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Ask HN: What are good ways to find startup problems to solve?

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Re: Ask HN: What are good ways to find startup problems to solve?

#21

Post by pigpigs »

jbpetersen wrote: post #18
pigpigs wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I love this article. I'm very much inspired by what is written here, but for the most part can't find an 'itch' to scratch. Right now I'm just building stuff I consider is cool / fun and see how it goes from there.

Just curious, what do you find cool / fun?

Unprecedented applications mostly enabled by new / disruptive technology. Things that do scratch my itch (even though most of them don't resonate with others)

Right now I'm working on Ethereum dApps as I have a strong feeling that the world will gravitate towards p2p / distributed tech and Ethereum is arguably one of the key technologies that will bring us there

Re: Ask HN: What are good ways to find startup problems to solve?

#22

Post by blrgeek »

Check out effectuation.org/learn

The idea is to start with who you know, what you know, and who you are. Then through conversations with people you know, ask them their problems that they are ready to pay to solve. Find common things that several of them are ready to pay for..

That's a great way to start, and will give you great problems that very few others might want to solve..

Re: Ask HN: What are good ways to find startup problems to solve?

#24

Post by icebraining »

gernest wrote: post #13

This question has also been in my head for a while. I suggest maybe we stop looking for problems to solve and start solving problems we have. A simple problem that I have right now is , I am in need of a high quality technical text book that is in my local language (swahili). First I can't buy anything from amazon or the other online retailers because I don't have a credit card. Second, even if I am able to order fro…

But how would your startup make money, if your customers don't have credit cards and are broke?

How do you make something for the hand-to-mouth working class, who are neither so poor that you can coax the wealthier into donating, nor have any disposable income?

Re: Ask HN: What are good ways to find startup problems to solve?

#25

Post by mpbm »

If you're looking for a startup, something that's supposed to start cheap and scale huge in That being said, you don't have to look there. You can start a huge variety of businesses just by gaining modest expertise in something new and then charging people for doing that thing. EX: get a $1K drone, learn to fly it, and charge half of what it would cost a helicopter/plane to get the same shot. It's not a startup, but it's a business, and it might lead to a startup.

Startups seem to be bimodal (no I don't have data for this) in that they're either business-focused or solution-focused. Uber is business-focused. They don't give a damn about anything other than fat stacks of cash. Tesla is solution-focused. Musk just needs the business to last long enough to achieve his goal of shifting the market away from fossil fuels.

It's a lot easier to find a business opportunity than to find a solution you're passionate about AND makes for a good business. Most people who just pursue a solution end up in non-profits or simply realize that there's no way to sustain an organization providing that solution.

If you're just looking for a chewy problem to solve, then PM me because I'm working on a good one.

Re: Ask HN: What are good ways to find startup problems to solve?

#26

Post by pigpigs »

jjp wrote: post #19

From your follow-on comments I'm not sure whether the challenge for you is finding problems or identifying that it's a problem that is worth working on. Providing a little more information on the sort of problems you have seen and then why you have decided to not work on them would help others be more specific with their guidance.

I think that problems will obviously need to resonate with enough people for a startup to even exist.

As a recent graduate, honestly I have not experienced many of the industry pain points, and am limited to the really general food delivery, dating apps, edtech tools.

I did work on certain problems before. A group of us worked on a few versions of an MVP for an in-class active learning backchannel that many students & professors thought they needed. It was a complete disaster that ended with both sides realizing it was not a pain enough problem for them.

I also worked on a dating app that tried to solve a problem in my high school days. It allowed someone to anonymously send 'smooches' to their crushes, who would ideally see the email and sign up to do the same to their own crushes, alerting them of a match if they sent one to a person who sent to them. It was fun but didn't really get a lot of attention and traction.

Right now in a bit of an idea drought and don't know what to work on concretely.

Re: Ask HN: What are good ways to find startup problems to solve?

#27

Post by duiker101 »

gernest wrote: post #13

This question has also been in my head for a while. I suggest maybe we stop looking for problems to solve and start solving problems we have. A simple problem that I have right now is , I am in need of a high quality technical text book that is in my local language (swahili). First I can't buy anything from amazon or the other online retailers because I don't have a credit card. Second, even if I am able to order fro…

This is usually the tip I give to people that want to learn programming. Find a problem you have and try to solve it or make a routine easier. It will make you more passionate about the topic and you will be your own audience making sure you understand more what is needed.

Re: Ask HN: What are good ways to find startup problems to solve?

#30

Post by gernest »

icebraining wrote: post #24
gernest wrote: post #13

This question has also been in my head for a while. I suggest maybe we stop looking for problems to solve and start solving problems we have. A simple problem that I have right now is , I am in need of a high quality technical text book that is in my local language (swahili). First I can't buy anything from amazon or the other online retailers because I don't have a credit card. Second, even if I am able to order fro…

But how would your startup make money, if your customers don't have credit cards and are broke? How do you make something for the hand-to-mouth working class, who are neither so poor that you can coax the wealthier into donating, nor have any disposable income?

The customers are broke because the quotes are in dollars, and the TSH is less valuable than USD. Which again another startup problem waiting to be solved.

The lack of credit card, is another problem that I have. Which is another startup problem waiting to be solved.

People pay if there is value in what you are offering.

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