Hi there π This is Houston's third issue and here are five exciting problems that we found this week:
Problem #1: "Podcasts are super popular right now, and there are a ton of great podcast apps, but as someone that just started a podcast I can tell you that analytics for podcasts suck. I know that the RSS format and the nature of podcasts makes it difficult to track stats, but whoever cracks this will be the de facto leader in the space."
Problem # 2: "I spend all this time organizing my google calendar, but it would be great to have an integration that at the end of my week tells me how much time I'm spending on each type of event (e.g., hiring, meetings, planning,etc.). Mathilde Collin (co-founder of Front) has her EA do something like this, but it would be great if everyone could do it."
Problem #3: Itβs 2019, and every time you go to a hotel you still have to go to a front desk and spend at least 10-20min checking in. This can all be automated and readily available on your phone. The hotel industry hasn't learned from the aviation industry and how they handle flight check-ins. The cost savings for the hotel are quite obvious, and they might even see an uptick in service charges (e.g., room service, laundry, PPV, etc.) if everything is operated through the guest's phone or computer. Inspired by this Bill Gurley interview.
Problem #4: "Hospitals in the USA are now required to publish online price lists of the services they provide. I hope someone is working to aggregate and make these easily searchable/comparable."
Problem #5: I wish there were a service where I could plan a party end-to-end in a couple of minutes. I am talking about creating a guest list, handling invites and rsvp, ordering plates/balloons, etc. Maybe down the line, this service could help with booking a place and other services (e.g., catering, DJ, photographer, etc.).
Quick Community Updates:
1. We are now on Twitter! Make sure to follow Houston there to stay up to date. We have like 0 followers right now so please help! π
2. A lot of you have messaged me asking me about how could you provide feedback on the problems people submit and get feedback on your ideas. I am currently working on figuring out the best way to do this and have some cool ideas in mind. I want to make sure it's a useful tool when we launch it. If any of you have any ideas just hit reply(:
That's it for this week! If you have any problems or request for startups reply to this email or use the #HoustonWHAP on Twitter! Tell the world about your problems!
Also if you find this useful and/or like the idea of Houston as a project please tell your friends about Houston. Let's spread the love(: