Dumb idea - Validating an idea for validation

When we say 'startup idea', it adds too much noise to the initial validation process as the industry(Successful Entrepreneurs, Investors) almost unanimously agree that the first step is solving the right problem.

In my early life as an entrepreneur, I've failed multiple times since I didn't understand this difference between Startup ideas vs Problems. Understanding the importance of solving the right problem i.e. the problem with enough need gap, that people are willing to pay for getting it solved and of course the problem which we want ourselves to be solved played a huge role in me building successful products later on.

When I started coaching entrepreneurs, I found this again to be the common theme for failure among early stage startups i.e. building something just because they can and hoping everyone needs it. It became a professional necessity for me to come up with a way to validate problems/need gap.

So, I started building needgap a problem validation platform where problems are the first class citizens. Posts are created by the consumers(incl. entrepreneurs) who have a problem, want to find a solution for their problem, check if others share the same problem, how ever small the problem might be. Builders can post their products in the comments if it solves that particular problem or else discuss with others to create a product to solve that problem(There are couple of products built/being built for problems from needgap).

I'm not saying I've solved the issue of validating problems, far from it. I think I now have a direction towards understanding the 'language, grammar of problems and startup ideas' which might one day result in making validation easier.

Three simple steps:

1. I google if the idea is already realized by someone else.
2. If yes(90% of the cases) I check if it actually generates any revenue, traffic, interest etc.
3. If yes(about 50% of the cases) I check whether there are anything that the current product fails to deliver. It can be underutilized marketing, product fit etc. So if helps me to find the part of the idea I need to focus.

And lastly I just start to build. With Heygamer.co i exactly followed the steps above and found my niche within the niche. Now it's matter of successfully implementing my findings 🚀