This guy claims they modeled the ultimate future for 3 years and figured it all out: they share startup ideas https://melonusk.substack.com/
What is this? I can’t tell if it’s satire or serious or AI slop.
Where to find ideas
31–40 of 47 posts
Re: Where to find ideas
#32Earlier quoted context omitted.
The Winklevii might disagree. The concept that execution matters, ideas don’t, is complete rubbish. If it was true, then you’d make a fortune executing extremely well on selling bags of dog poo. Ideas are absolutely crucial. Without a good idea you can execute away forever and get nowhere. And you’ll need a really great idea to make it huge. Sure you also need luck timing hard work execution but none of that is worth…
Everyone has ideas. Not everyone nails Timing + Execution + Distribution + Luck.
Everyone has ideas, but not all of them are good ideas. Bad idea + nailing all the other ones won't give you good results.
Re: Where to find ideas
#33Good example of using ad hominem to discredit others in favour of your approach. Examples: - "The academic who hasn’t built anything, yet feels comfortable telling you to use their complicated startup framework to find and validate ideas." Presumably a dig at lean startup. - "A market need? An underserved niche? Demand? WTF do these things even mean?" Come on, these aren't that hard to define.
lol, I was writing angry at some academic framework, agree ad hominem isn't a good strategy, 100%
the thing about market needs / underserved niches / demand is that they are easy to sorta-define, but hard to actually define in a way that's useful when you are trying find them, when you actually need to understand them
the biggest unlock I've had was, 2+ years into pushing a product I had theoretically validated demand for, realizing that I didn't actually understand demand, and that demand SEEMS like it is "desire for a product" or "willingness to pay for a product" but is actually a product-agnostic thing, and when you see that, you see the world a lot more clearly. This video was super useful - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nMIZqim8iXU
Anyway thanks for the critique, 100% agree with half of it!
Re: Where to find ideas
#34I've written this many times before, but working in some industry will usually expose you to the various problems that need to be solved. Most of the startup founds I've met have either worked in tech, or as consultants, and have noticed some problem that has been sitting unsolved / products that suck / untapped markets. And it is not like you need to be a FAANG SWE or McKinsey consultant enjoy to that privilege. Eve…
I think the biggest difference though is that launching a B2B business is much harder to start with than a B2C one.
If you're a B2C one, you launch an app/website, you get small but basically instant feedback by signups/usage. Reward is potentially low per user however.
With B2B, even if you get in conversation with customers quickly, you still might be talking about a 6-12 months cycle to even get them signed up to a free trial. For large companies they want SSO, RBAC, etc. out of the door, plus RFC on security questionaires, data governance, ISO27001, etc. etc. etc.
Re: Where to find ideas
#35Re: Where to find ideas
#36I've written this many times before, but working in some industry will usually expose you to the various problems that need to be solved. Most of the startup founds I've met have either worked in tech, or as consultants, and have noticed some problem that has been sitting unsolved / products that suck / untapped markets. And it is not like you need to be a FAANG SWE or McKinsey consultant enjoy to that privilege. Eve…
I think the biggest difference though is that launching a B2B business is much harder to start with than a B2C one. If you're a B2C one, you launch an app/website, you get small but basically instant feedback by signups/usage. Reward is potentially low per user however. With B2B, even if you get in conversation with customers quickly, you still might be talking about a 6-12 months cycle to even get them signed up to…
The successful pattern I've seen is someone around VP level in an existing industry leaving their current company and grabbing some engineers to build their idea. Maybe because their idea is great, or maybe because they're stuck at that level and can't advance further without leaving. But either way, they generally have some contact with their peers at other companies in industry so when they go pitch their product, they're much more likely to succeed than any random asshole off the street.
Re: Where to find ideas
#37Just ask people where they get theirs - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AKJtOoqTxRI
Re: Where to find ideas
#38> Talk to 5 potential customers who should, if the hypothesis is true, rip the product out of your hands. Record the conversations so you can review them.
Whatever your product is, you should be prototyping it and putting it in people's hands. Nobody knows what they want, so describing a product to them they've never seen or used tends to have extremely low signal-to-noise ratio.
Re: Where to find ideas
#39I've written this many times before, but working in some industry will usually expose you to the various problems that need to be solved. Most of the startup founds I've met have either worked in tech, or as consultants, and have noticed some problem that has been sitting unsolved / products that suck / untapped markets. And it is not like you need to be a FAANG SWE or McKinsey consultant enjoy to that privilege. Eve…
I think the biggest difference though is that launching a B2B business is much harder to start with than a B2C one. If you're a B2C one, you launch an app/website, you get small but basically instant feedback by signups/usage. Reward is potentially low per user however. With B2B, even if you get in conversation with customers quickly, you still might be talking about a 6-12 months cycle to even get them signed up to…
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Re: Where to find ideas
#40A useful way to find ideas is by observing asymmetries. When something appears easy for some people but difficult for others, or vice versa, it often reveals underlying complexity, missing tools, or flawed mental models. Frustration can also be a signal. If something feels unnecessarily painful or awkward while others seem fine with it, there may be an opportunity to simplify, rethink, or build something better. These patterns often lead to meaningful insights or practical solutions.