Since promising in December that I would post on companies and ideas that I would like to fund, I haven't posted one thing. Lately I have been checking out the stats on my site and it turns out that the top two links are Companies That I Would Like to Fund and Angel Investing. So today I am going to listen to my audience because apparently they want to hear my crazy ideas (or want to see my money go into a crazy idea).
Let me first say that I fund all sorts of companies. Although our site lays out specific criteria, we aren't limited to those. Those criteria are what we generally like to see, particularly from a plan from someone we do not know. If you know someone who knows one of our partners or associates, then the plan will get seen, even if it does not fit the criteria. I also want to say that I personally like to invest in three types of companies:
1) Companies that can scale rapidly using technology to their advantage
2) Companies who have such a determined and capable entrepreneur that they will succeed even with an OK idea.
3) Companies that solve a problem that I hate and that will personally improve my life.
Now that is a quick and dirty summary, but the underlying theme is that your company must improve the way people live by either making life more efficient, more pleasant, or more hassle-free. I particularly feel that the value proposition comes in "relieving pain" rather than "enhancing" a relatively painless situation.
So one thing I hate is when I go to San Francisco and can't find parking. I own a second home in Noe Valley and one of the reasons that I like Noe is that parking is abundant within a few blocks of every house. This isn't always true in the more commercial parts of Noe, but it is way more pain free than other parts of the city.
Now this can be frustrating beyond belief because I love San Francisco. I love going out to Little Italy. I love going out for a beer on Union Street. I love the Marina. I love all the places to eat. What I don't love is that there is no parking. San Franciscans in general accept that parking is a bitch. Some solve the problem by not going out too far or only going where the bus goes. Now I wouldn't have that much of a problem if cabs or buses were plentiful to all parts of the city, but they simply aren't. At least not like New York or London.
What I see is a HUGE pain point for every person that goes to San Francisco. Given that SF is the western financial center of the US, and that Silicon Valley is the technology epicenter of the world, I am surprised no one has tackled this problem (if someone has please let me know so I can check it out). There is so much talent in the area but the one problem that has never been solved is parking.
So I am throwing down the gauntlet and asking someone to come up with some crazy idea to make parking accessible in San Francisco at least during peak hours of leisure activity.
Maybe this means putting cameras on every corner of certain streets. Or giving everybody a sensor in their car that can page the nearest camera box. Or maybe using GPS on your cell phone to locate the nearest free spot. Or maybe having a "Super Valet/Cab" on every corner that is super cheap and gives you a GPS pager where you can summon your car to whatever location you end up at the end of the night. Or some kind of car swapping thing where you sign up for the night and they use your car to transport members wherever they need to go.
I mean come on, it is the year 2006 and some people won't leave their house out of fear of parking. Some people won't go to the city out of fear of parking. Obviously this is one of those consumer-oriented companies that falls into the category of "Companies that would improve my life". This is also one of those companies that even if were successful would probably not make it to the public markets unless it could be implemented in most major cities. Either way, it would improve the way people live and if successful you would make tons of people very happy.
I look forward to your comments, suggestions, criticisms, or proclamations of lunacy...
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