30 Seed Ideas After Spending 1 Year In Silicon Valley

22 Jan 2019
1. An integrated personal POS which allows customers to order and pay from their own mobile phone
During lunch with my colleague, we found ourselves having to wait almost 20 minutes before a waiter attended to us. We were on the verge of leaving the café. This is when the idea stuck me, why can’t we, the customer, order the food from our own mobile phone. This is enables us to order what we want without having to wait for the waiter. In addition, this could save manpower cost for the café.

28 Jan 2010
2. App to wake you up when you are reaching your bus / train stop
I was feeling rather tired this morning and I was dozing off on the Bart as I was headed to work. I woke up intermittently to check if am I about to reach my stop. The fear of missing my stop made me more anxious and left me more mentally exhausted. What if there was an app that could wake us up when we are about to reach out stop. This could allow us to doze off with an ease of mind.

7 Feb 2019
3. An app to track your receipt and TIPPING, so you can ensure that the right amount is charged
I was quite intrigued by the US tipping culture. I am honestly very against this culture because it means that the waiter’s pay is not constant. But a more pressing concern was… what if our credit card was charged the wrong tipping amount? Could there be a better way to tracking and verifying our transaction?

13 Feb 2019
4. An app to record and recommend that right amount of “fullness” for your food.
It compares the amount with your previous consumption and with the “fullness level of others. My colleagues and I visited a new ramen café. They offered several size options, but we were unsure of the amount of each size and whether it was sufficiently filling. I ordered a large bowl as I was feeling hungry, but it was too much for me. In the end, I had some leftovers and it was wasted food and money. What if where was a platform for customers to gauge the portion of the food. Using the customer’s past food orders and “fullness” level, the platform can recommend which right size option to choose that satisfies the customer’s appetite.

25 Feb 2019
5. A device that sense nearby vehicles/person when your vehicle is parked
It lights up a part of a led strip (that is installed around the car) at the zone where the other vehicle/person is approaching from. When I first started driving in US, I was quite rusty because I had not been driving for several months. As such, I struggled with parallel parking. To add to the difficulty, my car had no sensor or reverse camera. This is when the idea stuck me. I imagined a scenario when someone else was struggling to park and they are about to hit my car. What if there was a device that could be easily installed onto my car where it will alert the other driver when they are too close to my car. This will help protect both own cars.

28 Feb 2019
6. Rent out your parking space (when you are out)
As I was driving last weekend, parking was an issue. Either parking was limited, or it was too expensive in the city. What if there was an option to rent a stranger’s parking space when they are away. This provides some form of passive income for the house owner while offering a cheap parking space for a person who is struggling to find a parking space. This is a win-win situation.

4 Mar 2019
7. Campus adventure group but for across universities around the world
I recently connected with some UC Berkeley student through Christian fellowship. Some of us wanted to travel together during the summer break. That’s when the idea hit me. What if there was a program that connects university students internationally through a travel experience. This can be a fun experience that exposes students to different cultures and it can serve as a form of networking.

14 Mar 2019
8. A skills tree to show users what are the skills that they need to acquire for a certain career path
I was talking to some of my Singaporean friends back home and they shared that they regret not equipping themselves with certain skill sets such as programming. They feel like that they are losing to their peers and they are unsure of how they can better equip themselves for their future career. Having a website that could help student identify specific skills to acquire could give students an edge over others.

26 Mar 2019
9. An App for Sound Diagnostic for Cars
My car made some weird noises over the past few days, and it eventually broke down. The engine had a rod-knock and I to sell away as a “mechanics special”. After speaking to the mechanic, this could have been avoided if it was diagnosed earlier and repairs were made. However, I was rather inexperience with cars and I did not think that the sound was a big concern. My colleague, who is familiar with repairing cars, shared with me that it was possible to do a car diagnostic test through its sounds. Generally, the sounds can be categorized under linear and cyclical. This is when the idea stuck me. What if there was an app that could record and analyze the sound using machine learning to provide a diagnosis. This could potentially save drivers a lot of money and even avoid catastrophic accidents.

13 Apr 2019
10. Surprise me food delivery service
I was working overtime tonight. I was conducting a trial run which required constant monitoring. When my colleague asked me what I wanted to eat for dinner, I couldn’t make up my mind. So, I replied, “surprise me!”. Here when I thought of the idea. What if I could order food delivery with a simple click of the button, “surprise me”. This service would provide convenience and an element of “surprise” to the customer.

14 Apr 2019
11. Chocolate shots with caffeine
My company was working on making product concentrates. That was when the idea stuck me. Why don’t me make chocolate shots? Why chocolate shots and not coffee shots? Chocolate shots because it tastes much tasty compared to bitter coffee.

25 Apr 2019
12. Coffee/Tea disperser that can customize the amount of ingredients for the consumer through an app, and payment can be made through the app
The pain point is: Customers are afraid that Batista may not be able to replicate your favorite drinks well. I was disappointed with a drink I got from Starbucks. Despite being a reputable brand, the quality and flavor of the drink can still vary from one franchise to the next. What if there was a way to control its consistency and quality. To bring it one step forward, it enables customers to customize their drinks through an app platform which will remember their preferences.

