Season 1 - Episode 1 : Your Next Great Idea
Coming up with ideas to start a business is an intimidating task. Sometimes (read as: often) you’ll think of an idea but it’s already being done. Or maybe it’s a cool idea but not something someone would pay or pay enough for. It can be deflating and frustrating to keep coming up with ideas that don’t make the cut or that you start investing in mentally only to have it fizzle out.
Trust us though - this is good. Ideally you want to figure out what won’t work early, so you don’t end up investing months (or even years) of your time on something that’s not just not going to happen.
The Startup Different method for ideation can help you manage this process, both functionally and emotionally. We’ve created six principles that we think will help you find the idea that can help you sort the bad, from the good, from the great.
Background Story
Dave here! 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. We had a bunch of ideas and they didn’t all work out - but hey, that’s how it goes.
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.
Outline
There’s a process to coming up with ideas. Eureka moments are kinda BS.
You need to validate those ideas in a bunch of ways. It’s not always as clear as you think.
Waste. Time. On. Ideas.
Busted Myth
Myth: You’ll suddenly have a eureka moment and come up with a billion dollar business idea. This takes time, practice, and a framework for evaluation.
Second Myth: That wasting your time on ideas is just that - a waste. Wrong. There’s value in the process of idea generation and frankly, it’s going to take time.
Learnings
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. Generally, creativity flourishes when you’re happy.
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.
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 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.
Size the Market: Understanding the market size is an absolutely essential task that you should do for any serious business idea. Your market sizing should account for the size and direction of the market. 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.
Go do it! Try the idea in the market and see what happens.
Summary
Coming up with ideas and trying them is not a waste of time.
It’s a process. Follow the process and you’ll be in a better place to be successful.
Follow our six-ish principles on ideation
Data And References
Free Prize Inside
by Seth Godin, First Published - May 11 2004
https://www.amazon.ca/Free-Prize-Inside-Make-Purple-ebook/dp/B000O76OAO