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Startup Ideas Every Nerd Has (That Never Work)

swombat.com

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Re: Startup Ideas Every Nerd Has (That Never Work)

#21

Post by joshhart »

7Figures2Commas wrote: post #17

The problem with so many "startup ideas" is that they are a solution to the problem, "I want to create a startup and don't have an idea." Not surprisingly, this tends to produce copycat concepts, products with no real market fit, services that target sexy but oversaturated markets, etc. There are lots and lots of problems that are either unsolved or are being solved in ways that are less efficient and cost-effective…

Yes, of course if you have domain expertise and there is a need you can recognize a niche to fill with a company. I think getting domain expertise is easier said than done and could probably require quitting one's day job to go work in industry X for 5 years. Possibly just to find out that filling a niche is hard.

Re: Startup Ideas Every Nerd Has (That Never Work)

#22

Post by amorphid »

7Figures2Commas wrote: post #17

The problem with so many "startup ideas" is that they are a solution to the problem, "I want to create a startup and don't have an idea." Not surprisingly, this tends to produce copycat concepts, products with no real market fit, services that target sexy but oversaturated markets, etc. There are lots and lots of problems that are either unsolved or are being solved in ways that are less efficient and cost-effective…

I agree that domain expertise is often lacking in startup founders, especially the "business" founder. For several years I wanted to form a recruiting startup without having built up a solid understanding of how recruiting works. After I had several years of recruiting under my belt, I was able to build a reasonably successful small business (originally a startup that couldn't scale) that exploited a nice little niche in the recruiting world. That small business wouldn't have been possible if I hadn't known a lot about recruiting.

Re: Startup Ideas Every Nerd Has (That Never Work)

#23

Post by rfnslyr »

lisper wrote: post #3

This is a three-year-old blog post about a three-year-old HN comment about a different three-year-old blog post. Just sayin'.

At which point does History become irrelevant or ill suited for discussion? Please aware us all as you seem to hold the key.

Re: Startup Ideas Every Nerd Has (That Never Work)

#24

Post by bliti »

I stopped looking for ideas, and focused on solving problems. There is a difference. Ideas come with a lot of fluff. Meaning that under the right conditions they might work. Solving problems focuses on talking to people who have problems, and figuring out a way to solve it. I now spend at least an hour every week talking to people who have problems I want to solve: people who can pay. (:

Re: Startup Ideas Every Nerd Has (That Never Work)

#25

Post by Spearchucker »

joshhart wrote: post #21
7Figures2Commas wrote: post #17

The problem with so many "startup ideas" is that they are a solution to the problem, "I want to create a startup and don't have an idea." Not surprisingly, this tends to produce copycat concepts, products with no real market fit, services that target sexy but oversaturated markets, etc. There are lots and lots of problems that are either unsolved or are being solved in ways that are less efficient and cost-effective…

Yes, of course if you have domain expertise and there is a need you can recognize a niche to fill with a company. I think getting domain expertise is easier said than done and could probably require quitting one's day job to go work in industry X for 5 years. Possibly just to find out that filling a niche is hard.

Not that difficult. Instead of starting a start-up when you come out of school, go work in a few IT departments. You will find something that is needed somewhere.

Re: Startup Ideas Every Nerd Has (That Never Work)

#26

Post by 7Figures2Commas »

joshhart wrote: post #21
7Figures2Commas wrote: post #17

The problem with so many "startup ideas" is that they are a solution to the problem, "I want to create a startup and don't have an idea." Not surprisingly, this tends to produce copycat concepts, products with no real market fit, services that target sexy but oversaturated markets, etc. There are lots and lots of problems that are either unsolved or are being solved in ways that are less efficient and cost-effective…

Yes, of course if you have domain expertise and there is a need you can recognize a niche to fill with a company. I think getting domain expertise is easier said than done and could probably require quitting one's day job to go work in industry X for 5 years. Possibly just to find out that filling a niche is hard.

1. I didn't suggest that domain expertise is easy to develop. Nobody gains expertise overnight. That's the point.

2. You don't have to quit your day job to develop domain expertise. Be strategic and try to make sure your day jobs are related to a specific industry. Far too many people hop from random startup to random startup. That's not surprising: the pay can be excellent, you get to work with the latest and greatest technologies, and you get a lottery ticket in the form of equity. But many of these jobs won't provide enough exposure to a vertical to actually gain meaningful knowledge of it.

3. If you get involved in an industry, you should take the time to establish relationships, especially with folks who are non-technical. If you nurture those relationships and keep your eyes open, you will often meet highly-knowledgeable, well-connected non-technical individuals who make for perfect non-technical co-founders. These are not the "non-technical co-founder seeking technical co-founder" wantrapreneurs with no domain expertise of their own who you run into all the time in Silicon Valley.

4. If you're not prepared to invest the time in understanding a specific market, that's fine. Be the best engineer you can be, try to maximize your income and consider whether it's worth continually beating your head against a brick wall to find an "idea" so that you can create a "startup."

Re: Startup Ideas Every Nerd Has (That Never Work)

#27

Post by swombat »

lisper wrote: post #3

This is a three-year-old blog post about a three-year-old HN comment about a different three-year-old blog post. Just sayin'.

I'm very tempted to write a blog post pointing to this comment, so that it might be reposted in 3 years - but I think it'll be neater if someone else does!

Re: Startup Ideas Every Nerd Has (That Never Work)

#28

Post by untilHellbanned »

unono wrote: post #7

Current thinking on this matter is to avoid the tired old web 2.0 hipster stuff. The current batch of YC is all about solving real problem for real people. Spoonrocket got the most applause ($6 meals delivered within 10 minutes).

i'm all for real ideas but the 7000th web food delivery service shouldn't get people that excited, especially not the most select group of entrepreneurs in the world.
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