How to Get Startup Ideas

paulgraham.com

Startups

30 min read → 60 sec

Startup ideas come from noticing urgent problems, usually ones founders know firsthand, then starting with a small group that wants a solution badly. The piece explains why organic ideas beat made-up ones and how to spot them.

Get startup ideas by noticing real problems, especially ones you have yourself.

The strongest ideas are wanted by founders, buildable by them, and underrated by others.

Trying to think up startup ideas produces plausible bad ideas.

Those ideas often fool founders into building them.

Choose a narrow, deep well of urgent demand.

Skip broad, shallow interest.

A startup idea is probably bad if no one will use a crappy version one right now.

Live in the future, then build what is missing.

Or build what seems interesting.

People at the leading edge of fast-changing fields notice opportunities first.

They already live in the future.

Learning to hack is not necessary.

It is sufficient for reaching a fast-changing frontier.

Look for things that seem missing.

Turn off the filter asking whether they could become big companies.

Question the status quo and notice what chafes you.

Annoyance can signal future demand.

Projects that seem like toys often yield good startup ideas.

Apple, Microsoft, BackRub, and Facebook did.

Good startup ideas usually start in small markets.

They need a path into much larger ones.

Microsoft's Altair Basic and Facebook at Harvard started with a few thousand users.

Those users wanted them badly.

Paths out of an initial niche are hard to see.

Airbnb began with renting floor space during conventions.

A good idea often feels late.

Startups rarely die from competitors unless rivals have strong lock-in.

A crowded market is a good sign if you know what incumbents are overlooking.

Turn off the schlep filter and unsexy filter.

Stripe succeeded partly because others avoided payments.