How to find a startup idea
Finding an idea for your next startup is tough and is something I've been struggling with quite a lot recently. I've got several ideas for my new startup but have not yet committed to pursuing any of them.
Why? Is it because the ideas are not good enough? That's certainly part of the reason. But there is another element to it. For me at least, it's tough to decide what I want to dedicate your time, money and focus on. What if I pick a bad idea? What if I fail immediately? Some good advice for countering this is to fail hard and to fail fast. Stop thinking about starting a startup and just start one! Build a startup fast- if it fails then great! You can try again after failing and learning from your mistakes.
But how do you get these ideas in the first place? For me, it's a combination of methods.
Social media: Twitter, Reddit, Discord... are some of my favourite places to find ideas. Surround yourself with a supportive, interesting and intelligent community to find incredible ideas. I really enjoy Twitter- there are so many interesting people working on a huge variety of projects. It really is so inspiring!
Youtube, podcasts, articles and other digital content: there are so many ideas floating around on the internet. Read articles, watch videos, listen to podcasts, read books and absorb as much knowledge as you can. You'll find that simply learning from others' content can give you inspiration for your next startup.
Other tech platforms: Github, Product Hunt...: try to look at others' projects, see what they are doing successfully and how their project can be improved. Are there any similar products you could create?
Ask people! What is your biggest problem as a startup owner? What is the most boring task you do each day? You can find huge value in simply talking to people, whether in person, on Zoom, on Twitter...
Collate all your ideas into one document, select the top 10 ideas, look at those in more detail and then select just 3. For each of these ideas make a mini pitch deck and present it to family, friends or other connections. Get feedback, validate your ideas and see if there is a genuine need for your startup.
Pick your favourite idea and it's time to launch!
Thanks for reading! To find more ideas, feel free to check out our resources on finding ideas here