however….(Damn silly lawyers)
• A social network trading platform.  Better yet, a trading platform for banks that works based on the way actually banker type people use the damn thing.  Widgity, displays information you need well, socially inclined for those who trade in groups, based on bank/trading group behavior.  Maybe even a cheap one for those who trade alone (lots of people do)  I was once talking to a banker on a train.  He told me his sucked.  It probably is wrong to generalize, but the thing is he is 25.  If the 25 year old thinks it sucks, what do older people, or those less tech inclined, think?  And you can build mobile apps to go with it, so you can trade on the run! (Silly bankers, for not thinking of this one on their own)

• Me as a socially conscious person- to do fractional banking on the Internet of a variety of “Internet money”.  Or to start setting up a way to do fractional banking on the Internet, as well as trade equity, options, and derivatives.  Or at minimum, do deposits and loans.  I’m ultra concerned by the points systems between social networks.  I’m also concerned by the fake money going on in games.  Further, there is no way to redeem the points/money, nor get more money.  Functionally, in the past, it wasn’t until we developed fractional banking in fiat money did society really start to take off economically.  Right now, we live in a world with lots of baby currencies, no reserves, and no way for anyone who holds points to secure them.  This is creating problems for everyone in the system: How do you value the companies? (uniques are not enough, we are starting to realize how important impressions are, in the sense that people are impressionable and decisions take time)  How do you transfer the value of your points as an individual from place to place?  How do you measure the likelihood of a company’s default in its own system beyond spike and fall?  How much is niche-ness worth?  How are we all going to use these Points, anyway, and where do we put them when we want to back them up and trade them?  The only way to really start tackling some of these issues is to start thinking about how to get Point A to equal Point B.  How do you extract dollars for founders out of the system, since apparently founders are super frustrated? (doesn’t apply to everyone, sorry)   So we’re going to need a banking system…And it’s time to start thinking about how to tackle all the stuff that goes with it.  (Note: If one hangs around AVC for too long and hears too many people kvetch, someone will just accidentally give away a startup idea, so this is a credit to that community…you guys complained about banking issues to death...)  That being said, I’ve heard of some massively critical issues involving implementing this, having to do with no one controlling inflation on the Internet…
• I think Newspapers are silly.  I think newspapers should have officially verified content.  As in make people pay to say “NYTimes believes me!” or something along that line.  And they should ignore everyone else, at least in the United States.  This is not a new idea.  How else do you think the AP started?  I want to start the system that starts those damn badges because I’m just so annoyed at that level of silliness already.  Go read some history books, that you helped create, newspapers! Why shouldn’t it work in Internet Land, I tell you!  Worked once.
• Convince RIM to open up parts of BBM to the world before Android and Google Voice eats them alive.  (BBM addict talking who sees the power in lots of free text messages and how Google Voice could be implemented naively on Android)
• If you want another one, be Jewish and date me for a few months.  Seriously.  I’ll watch you and figure things out…that’s probably why Guy Kawasaki said to ask a woman in his startup presentation.  We watch you.