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I wasted $40k on a fantastic startup idea (2020)

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Re: I wasted $40k on a fantastic startup idea (2020)

#151

Post by robertlagrant »

Barrera wrote: post #15

The main reason this didn't work is that the founder didn't identify a customer willing to spend money . A lot of startups fail because they never identify a customer. Or even a problem. This one failed because before writing a line of code the founder did not take the next step and ensure that the prospective customer was willing to spend money on a solution. This is why so many failing startups try to pivot to two-…

I think they did do that: doctors. They just didn't realise that doctors need to be financially incentivised to search for better health outcomes.

Re: I wasted $40k on a fantastic startup idea (2020)

#152

Post by acegopher »

crispyambulance wrote: post #147
Barrera wrote: post #15

The main reason this didn't work is that the founder didn't identify a customer willing to spend money . A lot of startups fail because they never identify a customer. Or even a problem. This one failed because before writing a line of code the founder did not take the next step and ensure that the prospective customer was willing to spend money on a solution. This is why so many failing startups try to pivot to two-…

To be fair, those "ducks-in-a-row" questions are NOT easy to answer and it's easy for someone to fool themselves with a BS answer. Moreover, there are plenty of ridiculous ideas that someone would never think anybody would "pay for" that make tons of money in spite of themselves. In the end it's all about taking calculated risks. Should the OP have learned more about the market he was trying to operate in AT SOME POI…

Right, even VCs don't know the answers. But the difference between a VC and a founder is that a VC invests in 100 companies not knowing which will succeed, but a founder only is investing in one.

Re: I wasted $40k on a fantastic startup idea (2020)

#153

Post by Melatonic »

Barrera wrote: post #15

The main reason this didn't work is that the founder didn't identify a customer willing to spend money . A lot of startups fail because they never identify a customer. Or even a problem. This one failed because before writing a line of code the founder did not take the next step and ensure that the prospective customer was willing to spend money on a solution. This is why so many failing startups try to pivot to two-…

Yea I agree. You can even be solving a problem in a super amazing way but if there are no customers willing to spend the money for it then you are just making a home project for yourself.

I also see a lot of people fail because they solve a problem that THEY themselves are having but that does not actually happen to a large enough set of people that it translates again to something businesses or individuals will pay for.

Realistically I think the best way to do a startup is being willing to pivot hard and fast and early if necessary or to completely drop a project and move on to something else. If it is a passion project you are doing for yourself that is one thing - if you actually want to start a real business you cannot get caught in the time-already-sunk mentality.

Re: I wasted $40k on a fantastic startup idea (2020)

#155

Post by Melatonic »

simulate-me wrote: post #124
SQueeeeeL wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Advertisers want eyeballs, and will pay for it on the spot. People aren't the customers of Reddit/Facebook, they're the product, that's why social media has such negative effect on mental health, the users aren't a concern beyond how many minutes they dump in for advertisers to pay for.

But would you come up with the idea for Reddit if you approached it from an advertisement perspective? Probably not.

Reddit would be a fairly unique one - it would be hard for anyone to predict a single forum would take over for most other smaller forums. Then again forums in general were already very popular and I bet many made quite a bit from advertising.

Re: I wasted $40k on a fantastic startup idea (2020)

#156

Post by bombcar »

Simon_O_Rourke wrote: post #69
whimsicalism wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've noticed this a lot - I think people are far too quick to take face-to-face positive feedback at, no pun intended, face value. To me, it seems like a pretty elementary mistake, but I think that oftentimes people are more subconsciously desiring external validation than accurate assessments.

This chimes a lot with what I've seen, and indeed, what I do myself. I had a few friends plough hard-earned money into a really bad start-up idea (basically an inferior pay-walled Wikipedia), and instead of telling them what I really thought of it, I weaselled out saying something bland, non-committal and mildly supportive.

Hence my rule “only ask for startup advice from friends who have told you previous ideas were incredibly stupid”.

Re: I wasted $40k on a fantastic startup idea (2020)

#157

Post by zkldi »

throw10920 wrote: post #40
ilamont wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's right. A lot of founders don't make it to #3 in your list, or they only get the "make something people want" part. It's not enough. Build something people want and will pay for . Not just say they want. Not just say they'll pay for. Make something that they see and will immediately take out their cash/cc/paypal/venmo and pay for on the spot .

> Not just say they want. Not just say they'll pay for. This is big - lots of people (on HN and other places) say that they'd pay "$x for y" but aren't actually willing to. I feel like I saw a post that had some pretty good evidence of the disconnect between those two things but I can't find it.

The MDN Plus release is probably the evidence you're thinking of.

Re: I wasted $40k on a fantastic startup idea (2020)

#158

Post by JAlexoid »

jrumbut wrote: post #150
JAlexoid wrote: post #126

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> People don't know what they want until they're told what they want. That's not exactly true. This sentence only covers fro value generating products, not cost saving products. It's easier to sell cost saving product, but the profit margins on those are much lower. As an example in the article - the product is a cost saving product, but the cost it saves is very small.(Finding the right headache medicine is once in…

It is a value generating product, better medicine is more valuable. If a genie popped up and offered to make sure I always got the best medicine available in exchange for $100 I'd give him the money for the improved health. It's just that I am not sure this random startup guy and his four doctor friends are such a genie.

This is not the "value" you're thinking of. Value of having perfect health is not the same as business value. Valuable medicine isn't the same as a trip to Seychelles - even though both may cost thousands of dollars.

You're also forgetting that medication is almost exclusively a cost issue. Unless you are taking performance enhancing products - other medication is a cost to getting to your "normal". (Even antidepressants exist to get you to a baseline mental state, not to give you extra - that's performance enhancing drugs)

You already give your doctor that $100 and they literally do the research... and other than getting a better doctor, you will not get any better tool.

But back to the reason for the product and it's very clear where the idea came from. Identifying what painkiller you prefer isn't a constant issue neither it is of great value to the vast majority.

Re: I wasted $40k on a fantastic startup idea (2020)

#159

Post by fartcannon »

eckza wrote: post #115
fartcannon wrote: post #105

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Then you'll just end up with samey expensive garbage. People don't know what they want until they're told what they want. It's important to create a society where ideas that have no current market can be developed. This is how the future is made. Not by making it aluminum and jacking up the price.

Sure, but in order to do that, you need to know how to teach people how to want; and then, you have to be able to do that. NB, those two things generally comprise two different skillsets. You need a product that is powerful enough to give you the leverage to change deep-seated bits of human psychology. Henry Ford knew how to do this. So did Jobs. $0.02. I don't want to discourage anyone from building something and ma…

Henry Ford and Steve Jobs can have the mindless market they've created. Adjacent to that, a system that detaches the need for marketing would unlock more human creativity. Why is google so valuable? Because the system is designed to optimize for Google-like local minimums, and not for creativity or the unknown future.
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