From tons of ideas, how do decide which idea to pursue?

Personally I'd figure out what your goal in life is, and what you are trying to accomplish, and sort your ideas from there.

For example, I have a running notepad of "ideas," that contains over a 100 entries at any one time. Some could be billion dollar companies and some could be $10 apps. I can see a clear strategy to make money for some, and no particular way to make any for others. Does it matter?

Well, I am currently a dad of two kids, spending A LOT of time with them. Can I realistically do a billion-dollar CO without losing most of my time with them? Nope! So the answer for me was to focus on the Rad Dad Show and to table some of those grand ideas for a little bit later, knowing that I might miss out on some short term opportunities. So be it.

What's important to you today? Do you want to make A LOT of money? Then pick the idea that will do that. Sometimes it means a software project, sometimes a consulting gig. No shame. Do you want to have fun and money is not an issues? Then pick the most fun idea you can. Remember, Twitch came out of Justin Kan strapping a video camera on his head? That worked out 'ok.'

Set your priorities, make decisions from there, just make sure to own your choices. If you make a conscious decision based on reasons that matter to you, you will never go back and regret it because you will always remember the reason for doing what you do.

It's highly unlikely (but not impossible) that your idea is so novel that nobody has ever thought of it.
So given that go and see what the competition looks like. Contrary to what a lot of people say, you want to see a vibrant healthy competition space, ideally with several solutions at different price points.
Check out the companies selling. Does it look like they have been around a while? Does it look like they are growing?
If other people are making money with your idea then there is no reason you cannot...
Find a space where people are already spending money and build a slightly better (or different) mousetrap. Or build exactly the same mousetrap and outmarket your competition - developers are not noted for their marketing skills so this can sometimes be easier than expected!!!
Just my $0.02
Simon

A lot of people will suggest building an MVP (minimal viable product) to gauge initial interest, but I would start even before that: Don't spend any more time than necessary on something that you don't even know is actually viable.

However, you need to find out if potential customers are excited about your idea. To find out whether your target audience is interested in your idea, I suggest the following validation process:

• Write down a) the problem you're trying to solve and b) your solution. A lot of ideas may sound awesome while they're in your head, but that might change once you transform it from an abstract concept into 2–3 sentences.

• Create a questionnaire based on your idea. Make sure to ask questions relevant to judging whether your idea might take off, such as "How often are you facing this problem" rather than "Have you ever faced this problem". Use a tool like SurveyMonkey or Typeform to put your survey online.

• Identify people in your target audience. This is hard. Don't simply email the survey link to your friends - studies have shown that because of something called "Interviewer bias", your friends will rate your ideas more favorably than the general public. Also, it's highly likely that your friends aren't actually in your target audience.

I actual run IdeaCheck.io, where we generate a questionnaire based on your idea and use a panel of respondents to gather direct feedback from your actual target audience. You can read more about IdeaCheck in my Indie Hackers interview: https://www.indiehackers.com/businesses/ideacheck-io

1. Figure out who you want to serve.

Don't just go after an idea or product because it looks fun or interesting. This won't sustain you.

You have to like the people in the market. You have to gel or be able to gel with them. You spend much more time speaking, communicating and collaborating with your market than you might think when initially setting out.

Not only must you be able to see yourself serving the market for a long time, the market must be willing to and able to spend money on the problem.

If you're interested in B2B products you need to build relationships with the decision maker in the organization.

1. Learn what their problems are.

Don't come in with an idea to pursue, unless you are solving your own problem from a past career. And in the past career people spent money on the problem. Even if you are confident in your idea don't lead with it in this process.

Focus on letting them talk and share their own problems. Use the Socratic Method. Focus on quantifying the problem. The current cost and future cost. Focus on the future and what it would mean if the problem is solved.

1. Get buy-in from the market

You must hear from the market that if you build "X" then they will pay you money. You must hear this from more than one company. Around 5 companies would be a good initial signal.

So to summarize you pursue ideas that:

• People you enjoy serving have.
• That are sourced from those people's problems.
• That are painful enough that decision makers state they would pay for a solution if built.

I try to pick ideas that have already proven to be winners and then I add my own twist to it. Totally unique ideas work for big companies I guess, not so much for IH in my opinion.

Your implementation will be more important than idea always, so important thing is whatever you pick.. stick with it!

There's a video of Dan Martell discussing this.

Like Kirill said, building something out of passion should be a fundamental deciding factor.

The idea should also be validated to some extent, by talking to costomers, throwing together a landing page, marketing it on the proper forums, and guaging the response.

I had the same dilemma as you. So I thought of an idea, validated it, and now I'm passionate about building it because it solves an issue I had.

Best of luck 🤞

Talk to potential customers for each idea. Do you like talking with them? How likely you think you can create a value in that area? I mean not just a product but also a useful content - because this what marketing all about. Donyou like digging deeper and learn more about the particular industry or just don’t feel curious about it at all.
I think answering those questions will help you to make a decision. If you answer positively to all those questions it means you’ll be able to work harder and with pleasure for longer :)

I have tried multiple ideas before finally focused on picpipe.io

If you having this question, it means none of these ideas really boom!

Assuming cost is the same

Whichever sells. Pick one at random, promote it if there's not enough interest. Then try another.

This comment was deleted 7 years ago