Seattle Startup Weekend Idea 01
UPDATE 2009-feb-11:Â I’m still interested in doing this project. however, it’ll be more challenging as I’ll need to do it in my spare time.
UPDATE 2009-feb-07:Â I was unable to get enough team members together, so I swtiched to the tweet reporter team.
UPDATE 2009-feb-06 : I selected this project, and pitched to the group. There were 48 projects submitted. This project made it into the Top 16. Were moving forward tomorrow morning. I’ll be at Peet’s Coffee in Fremont tomorrow at 8:15am for anyone that would like to discuss the project.
Original Content
I, like 150 others, am very much looking forward to the beginning of Seattle Startup Weekend this evening. This is the first idea of two.
Borrow Local Stuff.
This is a social network, but very different than most, as it emphasizes those who are closest to you geographically. Also trust is a key component. The way this works is you create a profile, which contains a catalogue. Then you add items to your catalogue that you’re willing to share with your friends. You might start small, with things like: books you’ve already read, CDs that you have, or maybe some tools you don’t use often.
Now that you’re set up, look for things that you want to borrow. Doing a search will look through the assets that your friends have, and return any potential matches. When you find something you like, you send a request for that asset. The owner will then accept/deny. If they accept your request, you meet them in some public place and make the exchange. They’ll update their record they delivered the item to you, and will enter a due date of when it should be returned. If you have not returned the item by the due date, you’ll receive an reminder email everyday until you have.
How can you ship things, you wonder? You cant. Items are delivered via the Sneakernet.
- Revenue model: Free/Premium. Premium accounts will allow you get insurance on items of particular types. In order to borrow a premium item , you pay a rental fee.
- Partnership: Delicious-Monster.com – They have cool software that makes adding things to your catalogue easy.
- UI: xhtml/css, and add some AJAX-y features for good measure. Future versions will include mobile apps.