How to Pick the Right Idea for your Startup | Hacker News Reader

How to Pick the Right Idea for your Startup

onstartups.com

43 pointskapilkale9 comments

I've never understood this "Make a startup, then think of an idea" approach. If you aren't in love with your idea, why are you working so hard on it? Why would you commit to working so hard on an idea before you've even had it?

I think some people are just inspired to build things and know that a dependable team is necessary if they want their (eventual) idea to have any kind of chance. Similarly, I was inspired to write songs, but the type of music that I wanted to write needed a band. So I started a band before I spent a lot of time writing.

This is also good because my songs were always being scrutinized by the other band members while they were being written which I think made them better.

Although they may want it for a myriad of reasons, most founders probably want to get rich. From http://paulgraham.com/start.html:

And that's kind of exciting, when you think about it, because all three are doable. Hard, but doable. And since a startup that succeeds ordinarily makes its founders rich, that implies getting rich is doable too. Hard, but doable.

i think it's kinda the opposite; most founders who want to get rich generate an idea (or create a clone) before committing to their startup full-time. they also most likely fail if that's their sole mission.

i'm leaving my current job in three weeks to pursue a startup full-time with some of my close friends. we currently do not have a finalized idea, although we have brainstorm sessions almost daily.

i do agree that a good idea is necessary, but our number one priority has always been having a strong team: a team of balanced members where we can learn from one another and trust each other completely. we've committed ourselves before deciding on an idea for a few reasons:

1) we're all united by the passion of creating something that adds value to peoples' lives 2) we've known each other for many years and have similar interests 3) we understand that we have to be flexible, and we may change our idea multiple times before getting it right. it would be unfortunate to form a team revolving around a single idea, only to have the team pivot to an idea that some members did not 'sign up for'

hope that provides some additional insight.

I definitely admire that you and your team are setting a deadline then just jumping in. I can't comment on whether or not this will work for you or not, but I admire the guts it takes to do this. One thing others in your situation need to consider, however, is that if you're brainstorming with your team daily and haven't found an idea that really strikes a cord with all of your, there's no guarantee that you'll know when this will happen after you've all left your jobs. When you no longer have a paycheque, you might feel forced to pick something that doesn't seem like quite the right fit because you have to get something done and start making money to pay the rent. It's imposing somewhat of a deadline on yourselves that you might not have if you all agreed on the idea before you left your jobs.

thanks for the kind words, rewind! you make a great point. i wish it was as magical as it sounds and that everyone who pursues their dreams will be successful. realistically, there are a neverending challenges in building a startup (beyond building a great product or finding the perfect team), but i guess that's what makes the process so exciting and rewarding.

it definitely helps to be prepared (mentally, financially) before making the jump. analyze your financial limitations and decide how long you can support yourself. understand the worst-case scenario and be ready to face it.

"Fulfilling an existing need" seems somewhat misguided. In many cases the need is not always so obvious, especially at the conception stage. Its hard to imagine whether or not people will adopt something, at which point a need (previously unknown) is fulfilled. The iPad comes to mind off the bat as something many initially dismissed as not fulfilling any needs, only to meet runaway success when people figured out how to integrate it into their lives. What that means to me is that we should not always look to fulfilling existing needs, but to imagine new needs as things evolve. Its that kind of forward thinking that creates great products!

do what you can't be happy if you will not do it.

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