GuillermoRivas

My brother and I had a border wait-time app built. During submission, Apple objected to our sombrero-wearing character; I disagreed with the characterization. The app belonged to an early period when we wanted to make crossing information easier to check.

I explored making apps for local businesses such as plumbers, at a time when many did not think they needed a mobile app. I also made videos and commercials for the idea.

Around 2009 or 2010, I worked on a directory where businesses could host short commercials and other videos, and customers could discover them by browsing those clips. I saw video becoming a practical way to find and understand a local business.

I pictured a dealership or car-finding business built around a simple promise: every vehicle would be below a clear price ceiling. I considered both $5,000 and $10,000 versions.

I owned CashForSilver.com and thought the cash-for-gold model could work for household silver. It is a domain and concept I still remember wishing I had held onto. CashForSilver.com and Cash4Silver.com are distinct spellings.

I imagined a venue playlist shaped by the music tastes of people who had checked in or opted in. If a store, restaurant, or bar had a crowd with different tastes, the system could weigh those preferences and change the music to fit the people there.

I considered a service to help people facing online bullying or harassment, especially children and families. It drew on my reputation-management experience and might have involved documenting abuse, mediating issues, and helping protect someone online. I made a logo, but never launched it.

Around 2010 or 2011, I owned this domain and imagined a place where people could share dreams, browse other people’s stories, and explore dream interpretation.

Around 2010 or 2011, I had a logo and website for a dealership idea focused entirely on hybrid and electric vehicles. Team Green Cars was another name I recorded in that area.

Three connected ideas I explored for Google Glass. I liked the possibilities of that device and thought about applications around it. The precise meaning of GlassOTD and Glass Optimizer is still unconfirmed.

Instead of buying a gold mine, what if someone could rent access for a month and try gold mining? I imagined a deal that spelled out how any gold found would be kept or shared.

A homeless advocate and photographer asked what business idea I saw in her work. I proposed reusable sponsored signs in place of the cardboard signs people were already holding. A business would fund the board and sponsorship, with my proposed model directing nearly all of the money beyond board costs to shelters. She liked the idea; I chose not to pursue it because I expected the advertising angle to draw backlash.

A game idea where you play on your phone while traveling through a playful version of its insides, passing the camera, circuitry, and other components to get from one end to the other. I imagined a platform-and-maze game that could reflect different phone models. This old name may have belonged to the concept.

I imagined a dating site where trusted family or friends could suggest and vote on possible matches. When enough people saw a fit, the two people could connect with a natural icebreaker: the people close to them thought they might get along.

I pictured a place where people could vent about traffic and share ideas for fixing it, almost an open discussion board for everyday transportation problems.

My original idea used public views of parking lots so someone could see whether a store was busy before driving there, without showing close details such as license plates. Today I could imagine a version combining that concept with busyness information on maps.

I owned LayawayVacationPlans.com and pictured a way for people to plan a vacation and pay toward it over time, rather than having the full price ready at once.

A paramedic told me that required credentials, such as CPR and other renewals, were scattered across systems. I imagined one place to track certifications and know when each needed attention.

A one-day life and work swap where two people could experience each other’s routines. I imagined, for example, a bank CEO spending a day with a plumber and the plumber spending a day with the CEO. It stayed a concept.

A competition for marketing and SEO companies. Teams would be assigned businesses that needed help, and their results could be measured over time. I thought of it as an Olympics for marketing work.

Around 2011, I bought ScreenDuo.com for an attachable second screen that could sit beside an existing monitor. I also imagined a classroom use: mirroring a student’s work toward the teacher, so the teacher could see it without turning the Chromebook around.

I imagined a box of fragrances linked to a search. Depending on what someone searched for, it could release one scent or a combination to create a smell. Google later played with a smell-search joke, but I thought the physical idea could be made real.

I pictured compact homes made from shipping containers or similar structures. The dense, modular living spaces in *The Fifth Element* helped spark the idea.

I loved games such as Madden and Halo and imagined custom jerseys for gamers, with game-inspired team designs and a player’s own name on the back.

A food contest concept: restaurants could enter a dish for a modest fee, and people could vote on categories such as best burrito or best taco in a city. The winner would get a local recognition or award.