17 May 2019
13. Applying Design Thinking to Life Coaching
Meeting new people during NOC has made me realized that many people still do not really know what they really want to do in life. After having gone through the design thinking process multiple times, I thought to myself, why don’t we apply this to exploring our career paths.

20 May 2019
14. Offices have a challenge of trying keep confide their confidential documents only to their customers
They are afraid that customers might take a photo or screenshot and accidentally leak the information out. How can this be prevented or solved? This was a problem that was shared to me by an executive from a fortune 500 company. Companies shared proprietary information via email and they usually have an NDA as a form of protection. However, there has not been solution to ensure that the information has not been shared with others. This is problem that has yet to be solved.

6 June 2019
15. Ping Pong Idea Ball (Bouncing Ideas Pun)
This is just a fun idea. During an office visit, I noticed that many startup offices have a table tennis table for some odds reason. Why don’t we rename the ping pong idea balls, that way we can bounce ideas?

18 June 2019
16. USB Car Charger that connect to your phone through Bluetooth and automatically marks your car position on google maps when you switch off the car engine
Occasionally I forget where I parked the car. Google maps has a function to remember where you parked, but that is assuming that you are using it to get to your destination, if not there is no way for it to remember your location.

10 July 2019
17. Chopsticks that can squeeze out sauces
I was having sushi for dinner and I wondered If there was a better way to “dip” the sushi in the sauce. This would ensure that the right amount of sauce is used each time and there is no contamination.

13 July 2019
18. Check and Book “usernames” on all social platforms - for personal branding
Just like how domains of websites must be purchased, I wonder if one day, we must pay for the usernames we are using. Usernames have become a form of personal branding.

18 July 2019
19. Breaking down insurance, and helping people to find out what qualifies under their coverage based on machine learning
Recently, I went for a check up on my foot. To my horror, the check up was not covered under CIEE insurance! I was puzzled and shocked, but I soon realized that it was under the one of the exclusions. If only there was an easy and accurate way to check if certain conditions are covered.

27 Aug 2019
20. A script to alert you for good deals on online marketplaces such as Facebook, Letgo, Amazon, with the intent of selling for a higher price
My roommate and I were looking for a second-hand oculus quest. We had a tight budget and was only willing to pay below a certain amount. However, whenever the product was sold at a low price, someone else would have gotten it before us. Hence, we wanted a way to be the first to identify such good deals.

1 Sept 2019
21. An AR app for museums
After visiting a contemporary art museum, I found it difficult to understand certain art pieces and I wish that someone could help me explain the story behind the piece. Usually there is a short description written about it, but I feel that fails to bring out certain aspect of the art piece that the artist might want to portray. Have an AR could help ‘pop out’ certain unique features and provide some description about it. Perhaps even with a recorded audio with the artist’s voice.

10 Sept 2019
22. A 24/7 pharmacist vending machine
This idea came about when a housemate fell ill, and he needed medication, but all the pharmacies were closed. If only there was a home diagnostic platform where patients are talk to certified pharmacist and get a prescription. With that prescription, they are getting an authorization to make a purchase from the vending machine.

24 Sept 2019
23. Pinterest for Work
With the IPO of Pinterest, there is a growing increase about the platform. What if there was something similar for the workplace? What If there was a way to tag useful resources to store or share with colleagues. This could possibly be done with a chrome extension.

10 Oct 2019
24. Jamming booth
Karaoke booth has been up and coming, however there has get to be a booth with music instruments. Often, musicians want to practice jamming solo. It would be a waste of space and resource to book entire room just for a single person user.

26 Oct 2019
25. Skill Tree
Securing a dream job is always a challenge. A struggle that many job seekers many have is that they do not know what kind of tools or skills they might need to secure that job. LinkedIn may offer some insights into what HR are looking for. However, this might be too late. Having a tree skill could serve as a recommendation platform to provide some form of curriculum that reflects important skill sets and tools that top companies want and use respectively.

18 Nov 2019
26. AR first person shooter game
After trying out the Oculus Quest, I had the idea of creating an AR first person shooter game that renders the enemies using AI based on the environment you are in. This will bring games like Call of Duty (Zombie mode) and counter strike to whole new level.

20 Nov 2019
27. Steal that look
It is a personal shopper platform that recommends certain styles based on a “tinder-like” swiping and learns from what you like and do not like.

3 Dec 2019
28. True Color App
Back in 2018, there was a viral news on the “blue or gold” dress. Often, our eyes can play tricks on us. In addition, it is difficult to accurately communicate what color something is, especially do when you are choosing a paint color or buying a new set of clothes. What if there was an app that can calibrate and give you an accurate color code.

8 Dec 2019
29. A pro-scientist publication platform
When a scientist publishes a paper, it is usually that publication that reaps all the monetary benefits. While scientist do get the recognition, they do not receive any form of royalties. What if scientist could be rewarded with some form of royalties when their article is read and cited?

17 Dec 2019
30. Simple Instant Alert App
After serving as a volunteer at a conference, I found it difficult to keep track of important messages amongst the tons of messages I was receiving. It was been made more efficient if there was a way to highlight important messages and one alert those are needed.