So, you want to build a startup? Quit looking for startup ideas.
With so many unicorn startups, high valuations and big IPOs it is no wonder so many have a dream to build a startup and make it big. Many of these dreamers often lookin in the wrong place as they begin exploring their process; they look for ideas.
Ideas are a great thing but like the Bluetooth Banana phone, not all are the next big startup. The best ideas come from solving a problem and most often it is a problem that the startup founders faced and needed to solve. Facebook started because some computer nerds wanted to meet girls. They had a problem (meeting girls) and created a solution (The Facebook).
Some of the easiest problems that tech can solve often revolve around three things:
- Saving time
- Saving /making money
- Increasing status
To discover your idea, take a look at areas in your life either personal or professional and see what can be simplified by a tech solution.
Can you take a process that you run with Excel and simplify it and save time?
Maybe you are repeatedly tracking the same task, but that task could really be broken down and take less time if there was a tech to handle part of it.
Problems can be found everywhere. We are not all going to launch the next unicorn, but that doesn’t mean that we can’t build a product that solves a problem, saves time and helps others succeed.
Here is a practical exercise I give to anyone who tells me they want to start a company. For one week, carry a notebook and write down every time you catch yourself thinking "this is annoying" or "there has to be a better way." Do not filter. Write down the trivial ones and the big ones. At the end of the week, look at what you wrote. You will notice patterns. The problems that show up multiple times, especially the ones where you already have domain knowledge, those are your startup candidates. Not the shower thought you had about a dating app for dog owners.
The other trap I see first-time founders fall into is building for a market they do not understand. They read a TechCrunch article about some industry trend and decide to build a SaaS tool for logistics or healthcare or real estate without ever having worked in that space. The founders who succeed are almost always solving their own problem first. They know the workflows, they know the pain points, and most importantly they know what a real solution looks like versus what sounds good in a pitch deck. If you have never done the job your product is supposed to make easier, you are guessing. And guessing is expensive.
Stop looking for ideas. Start paying attention to your own frustrations. The best startup founders are not the most creative people in the room. They are the most observant. They notice the friction that everyone else has learned to live with, and they refuse to accept it. That stubborn refusal to tolerate a broken process is worth more than any amount of brainstorming.
Ready to dig deeper? Explore where SaaS ideas actually come from, and why you should always put proof first before building.
