I liked Matt Cuts way to find a problem and solve it. Worth reading
How to Get Startup Ideas
101–110 of 239 posts
Re: How to Get Startup Ideas
#102One thing I've noticed that has generated a ton of ideas, particularly within the hospital setting I'm in, is to listen to all the questions staff members ask one another. Who's doing that? When's this happening? How do I do that? etc. They're all seemingly mundane questions that get asked on a daily basis, but they give you great insight to the daily frustrations that people have come to accept (that's why they're b…
Capt. Sullenberger has quite an interest in applying the lessons learnt as a fighter pilot, squadron safety officer, and legendary airline pilot.. to healthcare. This was part of his consulting business, before US Airways 1549 made him famous.
In healthcare, checklists improve safety, but so do other procedural changes. If a pilot has a mishap, the FAA/NTSB always investigates. Hospitals rarely investigate patient mishaps (deaths, malpractice etc.) unless there is a lawsuit filed, and state medical boards rarely investigate either.
Re: How to Get Startup Ideas
#1031. Thinks "I really need X... why doesn't it exist?"
2. Domain expertise in X
3. Thinks "I could build X!"
4. Actually builds X
The intersection 1+2 occurs often, and 1+2+3 more recently. 2+3+4 are fun for hacking. A PhD thesis is 1+2+3+4, but with a very limited 1. The startup I'm at (my first) is the first time I've worked on something that strongly intersects 1+2+3+4.
Re: How to Get Startup Ideas
#104Earlier quoted context omitted.
Honestly, though, this idea seems to fall squarely into the 'yeah, I could see myself using that. Maybe' category. This isn't a huge pain point.
If you take another look at my original post, my point was that I still can't articulate why this is such a huge pain. If it helps to put it in perspective, I abandoned a Nanoengineering phd doing promising work in medical diagnostics because our rating system solves an incredibly painful problem for me and I'm convinced it's a more important contribution to the world. To make a (hopefully apt) comparison, what pain…
Not to be too adversarial, but what problem was incredibly painful to you? Couldn't choose a movie? Couldn't choose a suitable couples movie?
Medical diagnostics, OTOH, could avoid a painpoint involving death - so that's an easier pitch.
Re: How to Get Startup Ideas
#105Earlier quoted context omitted.
Reading essays like this drives me crazy. No, it's not because pg is wrong or I disagree with anything he's saying, it's because everything resonates with my startup (Tinj.co, interactive movie ratings) but after 1000+ pitches I still can't succinctly articulate how I know this. I could probably make a checklist for the criteria of great startup ideas (seems like a toy: check, personal problem: check, inspiration fro…
Can you explain, in one sentence, what it is that you're building that's different from existing movie ratings sites? Try this template: "it's like Rotten Tomatoes, except ..." It's like Rotten Tomatoes, except you rate on 3 axes instead of just 1. It's like Rotten Tomatoes, except you rate the movie by answering questions about what parts you liked. It's like Rotten Tomatoes, except your ratings are automatically po…
It's certain that the problem is me, and my poor communication skills, I never blame the audience.
Describing what we're doing and illustrating the pain points aren't the same thing.
How about this: Tinj is a rating system that lets people externalize opinions about movies in context so they can receive comprehensive recommendations.
See? Told you I still suck at this.
Here's a problem we're solving: Given that opinions are complex, how do you figure out what other people think about a movie?
Read reviews? That's biased to critics and writers (less than 1% of the population).
Look at star ratings? What does 4-stars even mean?
Check out social media? How many tweets and blogs would you have to read?
Ask your friends? Which ones actually share your tastes and have seen the movie?
Unfortunately, complicated problems tend to have complicated answers.
Re: How to Get Startup Ideas
#106Earlier quoted context omitted.
