Death by a thousand great ideas | Hacker News Reader

Death by a thousand great ideas

tashian.com

66 pointsbglad17 comments

This article illustrates a common problem people have with starting a business. Idea churn.

The way most people go about starting businesses is to drum up ideas and then go out into the world and attempt to validate them like so:

01. Come up with product/service ideas

02. Seek out a market or present idea(s) to a predetermined market

03. Conduct market research to validate/invalidate idea(s)

04. Scrap idea or build idea

05. Rinse, repeat

This method isn't very effective because it emphasizes validating your preconceived ideas, not understanding your market and THEN crafting a compelling product or service to sell them.

The market-first approach, on the other hand, eschews the notion of starting out with a product/service idea in the beginning. Instead, it focuses on finding markets to serve, gaining a deeper understanding of what their needs and pain points are, and then crafting a product or service to offer.

The Market First Method

01. Choose a market

02. Conduct research to understand market needs/desires

03. Brainstorm ideas to solve market needs/desires

04. Craft a compelling product or service

05. Deploy. Gather feedback. Iterate.

I find this methodology to be far more effective because it shifts your focus from coming up with rock star ideas to the far more pleasant and useful activity of engaging with a market and discovering where you can add value. Two things, I might add, that come in quite handy when it comes time to craft your offer and write sales copy.

Correction to market-first step 04: Determine if the needs/desires are significant enough and the solution is worth committing to, then scrap or build idea.

Another is the customer-first approach, perhaps a layer higher than market-first approach. That is, think of who you'd like to have as a customer, then find what problems these people have that need solving.

Just to focus on the form and not the substance for a moment:

"We were in pursuit of a great idea. A jackpot of an idea that elegantly solved an audacious problem. An idea with clean lines and graceful curves, horizontally and vertically dovetailing the interests of many."

What beautifull writing.

Aww, thanks OzzyB. I try.

I have been through the same struggle with my co-founder last year...

My main advice to people who leave their job to start working with a co-founder without an idea AND without a clear verticals they want to focus on...is not to do it. Time constraints (when you are brainstorming as a side job) and outside dynamics (being in the middle of real everyday life) can help you so much be more creative and drive toward a decision. Then, once you have committed to something, you jump chip and start working on it full time if you can afford it.

It baffles me why someone would want to start a business when they don't have an idea. That's backwards. You should only desire to start a business once you have had an idea that is burning in you so badly that you can't do anything else.

You're right...but often times...you dismiss the idea creation piece (you have a lot or most Companies pivot anyway)..and you start a Company out of optimism, because you love starting Companies and/or because you don't want to have the constraint of working for somebody else.

You're baffled because you, me, and the blog post we are discussing, are guilty of using the wrong terminology. EVERYONE that goes into business has an idea, however not all ideas are a product. In some cases the idea is simply that you don't want to work for someone else anymore (or ever). Or the idea is that you want to get very rich. Either of those are very valid ideas, which them should lead to brainstorming on a product or service to get you closer to realizing that idea.

Just as lots of developers have a great product, with business model and no idea how to market it (the product) - Lots if small businesspersons have a business model and the will to market a great product - but no great product to market

Good to remember. There is the parable of the rich man and the poor man, when the rich man shops he cannot decide but the poor man knows exactly what he can buy. The root of the issue of course is too many choices. Without some way to crystallize your choice you often don't get past making the choice.

So good advice to founders is to have a process where you come up with 10 ideas, then you execute on one of those 10, no other choices.

>It worked for Thoureau, Ghandi, and Jack Dorsey.

Its Gandhi, not Ghandi.

I don't understand why so many people misspell his name.

Fixed -- thanks!

I think this is one of the primary reasons that people suggest starting with a product that addresses a problem that you personally have as a founder. It helps to maintain focus and removes most of the 'thousand ideas' problem.

One good point to make is that solo founders (myself included) often have the same problem. If you're a person that "great" ideas come to very easily, it's easy to stop working on (i.e. abandon) the older idea and jump full-force into the shiny new one.

As Chuck's comment points out, eventually you have to narrow down your choices and your focus to actually ship a product instead of just being a perpetual idea mill.

Thanks for a great post Carl.

I find that I'm always coming up with ideas I'm sure are great, and regardless of if they are or not I also tend to jump to the next program to make, or the next project to research, or the next something to something-a-fy. Turns out after a long time of this I have ADHD. I've learned that sometimes it's an asset, lets me bring renewed vigor to a project, but usually it just makes me look lazy. I've also found that since limiting myself to two or three projects that I can freely jump from one to the other (but still only the three) I've managed to mix the best of both worlds. For the first time ever I'm actually getting stuff done.

Edit: coming isn't spelled comping

I've, just recently, realized the cure to exactly what ails you Jeremy (having suffered from the same). It's called marriage.

I tell my wife what idea I'm working on. Just this simple act sets in motion a chain of events that tends to make me want to see a project through to the end.

The reason is that, I know she will follow up and ask me later about the project and, if I have abandoned it, will subject me to "The Speech". I hate "The Speech" so much that the entire force of my subconscious and conscious minds will conspire to avoid it - hence shipping products (finally) instead of flitting from one to the other endlessly.

If any of you don't know what "The Speech" is. You just aren't the right audience for this advice....yet. :-)

Note: If you aren't married, or aren't planning to get married due to career. preference, etc. then you should find a friend or family member close enough to you that they will be willing to give you "The Speech". It works.

I LOL'd when I read this. It is for this reason I try to talk to my wife about my projects as little as possible.

lol, that's why I probably won't ever get married, I hate "The Speech".

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