Ask HN: How much would you pay to solve the largest problem you face?
I'm working on something new and I need to test it with real problems - the kind that keep you stuck for weeks or months. (basically stumbled on this framework, solving my own problems and want to see who else it could be useful for / what people would pay). Really just looking for a conversation. Here's what I'm looking for: complex situations where you've tried multiple approaches but nothing quite clicks. Business strategy paralysis, relationship dynamics you can't figure out, career transitions that feel impossible, creative blocks, or any problem where you know there's a solution but can't see it. Not selling anything - just testing whether this approach actually works for problems other than my own.
Some of the largest real problems are: climate change, energy instability, micro-plastics pollution, poverty, malnutrition, lack of clean potable water, tornadoes destroying communities, floods destroying towns and agriculture, etc, etc.
Still waiting to see effective solutions being implemented.
40, single, can't get past the first date. "Don't feel the spark/connection" etc. Things aren't about to get easier. Below-avg attractiveness but not horrible, tall, in-shape. Nerdy hobbies. (Think engineering etc, vice DnD). Would pay $$$ to solve this.
I do chatbots focused on interesting conversations. Not specifically to solve this; it's just that I find most conversations dull and I'm the kind of person who would marathon Sorkin/Tarantino just to listen to people talk.
Would you be interested in an open ended first date sim? It could be voice so you get used to voice; one issue I have is I can type well but the brain circuits don't trigger the same way when talking.
Possibly start with an interested date at lower difficulty - someone who asks you the questions and coaches you into interesting answers. Then ramps up to shy/unfriendly where you have to work to get them engaged.
This is definitely cyberpunk dystopian response.
Lonely? Why not talk to machines?
Grim.
Talking is a skill. Skills are improved with usage and practice. Not everyone wants to practice on another human. Honestly, it's a bit of a jerk move to date people to practice dating someone better.
When people say they're unattractive, often it's not because they're ugly. Ugly is a disadvantage, but not the biggest one.
For both men and women, it's usually because they lack confidence. Or they're boring. Or sleazy. If you're getting into a first date and not a second, you're likely attractive enough on the 'resume', just messing up on the actual date. You might be saying something wrong. You might be delivering a good joke the wrong way. Sometimes it's just saying things in the wrong order.
The longer they go without some form of success, the less confident they become.
I thought the diagnosis was fairly clear; sorry for jumping straight to pitching a cure. This is a good example of saying things in the wrong order.
> I thought the diagnosis was fairly clear; sorry for jumping straight to pitching a cure. This is a good example of saying things in the wrong order.
That you think LLMs are the cure to loneliness misses what a "cure" even looks like here. OP clearly writes well enough to get first dates - the issue isn't conversational content but likely body language, energy, presence, the thousand micro-signals that happen below conscious awareness. You can't chatbot your way into better posture or more relaxed eye contact.
This is classic LLM wrapper syndrome. Someone has a hammer (conversational AI) so every problem looks like a nail (conversation optimization). But the actual failure mode here probably happens in the first thirty seconds of meeting, before anyone's even said anything substantive.
Op would probably benefit more from something social like improv classes (physical presence, spontaneity), dance lessons (body awareness, comfort with proximity), or honestly just hanging out in social spaces doing things they actually enjoy rather than performing "date behaviors." The energy of someone genuinely engaged in something they love is magnetic in ways that no amount of conversation optimization can replicate.
I just don't believe that "practice talking to a computer" will ever be a sufficient platform to teach people how to be genuinely charming, let alone charmingly genuine.
Things will get easier women after 40 are less selective.
He prolly wants someone younger, hence the difficulty. :)
You can pay $$$ to solve it. They say it's the world's oldest profession (or p2p business if you prefer).
Maybe ask them after without coming across as desperate? Something like:
"Thanks for being honest and I wish you the best with your search.
If you have a moment, would you be able to give me a few suggestions on how I could improve? Is it something obvious I can work on but just not aware of? Like my breath stinks? Or clothes don't fit properly? Or I come off as rude or closed off? Of course, no pressure to answer. Just trying to figure out how I can improve myself. Thank you."
I do give feedback when they ask for it, but it ends up with a foot on the door. "But I'm not like that! But I can change! But your breath stinks too!!"
Yes that's where you gotta embrace whatever feedback they give even if you think it doesn't apply to you. Thank them for taking the time to respond and move on without arguing back.
This is fantastic!
Be ready to hear things you may not like but hopefully it gives you something to work and improve on. Regardless of whether they say something offensive or rude, thank them for taking the time to respond and don't try to argue with them. Wishing you the best.
You don't feel the spark, or they don't?
Sample size issue?
They. Probably a "someone better is one swipe away" (?) issue.
How do you know?
> complex situations where you've tried multiple approaches but nothing quite clicks
What are the multiple approaches you've tried?
How much I would pay depends on what it is and if it actually solves the problem. A lot of people make bold claims that often fall flat. Maybe they work for others, but they didn’t have any lasting impact on me.
fair, what are the scopes of your problems generally?
not only in a business context, this could be a health issue. i helped someone develop a plan to treat their knee pain
I would pay millions to solve my I want a billion problem.
You could join something like Founder Institute or Harvard Business School?
What I suffer from can't be fixed. I have schizoaffective disorder a mental illness that makes it hard to work much less remember things. Before I developed it I was a 10x programmer and a super debugger.
i would love to chat more about this. my backgrounds in bme and personally interested in health.
My email is orionblastar@gmail.com
Here is a definition of my mental illness: https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/schizoaffecti...
Here is some more: https://www.bridgestorecovery.com/schizoaffective-disorder/l...
Employers do not like me having it because it makes it harder to do work and some days are worse than others. Management just doesn't understand my mental illness so I am on disability because I cannot hold down a job.
Your condition sounds really challenging. I'm sorry you have to suffer from it and I truly wish you well.
Thank you not everyone is understanding. Less than half a percent of the population in the USA suffers from it so it isn't a priority for doctors to treat and cure. I am on psychiatric medication for it but it makes me drowsy.
My email is kbe@gmx.us, my company would EASILY be willing to pay anyone upwards of $100M/yr salary to help solve our number one problem of how to make $100 million/yr in profit!
find something that cuts people s time for setting something up down from 1 month to 5 mins and that company ll defintiely do 100M ARR
Claude and gpt can do it for $20/mo
/s