How do you decide what to build?
Here are some ways I try to think of what to build.
- starting with a problem you have and building a solution to it
- talking to people to find out what problems they have
- Coming up an idea randomly
- Looking at what other startups build
- Doing the same thing as a startup that raised a lot of money
According to YC’s philosophy, solving a problem you personally have is the best. But I honestly can’t think too much about what I can build this way. I am curious about your thought process on this. Thanks.
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Look for problems, not passion.
Before quitting my job to build Jotform, I worked as a full-time programmer for a New York media company. When I worked there, our editors always needed custom web forms for polls, questionnaires, contests and surveys. It was dull, tedious work — but it was part of my job. I started to think, what if I automated the process?
I imagined a simple, drag-and-drop tool that made it easy to add fields and build a form, even if you didn’t know HTML.
After I quit my job, I worked on this idea for six months and released the first version of Jotform in February 2006.
This brings me to a myth we need to dispel. Many entrepreneurs think there’s a linear path to success, with three proven steps:
Quitting your job before you’ve clearly solved a problem will only add pressure as your cash goes down the drain. On the flip side, starting a business with something that people actually want and need gives you a running start. You have a viable solution. You’ve scratched your own itch.
For example, Jotform eliminates a friction point (the need for custom web forms) that I experienced firsthand during the five years I spent at my job. I knew people wanted this product. I was confident that if I created something great, users would happily pay for it.
Paul Graham has been writing about problem-solving for years. He says the best startup ideas have three things in common:
It’s not easy to find yourself in that triangular sweet spot, but always it’s worth waiting until you do.
well said!
Aytekin, how did you further validate the problem you've personally experienced to make sure there was a market worth building a sustainable business out of it?
Quick advice from someone who built profitable SaaS, profitable Newsletter and who wrote 700+ profitable ideas at Profitable Micro SaaS Ideas
Remember that when people say 'validate your ideas/product' what actually meant is to 'validate your reach/channels'.
You could pick the world's best idea but if you don't have a reach or a channel to reach audience, you are gonna fail.
You don't need the best idea. You need an idea for which the audience are reachable for you. This could be via Ads, SEO, Cold outreach, launching your product on various forums etc.
In short, pick about 4-5 ideas. Analyze audience for which idea are easily reachable for you. Create a landing page (Don't write any code yet) and reach the audience. Once you have 50-60 signups, talk to atleast 20-30 people and then think about building the product. If this fails, move to your next idea.
There are other ways also that you mentioned - For example, asking a group of people what they want or solving your own problem. But the process of validation remains the same.
My suggestion for you is to pick 3-4 Micro SaaS ideas. Then start with one idea. Create a landing page and start talking to people.
Another good idea is one that I had seen utilized by an Airtable 3rd party entrepreneur.
His plan was to look at applications that were on Airtable's competitors. Then he would see if they are also on Airtable. If they weren't he'd add them.
So, just look at a platform's competitor and see where the gaps are. I bet you'll see a few.
Maybe you're talking about this guy? https://twitter.com/clokehead/status/1340949414081392640
That's a good way too. There are so much of insights comparing platform competitors and also looking at reviews of these products from review platforms like G2, Capteraa etc.
This is great. On G2 you can sort the reviews. So look at what people are angry about on a competitor. This could be a way to get a slice of the market.
Well said
Unpopular opinion: Following my enthusiasm and listening to my gut.
I like this answer! Following where your energy is (enthusiasm) and following your intuition (gut) are great ways to feel good about what you're doing. Always helpful to have a gut-check too, though, and be a little strategic about projects. Intuition + enthusiasm + strategy = 👍
Strategy comes into it for sure, but for me that's after I've made a decision to with it.
That said, whether you move forward with an idea as a business or simply as an interest that you're pursuing — that should be determined by some market research and eventually validation. Maybe that's what you mean by strategy though, and I'm overthinking it? 😂
That's exactly what I mean :)
It might be helpful to list any "unfair advantages" you have no matter how small they are. For example, you probably know more than the average person about the industry of your day job. Are there gaps in that industry? Are there any things your coworkers grumble about? Are there unique things about your professional journey to get to this point?
