Ideas Lab
Real problems people complain about online, pulled every morning and scored out of 100. Build, validate, or skip. How scoring works
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How did you land your first projects as a solo engineer/consultant?
I’ve spent roughly the last decade and some change as a software engineer, and recently decided to start a solo consultancy.I’m focused on helping SMEs sort out the messy back-office parts of the business: spreadsheet glue, brittle internal workflows, poor reporting, awkward integrations, backend/platform problems, and AI workflows that need to do real work rather than just look good in a demo.I’m not really interested in becoming a generic agency. I’d rather work with businesses that already feel operational pain and need someone technical to help untangle it properly.For those of you who’ve made this jump:* how did you get your first real project? * what kind of outreach actually worked? * did your first few clients come from network, content, cold outreach, partnerships, subcontracting, or somewhere else?Also, if anyone knows SMEs or operators dealing with this sort of mess, I’d be glad to chat.As a gesture of goodwill, I’m offering the first 5 clients 10 hours free to help get an initial project moving.You can find me over at https://crescita.cc
Hacker News5mo agoToolAI
AI Subroutines – Run automation scripts inside your browser tab
We built AI Subroutines in rtrvr.ai. Record a browser task once, save it as a callable tool, replay it at: zero token cost, zero LLM inference delay, and zero mistakes.The subroutine itself is a deterministic script composed of discovered network calls hitting the site's backend as well as page interactions like click/type/find.The key architectural decision: the script executes inside the webpage itself, not through a proxy, not in a headless worker, not out of process. The script dispatches requests from the tab's execution context, so auth, CSRF, TLS session, and signed headers get added to all requests and propagate for free. No certificate installation, no TLS fingerprint modification, no separate auth stack to maintain.During recording, the extension intercepts network requests (MAIN-world fetch/XHR patch + webRequest fallback). We score and trim ~300 requests down to ~5 based on method, timing relative to DOM events, and origin. Volatile GraphQL operation IDs are detected and force a DOM-only fallback before they break silently on the next run.The generated code combines network calls with DOM actions (click, type, find) in the same function via an rtrvr.* helper namespace. Point the agent at a spreadsheet of 500 rows and with just one LLM call parameters are assigned and 500 Subroutines kicked off.Key use cases:- record sending IG DM, then have reusable and callable routine to send DMs at zero token cost- create routine getting latest products in site catalog, call it to get thousands of products via direct graphql queries- setup routine to file EHR form based on parameters to the tool, AI infers parameters from current page context and calls tool- reuse routine daily to sync outbound messages on LinkedIn/Slack/Gmail to a CRM using a MCP serverWe see the fundamental reason that browser agents haven't taken off is that for repetitive tasks going through the inference loop is unnecessary. Better to just record once, and
Hacker News5mo agoToolAI
European companies stuck with manual paper invoices
Small European businesses handle invoices on paper; need AI to digitize, process, and manage them automatically without manual intervention.
X5mo agoToolFinance
No Letterboxd equivalent for TV shows
TV viewers lack a dedicated app to track watchlists, rate shows/episodes, log progress, and organize viewing history like Letterboxd for movies.
X5mo agoToolMedia
App to recover or reveal deleted WhatsApp messages
Users need an app that can reveal or recover deleted WhatsApp messages, explicitly stating they would pay for such a solution.
X5mo agoToolProductivity
Enterprises need agentic AI for expense management
Expense management in enterprises remains manual and inefficient; requires autonomous AI agents to handle reporting and approvals.
X6mo agoToolFinance
Buy Sims build/buy items without full gameplay packs
Sims players who mainly build want to purchase only the build/buy catalog items from expansion packs without buying the unwanted gameplay features, willing to pay separately for items.
X6mo agoOtherOther
Football pitch booking is cumbersome and not seamless
Players can't easily book pitches online in seconds, find local games, or organize tournaments; existing apps don't connect well with facility managers or understand football workflows.
X5mo agoToolSport & Fitness
Cheaper ADHD diagnosis without expensive telehealth
GPs are unwilling to diagnose ADHD, forcing people to use telehealth clinics that charge around $1000 for quick online questionnaires primarily to get stimulant prescriptions. User explicitly seeks a cheaper alternative.
X5mo agoToolMedicine & Health
No personal Glean-like AI search for phone data
Individuals need an AI tool that indexes and searches personal phone data (messages, emails, docs) instantly, like enterprise Glean does for work tools.
