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Don't want to hijack the thread, but even more basically, how do you get startup ideas? I've read what PG has to say and others, but nothing is clicking.
For example, an app for tracking expenses vs income => business owners tracking expenses => expenses in a business => selling tight integration into a POS (where the income happens) => startup about POS systems that integrate into your slick app (and yeah that exists)
Don't want to hijack the thread, but even more basically, how do you get startup ideas? I've read what PG has to say and others, but nothing is clicking.
Don't want to hijack the thread, but even more basically, how do you get startup ideas? I've read what PG has to say and others, but nothing is clicking.
I'm not interested in building a new startup now, though, that's why I did this specific experiment.
Experiments aside, in general I think you should focus on problems and how quickly you can get the first $ with your idea/solution.
So you list 10 ideas, you look at the core problem each tries to solve, think if you like to work on that problem/space (not the current solution, because you may change solution down the road), try to figure out who could pay you first, and estimate how quickly you can get something working which is worth your first users to pay for.
Don't want to hijack the thread, but even more basically, how do you get startup ideas? I've read what PG has to say and others, but nothing is clicking.
I have started a number of blogs in response to apparent demand for information I know on various subjects. Even that has been very challenging in terms of trying to figure out how to best serve the needs of other people, turn it into a business model, etc. I have "pivoted" repeatedly in certain problem spaces. I might have a few things that don't completely suck at this point. ;-) But, I am still sorting out how this becomes some kind of meaningful income stream, etc.
Best.
When I decided to go the startup route I had a strong idea, validation from potential customers, high barrier to entry for competitors, very small amount of software dev to do, etc.
Only problem I needed between 500k-1M€ of starting capital to get the idea rolling. I only had less than 50k€ in my name. I found potential investors but obviously a very large dilution factor.
I switched to another idea, which required considerable amount of software work that I could do before creating the company but needed about 50k€ of starting capital. I went that route, found cofounders, a team, etc...and so far, 6 years and a few small rounds, we raised about 1M€ and are one of the only players in our field to be profitable, despite competitors having raised significantly more.
Recently I had a look at another problem I could solve in an entirely different field (which I know little about). I estimated startup capital at about 5M€ to reach MVP. Guess what? A few weeks ago a joint venture between major players in this field announced a 3 year R&D programme and 25M€ investment. There is no way I could beat them.
For my part, I think the partners are much more important than the idea. Good companies can pivot to find a good market. Bad partners will sink you, or never get off the ground to begin with. Select for team, not for idea. The best idea is the one that can attract and motivate a great team, or one put forward by people you want to work with. FWIW, I recall Paul Graham writing something that explains how he screens YC…
People don't like to say it because they're afraid of sounding lazy, but you should do whichever is easier. Is building one of them going to be easier than the other? Is marketing/selling one of them going to be easier? Does one of the ideas require raising money? Building a sustainable business is hard enough in and of itself. If you can avoid having to woo investors, or dealing with Chinese factories, or months lon…