4
2 Comments

My idea selection criteria for 2022

Based on what I've learnt from my product launches in 2021, for 2022 I've decided these are the following criteria that any ideas I want to develop further must meet:

  1. The market/need must be proven somewhere else. While I don't want to clone an existing tool like-for-like, I don't want to increase the risk by attempting to establish both a brand new market and my idea. Whether it's a tool for a different SaaS product or targeting a different niche, I want to see other similar attempts that have succeeded.
  2. Must be distributable via an App Store/marketplace. Distribution and marketing are challenging and can be somewhat time-consuming, and a marketplace can help early on by providing organic growth.
  3. Payments can be handled by a Merchant of Record, such as Gumroad/Paddle/FastSpring. Or the marketplace/App Store can handle overseas taxes on my behalf. Happy to leave taxation law to the experts wherever possible.
  4. Ideally targets small to medium businesses, in a SaaS tool that forms a core part of their business. My success in 2021 has mostly come from add-ons that target this market. I'm thinking Google Workspace, Airtable etc.
  5. Before building, do a content push first to test the waters for interest in the market. I've had great success this year organically seeding YouTube/blog content prior to developing ideas, and it's helped avoid wasting time on ideas that had little interest.
on December 31, 2021
  1. 1

    Interesting perspective, here are some other perspectives for you to consider:

    1. There is a significant distinction between a need being proven and a market being proven. If your see a market with a successful incumbent you have to determine who you will differentiate and still satisfy the need.
    2. App store models often severely restrict your interactions with customers, limiting your ability to learn quickly. They also strongly favor successful incumbents.
    3. No opinion.
    4. If this is your target there may are often much more effective ways to reach business users than an App store.
    5. I think you need to distinguish between views / popularity and what you can learn from conversations with prospects. I would chose approaches that enable the latter over winning a daily, weekly, or monthly popularity contest. In the latter, your success also alerts competitors without providing you additional insights.d
  2. 1

    Absolutely agree. Can i get your email i wanted to talk about potential co-founder opportunity for my startup