X5mo agoToolProductivity
Public blacklist for non-paying service customers
Service providers like pressure washing crews complete full jobs but customers refuse to pay afterward, leaving contractors in financial distress such as one paycheck away from homelessness. Business owner states they would pay for a public blacklist.
X5mo agoToolFreelance
Marathon spectator support coordination platform
Spectators supporting marathon runners struggle to coordinate logistics (meeting points, timing, route coverage). A tool lets supporters plan their location, get real-time runner tracking, share costs, and manage group coordination. [Trending: "london marathon 2026" with 2000+ searches in GB]
Google Trends5mo agoToolSport & FitnessGB
Real-time concert merchandise drop alerts and inventory tracker
Festival and touring musicians drop exclusive merch with limited inventory during shows and events. Fans miss drops due to poor visibility into timing and availability. A tool could aggregate and notify fans of upcoming merch drops across festivals/tours, track inventory in real-time, and prevent sellouts. [Trending: "justin bieber coachella merch" with 500+ searches in US]
Google Trends5mo agoToolE-CommerceUS
EU Entry-Exit biometric compliance tracker for travelers
Travelers need clarity on which EU countries require EES biometric registration and exemptions (e.g., UK, Greece). A tool showing real-time country-specific requirements, prep checklist, and exemption status prevents confusion and border delays. [Trending: "eu entry exit system greece" with 1000+ searches in GB]
Google Trends5mo agoToolTravelGB
New audit: unpinned-tools
I've been thinking about this one recently in the context of trivy's [ongoing issues](https://github.com/aquasecurity/trivy/discussions/10425): it's good to hash-pin actions, but a lot of actions internally just fetch whatever "latest" version of a binary is available as a GitHub release. Consequently, even hash-pinned actions can be a vector for distributing malicious builds, since "latest" is always a mutable concept (and without immutable releases, previous tags may also be mutable). So, we should have an audit for this. Like with `cache-poisoning`, we'll probably want to use the coordinate API and start with a fixed set of well-known actions that are known to install binaries. Some good initial candidates: - `aquasecurity/trivy-action` - `taiki-e/install-action` Each of these will require slightly different coordinates/nuances. For example `trivy-action` has the `version:` input, but `version: latest` should still be flagged. In contrast `install-action` has no `version:` input, but the `tool:` input should have a `@version` suffix. Those are the relatively easy cases; it might also be nice to be able to flag actions like `astral-sh/setup-uv`, but the wrinkle with those is that they also support a `version-file` input and by policy zizmor doesn't attempt to parse files outside of workflows/actions/etc. for supporting information. So `setup-uv` and similar would be subject to higher false positive rates. There are also actions that never make sense to flag, like our own `zizmor-action`: `zizmor-action` has a `version:` input that defaults to `latest`, but under the hood `latest` is actually hash-pinned within the repo itself and is therefore immutable and changes only when the action itself changes. By way of example, here would be some steps that an audit here should flag: ```yaml - uses: aquasecurity/trivy-action@whatever # FLAG: no `version:` input - uses: taiki-e/install-action@whatever with: tool: cargo-hack # FLAG: no `@version` prefix - uses
GitHub6mo agoToolAI
Home Memory – A local DB of my house, down to cables and pipes
Hacker News5mo agoToolOther
Simplified tax deduction tracker for freelancers and self-employed
ItsDeductible (TurboTax's deduction tool) is discontinued/expensive. Freelancers and small business owners lack an easy, affordable way to categorize receipts and track deductible expenses for tax time. A lightweight tool that scans receipts, auto-categorizes them, and generates a simple deduction summary could fill this gap. [Google Search suggestion]
Google Trends5mo agoToolFinanceUS
Simple course platform for independent instructors
Educators and training creators need Moodle's course-building features without complex setup and admin overhead. A lightweight, hosted alternative for solo instructors to sell courses with built-in video, quizzes, and student tracking could serve underserved indie creators. [Google Search suggestion]
Google Trends5mo agoToolEducationUS
Generic cheap accounting software misses local tax specifics causing fines
Small and medium businesses switch to low-cost automated accounting platforms for savings, but they overlook regional tax enquadramento details, resulting in severe fiscal penalties.
X5mo agoToolFinance