Ask HN: How much would you pay to solve the largest problem you face?

YAndreaRusso | 8 points

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.

GianFabien | 5 days ago

I had pay $500+ for a solution to my biggest bottleneck: aligning technical debt reduction with stakeholder urgency. We’ve tried sprints, documentation blitzes, and dedicated refactor cycles—but the core tension remains: ‘Fix now vs. build new.’

Your framework’s intriguing. If it can map this to clear business outcomes (e.g., ‘X% faster delivery in 3 months’), I’d test it. What’s your angle—systems thinking, behavioral psychology, or something else?

P.S. For context: I lead eng at a Series B SaaS co. My ‘stuck’ example: Tech debt costs us ~20% velocity, but ROI arguments fail with revenue-focused execs.

rajeshpatel15 | 3 days ago

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.

the__alchemist | 4 days ago
[deleted]
| 4 days ago

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.

al_borland | 5 days ago

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.

orionblastar | 5 days ago

not only in a business context, this could be a health issue. i helped someone develop a plan to treat their knee pain

YAndreaRusso | 5 days ago

I would pay millions to solve my I want a billion problem.

ipaddr | 4 days ago

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!

kylebenzle | 5 days ago

between $300 billion and $50 trillion over the next two decades.

mmphosis | 2 days ago