Your Next Big Idea - Startup Ideation
I like to think of the early days of a startup as a sine curve. This incredible feeling of excitement and anticipation coupled with some crushing realizations and anxieties; you’ll be riding emotional waves as you go from “we’re going to be rich” to “this is never going to work”. I look back on these days both fondly and with apprehension. Frankly, you’ve got nothing to lose other than your time. This is a pretty easy trade; you get to put pen to paper (or fingers to keyboards) to start building your dream in exchange for maybe watching less TV or working out later. That being said, it’s also the start of an enormous journey that will require you to work harder and smarter than you ever have before.
We’ve put together 6 (ish) principles to help you come up with ideas. This based on our experiences and that of others in the space.
But before you get started, understand this: Waste. Time. On. Ideas.
It’s not often you want to waste your time. Personally, it drives me absolutely nuts to waste my time. But there’s value in the process of idea generation and frankly, it’s going to take time. The first myth to bust here is that it’s very unlikely that you’ll either have a sudden “eureka” moment or that your first idea will be “the one”. This takes time, practice, and a framework for evaluation.
Alright, let’s get into it!
Chill Out: Take a deep breath. You’re not the next Mark Cuban (probably - or at least, not yet). Don’t start heaving pressure on yourself to do something world-changing. It’s easy to put yourself in a weird mental state where you think that you’ll never find a good idea or that you’re too stupid to come up with something truly worthwhile. We’ve had that feeling too, and the key is to not be married to any particular idea, but to follow a process that helps you assess ideas (like the methods we’re describing here)
Generally, creativity flourishes when you’re happy. Research on the subject also suggests there are other conditions too, such as working with others, being able to zoom out from your current life, and even dimming the lights in your house. In any event, it’s about being calm or in a more zen-like state.
You Want a lot of Ideas: Going back to the “Eureka Myth”, what you’re really looking for in the early days is a lot of ideas. That way you can sift the good from the bad and come to the table with a few options when discussing it with yourself, friends, family, etc. This is also something you can act on - for example, Chris and I had a ton of ideas in the early 2010s, and we put a number of “feelers” out into the market to see what might have some traction.
Validate the Idea: So you’ve got an idea! Neat! Validation of an idea is a huge topic, but here’s the tl;dr version. Have you googled it? Are there competitors? What kind of competitors? Competition isn’t always bad - it might mean there’s a market. Then consider the Fulcrum of Innovation coined by Seth Godin: is it worth doing, is it doable, and why you?
You Need to Understand the Problem: D’uh. This sounds silly, but, yeah, you need to understand the problem in order to adequately solve it. This isn’t literally a comprehension task or a comment that entrepreneurs have to be super smart; it just means that you probably need to have experienced the problem to adequately understand the need and then by extension understand how your solution will fill that need.
In practical terms, what does this mean? It means that to help generate and validate ideas, you need to put yourself out there. How can you improve your job on the day-to-day in a valuable way? Consider volunteering your time, or engaging more in some of the challenges that your friends or colleagues have in their workplaces.
You Should Look for Hard Problems: I’m generally apprehensive of any ideas that come to me really quickly. This isn’t to say that lightning doesn't occasionally strike; you theoretically could have an amazing billion dollar idea in a miraculous instant. But practically speaking (and keeping on metaphor here), it’s about as likely as being struck by lightning. If an idea comes to you super quickly, it’s pretty likely that it’s already being done by someone else or it’s just not that valuable an idea.
If you can take something hard and make it something easy, you’ll be successful. As such, Chris and I are attracted to hard or “impossible” problems; if you can crack the code and rush to market, you can change the world.
Size the Market: Understanding the market size is an absolutely essential task that you should do for any serious business idea. What’s more, you’ll get pushed on this by would-be Co-Founders, potential investors, friends, and family. Frankly, this gets back to the Fulcrum of Innovation’s first question - is this idea worth doing? You need to know if the market is big enough to support your product.
Your market sizing should also account for the direction the market is heading. As the saying goes, the rising tide lifts all boats; you want to be at sea in a rising market, as opposed to running ashore in a declining market. In order to do this effectively, I’d look at opportunities in emerging markets - AI…so hot right now for example - and avoid spending time on declining markets (e.g. I wouldn’t be going “big” on bookstores, newspapers or gasoline cars).
Lastly, try to do the thing. Put yourself and your idea out there and give it a chance in the market. That’s the best way to know if your idea is valuable or not. Just do it and find out!
Good luck working on your business idea! See you next week.
-Dave