How to Choose What to Build

A little while ago, @AmirKamizi asked a great question about how to choose a startup idea. Some of you liked my response and wanted me to write it up as a post (@koder and @maximedupre). So here it is. 🙂

Too Many Ideas, Too Little Time

You’ve got a list of ideas for what to build. Unfortunately, you can't build them all. The world has to miss out on some great ideas, because you only have so much time.

You don’t want to waste time on something that won’t be successful. But you also don’t want to build something that won’t be successful enough, or meaningful enough, or exciting enough, or cool enough, and so on.

You don't want to build the wrong thing. So, you need to choose.

Common Approaches to Choosing

One approach is to work with spreadsheets. You could throw your ideas into a spreadsheet and rank by all kinds of dimensions, apply complex analysis, and weigh the pros and cons.

Some of this can be helpful. But it can also lead you to optimize for the wrong things, to lose the plot of why you’re building, and to waste a lot of time.

Another approach is to skip the thinking. Just start building!

You will learn by doing. And that can be valuable too. But it can still take weeks, months, and even years of work to realize that you have been building the wrong thing. That's not a good place to be!

The truth is that many issues, challenges, dealbreakers, and lessons take time to show themselves on their own.

What if you could reveal those issues before you start building?

There's Another Way

There’s something else you can do. It’s incredibly undervalued. And it’s incredibly powerful when done well.

It works like this.

1. For each startup or product idea you're considering, take time to imagine a future chapter of your life where you're building the idea.
2. Imagine what an average day looks like while working on the idea. Imagine a day at the beginning, a day while building, a day while scaling, a day at peak success, a day looking back on that success.
3. Ask yourself how working on the idea interacts with what you care about, your goals, your relationships, etc.
4. Continue to fill in a complete and vivid picture of what your life looks like while working on this idea.

Repeat this for every idea you're considering. Take notes and capture your insights along the way.

What Will Happen?

If you can do this well, your brain will show you things that spreadsheets and analysis can't. You can see the 'unforeseen' pitfalls. You can see the opportunities. You'll narrow in on what makes the most sense.

You won’t get caught in analysis paralysis. You won’t have to start building before you have the clarity you need.

This won't remove all the uncertainties. And it might not reveal all the dealbreakers. But, it can go a long way in helping you avoid building the wrong thing.

What is this?

In the bigger picture, this is an example of what happens when you tap into your natural intelligence, an incredibly powerful form of intelligence that unfortunately has been quashed and devalued. I did a podcast series on natural intelligence that goes into all this.

This process will have you re-connect with and re-engage with essential processes of natural intelligence, and apply them to the challenge of choosing what to do with your time, and your life!

Tips for Success

If you want to try this process out, I would recommend taking a full day for it. To be productive, you have to create the time and space to do this kind of imaginative work.

And, you need to be in a space that supports this way of thinking. So that means someplace quiet, comfortable, and private.