The following may sound very condescending, so please bear with me: if you're looking for opportunities outside yourself practice being an empathic listener. If someone complains about something, are you just waiting for your turn to speak? Are you more focused on more on "what" they are saying rather than "why"? This is a good product manager skill and a way to become a better human in general. Rather than "talking to people to find out what problems they have" it is better to let their problems come to you. You can be exposed to way more possible product opportunities by just passively being there for people rather than only actively seeking them out.
Do you know where the "unfair advantage" framing comes from? I've seen it mentioned a few times but haven't seen the source if there is one.
I hear that. The closer to the problem you are, the more relatable the customers are. But I've also seen Paul Graham state that start by making something cool [1]
And I think that's because you are more likely to be motivated by and passionate about something you think is cool, but that's just my opinion.
[1] https://twitter.com/maxmontrey/status/1363493053944709120?t=zNo2ZmtOhrRfTdgbHgf0xA&s=19
Scratch your own itch is my go-to advice all the time.
I also believed that for a long time, but if everyone in the digital space (developers, designers, marketers, etc.) are following that philosophy, most of the new products will be targeted at those markets. Doesn't that make it way more difficult to create a profitable business in that space than searching for an underserved niche outside your (digital) expertise? Of course, if you already have some experience from a previous career, you could use that to find potential problems, but otherwise, at least to me, it seems like the more difficult path to use. I may be very wrong about this, though, it's just a feeling. After all, the before mentioned markets are huge, with a lot of untouched areas.
At least for me as a developer, most of the ideas I come up with are already implemented to some extent.
An approach that I have seen work is to speak with domain experts outside of the digital space, understand their pain points, and utilize your expertise to identify any opportunities to solve them through a digital product.
The past two companies that I have worked for followed a similar path and are quite successful. At one of these companies, a domain expert actually ended up being a co-founder.
I really love that approach! The only thing I'm struggling with is to decide which domains to choose and where to find experts.
Would you mind giving me some advice?
Of course! Think of massive but unsexy industries with gaps in the market in terms of tech solutions. These gaps can be from needs that have yet to be addressed or archaic existing solutions on the market. Just to spitball a few examples (full disclosure, I have not done any research on these): septic tank, garbage, window washing, etc. I am currently exploring the manufacturing space but I am trying to niche down even further.
Once you identify a few interesting spaces, look to your network, ask any contacts to meetup for coffee, and Mom Test. You can also maybe extend an offer to them to advise or act as an industry insider. If you don't know anyone in your network, then linkedin business is an effective tool for lead gen and filtering.
I hope this helps :)
Wow thank you very much for that useful answer!
I'm currently looking at architectural project management software and all of those points seem to apply.
Maybe that could be the next niche I'm trying to find something.
Good luck with equipdigital.io, really seems like an interesting space!
Take your time, and write down a list of problems you encounter in your day-to-day interactions on the internet.
I have a Notion list called Idea Farm which I add to frequently. Not all of them are winners, but once in a while I'll think of something worth building. Ideation is a muscle that needs to be trained, and the more you look for problems in the world around you, the more easily you'll be able to identify good ones.
I value doing things that I believe only I could have done. Otherwise, why bother?
I realized that if you're expecting someone to show you what to work on, then you will not be working on something only you could have done.
On the other hand, even if the idea is not all yours, the execution will be - and the idea will still be executed in a way that only you could have.
Ideas seem to be better and more original the more specific they are. So focusing on what one is more familiar with is a good idea.
Coming up with an interesting and original idea is very hard - it's very rare to see something like that happen organically. Most things are not that original. If you come up with an original idea, it will most likely sound stupid or useless at first - if it were obvious, it wouldn't have been original.
Offshoot of 1 and 3: find ways to solve your own problems with cool stuff...sometimes making is part of the fun! That's what we did at SportsTrace.
I don't think I'd follow option 2-5. It's important to work on something you know well yourself, which both helps you identify problems/ways in which something can be improved, as well as gives you the motivation to keep working on it.
It also helps to start small. Having a big vision is great, but you need to begin somewhere. Starting with the big vision first can also prevent you from seeing a "problem" which is right in front of you: in an area you already know very well, everything might seem trivial, and the idea not bold enough. Even some friction in an existing piece of software you use (which I assume you know well having "Dev" in your name) might be something a lot of people experience as well.
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