If no one has solved the problem, it's not interesting

This resonates with me. Invariably, I get sucked into 'ideating' a solution/business model that is novel. And, eventually with in next few days/weeks I try to peel through the layers and the idea falls apart. Rinse & Repeat to no avail.

But on the other hand, when I force myself to think on building for a problem that is already served, I get into anxious thought process of "How can I get the customers lured away from existing products? Why would they move? How expensive can it get? Why can't an existing product owner quickly build the differentiation that I may launch with and kill my product before it grows?"

Any thoughts on these?

Totally agree on this. I realised this the hard way by implementing a few side projects that I thought people would need and totally pay for. If you are truly seeking to turn your startup into a business its probably a good idea to find out if something already exists. If it exists that means it was needed and if they are paying then people are willing to pay for such a service.

I agree with this. So many people are trying to be very creative with their ideas of things that are not really needed. I have myself been guilty of this, thinking that to create something of value, it must be completely unique or have some new unique twist to it.

"Everything has been solved by now. Yes, everything."

• Absolutely. We are already immortal superhuman beings, that can upload and download our mind to quantum computers at will, travel between galaxies, and understand how to avoid heat death of the universe.

While your point regarding improving on existing solutions is definitely valid, I would strongly disagree with the notion that one shall not start new products from "vacuum". Latter one is much more risky, and you will probably fail. But few who succeed would revolutionize the world.