Ask HN: How to overcome the feeling that everything has already been done?

#1

Post by littlestitious » Mon, Jul 06, 2015, 7:27 PM UTC

I remember clearly that when I first built a "site" in Front Page (maybe in '98) I thought to myself: "ONCE I REALLY LEARN THIS I CAN DO ANYTHING!!!111".

15 years later and I'm a web developer with a lot of free time looking for any opportunities, and I just can't get myself to build anything, because every single idea seems to be already done.

I know people used to say this decades ago, and I know there's always room for innovation, or improving existing things, etc. But I just can't get motivated enough.

Any tips for getting excited about projects, knowing that there's a 99% chance the thing you are working on have already been built or is currently being developed in a much better way for at least other 30 companies?

Any books or articles related to this are welcome.

Re: Ask HN: How to overcome the feeling that everything has already been done?

#2

Post by joeax » Mon, Jul 06, 2015, 8:20 PM UTC

I recommend you take a look at Rob Walling's blog: http://www.softwarebyrob.com/

He also runs the Microprenuer Academy that focuses on helping and promoting one-person startups. His key advice: focus on a niche industry or audience.

For example, a few years ago I had this great idea of building a task management app. I quickly discovered there were dozens of them, Asana, Producteev, Flow, Trello, etc. Using his advice, I could have focused developing a task app for a particular industry, say industrial engineers, architects, investment advisors, etc. His point being that specific industries have very specific needs, and one-size-fit-all, general purpose apps rarely targets those needs.

Bottom line, think about what kinds of app you'd enjoy building, social media, news, productivity app, game, whatever, then cross breed it with some underserved market. Example: LinkedIn + Oil and Gas industry = oilpro.com

Re: Ask HN: How to overcome the feeling that everything has already been done?

#3

Post by littlestitious » Mon, Jul 06, 2015, 8:28 PM UTC

joeax wrote: post #2

I recommend you take a look at Rob Walling's blog: http://www.softwarebyrob.com/ He also runs the Microprenuer Academy that focuses on helping and promoting one-person startups. His key advice: focus on a niche industry or audience. For example, a few years ago I had this great idea of building a task management app. I quickly discovered there were dozens of them, Asana, Producteev, Flow, Trello, etc. Using his advic…

thanks!