Can you explain, in one sentence, what it is that you're building that's different from existing movie ratings sites? Try this template: "it's like Rotten Tomatoes, except ..." It's like Rotten Tomatoes, except you rate on 3 axes instead of just 1. It's like Rotten Tomatoes, except you rate the movie by answering questions about what parts you liked. It's like Rotten Tomatoes, except your ratings are automatically po…
It's certain that the problem is me, and my poor communication skills, I never blame the audience. Describing what we're doing and illustrating the pain points aren't the same thing. How about this: Tinj is a rating system that lets people externalize opinions about movies in context so they can receive comprehensive recommendations. See? Told you I still suck at this. Here's a problem we're solving: Given that opini…
That was a good pitch actually, convinced me to take a look at your site. My wife and I always have a very hard time deciding for movies, often because rating sites are worse than useless if you don't have mainstream tastes.
Re: How to Get Startup Ideas
#107Earlier quoted context omitted.
Except unlike stock market investing, startups are not a zero sum game.
Stock market investing isn't a zero sum game anymore than VC investing or even Y Combinator. Edit: OK, YC adds much more hands on value to businesses, but the investment aspect is exactly the same as it would be if you bought shares over the market.
options & futures are zero sum in the sense that any money gained is lost by someone else, correct?
Re: How to Get Startup Ideas
#108Earlier quoted context omitted.
If you take another look at my original post, my point was that I still can't articulate why this is such a huge pain. If it helps to put it in perspective, I abandoned a Nanoengineering phd doing promising work in medical diagnostics because our rating system solves an incredibly painful problem for me and I'm convinced it's a more important contribution to the world. To make a (hopefully apt) comparison, what pain…
Not to be too adversarial, but what problem was incredibly painful to you? Couldn't choose a movie? Couldn't choose a suitable couples movie? Medical diagnostics, OTOH, could avoid a painpoint involving death - so that's an easier pitch.
See if you can follow this:
Ratings are a form of feedback.
Feedback helps people learn.
Therefore, if we can build a better rating system that lets people share more and better feedback, then we can speed up learning and improve the flow and evolution of ideas.
Also, this system wasn't designed for movies, it was designed for answers on Quora. Movies are just a better beachhead.
Re: How to Get Startup Ideas
#109Earlier quoted context omitted.
Fundraising & customer acquisition are like dating; logic doesn't get you very far. The points PG makes might be valuable in convincing yourself that it's a field worth pursuing, but for convincing people to give you their attention and their cash, you need a different approach, which will usually involve some combination of: stories , charisma , status , social proof , exclusivity , to name just the first that come…
You're right, convincing others is a whole different ball game. Since I clearly suck at it, I've done my best to suck a little less each time I try. Here's hoping pg writes that essay next.
Don't hold your breath :)
The best material I've found about this kind of stuff is: Robert Cialdini's "Influence", and some of the less creepy pickup material, particularly to do with "inner game". Also, this new book by Australian business journo Valerie Khoo looks interesting:
http://www.amazon.com/Power-Stories-Build-Business-ebook/dp/...
Re: How to Get Startup Ideas
#110Earlier quoted context omitted.
Can you explain, in one sentence, what it is that you're building that's different from existing movie ratings sites? Try this template: "it's like Rotten Tomatoes, except ..." It's like Rotten Tomatoes, except you rate on 3 axes instead of just 1. It's like Rotten Tomatoes, except you rate the movie by answering questions about what parts you liked. It's like Rotten Tomatoes, except your ratings are automatically po…
It's certain that the problem is me, and my poor communication skills, I never blame the audience. Describing what we're doing and illustrating the pain points aren't the same thing. How about this: Tinj is a rating system that lets people externalize opinions about movies in context so they can receive comprehensive recommendations. See? Told you I still suck at this. Here's a problem we're solving: Given that opini…
The goal of reading movie reviews is not to see what other people think about a movie. It's to decide what movie to see. Why not just say:
"Quickly and easily decide which movie to see."
Simple, to the point, and yes, it's still an unsolved problem.