I just read the CNN Money article 20 Smart Companies to Start Now where VC's offer the ideas and teams they would like to invest in. There are interesting things to read there, I only picked the three ideas in the mobile space. Whereas I am backing Rimer, I suggest the other two VC's turn to QR Codes before anything else. I don't want to sound presumptous, but I strongly believe that QR Codes are the elegant and easy solution and for local merchants and for consumers. And by the way you can easily combine a QR Code in the streets with a QR Code coupon.

Quotes:

Search for the Small Screen

The Investor: Danny Rimer, general partner, Index Ventures.
What he'll invest: $2 million for a working demo application
What he wants now: Delivery of new types of Web search to mobile phones. Rimer says he's willing to invest in new search applications that, for example, depend as much on voice recognition as on text input and would offer up everything from shopping and news headlines to driving directions and restaurant reviews with a few voice commands and keystrokes.

"The form factor, the battery life, the way you interact with a phone is radically different from how you use a PC," Rimer says. "The large Internet companies are simply taking their PC-centric, text-based solutions and porting them to phones. That's not the right solution, and I just don't think they come from the right context to do this the way it needs to be done."

GPS-Guided Coupons

The Investor: Jeff Crowe, general partner, Norwest Venture Partners
What he'll invest: $3 million for a demo application and retail partners ready to test
What he wants now: GPS-enabled ads and coupons piped to your mobile phone at just the right time and place. Location-based marketing is a concept that's been bandied about for years, but only now is the required technology becoming cheap enough to implement. Companies like Yahoo and Google, meanwhile, have proven inept at building quality services for wireless carriers. Though the timing is ideal for a startup to build the technical pieces, persuading customers to sign up for a steady barrage of marketing offers may prove the bigger challenge. "The behavioral piece is the biggest uncertainty, but you've got to make your bets now," Crowe says. A startup needs experience in lightweight applications for cell phones and in location-based services.

Text Ads on the Fly

The Investor: Charles Moldow, venture partner, Foundation Capital
What he'll invest: $5 million for working technology
What he wants now: Text-messaging software that allows local merchants to send offers to mobile phones. Some companies already do this in basic form; Moldow's idea would give merchants more control. "This is bringing the blue-light special to your phone," he says. Five or so people could write the code; a sales demon is also needed to enlist merchants. Prove that you can pull this off in one city and Moldow will listen to an expansion plan.