A startup's initial problem is usually what the product should be and how to get the first users. It may sound like those are two problems, but they're not. Ideally you solve them simultaneously, and the process of trying to get users shows you what the product should be.
A startup's initial problem is usually what the product should be and how to get the first users. It may sound like those are two problems, but they're not. Ideally you solve them simultaneously, and the process of trying to get users shows you what the product should be.
The way to get startup ideas is not to try to think of startup ideas. It's to look for problems, preferably problems you have yourself.
paulgraham.com • How to Get Startup Ideas
Start with the market, then look at the product. The problem your company exists to solve lies within your market and target audience, not within your product.
Brian Balfour • Building a Growth Framework Towards a $100 Million Product — Brian Balfour
Paul Graham suggests that generic launch can be a solid start for the same reason. Get your product out there, see who seems to like it most, and then reach out to those types of users for deeper learning.
Rob Fitzpatrick • The Mom Test: How to talk to customers & learn if your business is a good idea when everyone is lying to you
When a startup launches, there have to be at least some users who really need what they're making — not just people who could see themselves using it one day, but who want it urgently. Usually this initial group of users is small, for the simple reason that if there were something that large numbers of people urgently needed and that could be built... See more
Paul Graham • How to Get Startup Ideas
The essential task in a startup is to create wealth; the dimension of wealth you have most control over is how much you improve users' lives; and the hardest part of that is knowing what to make for them. Once you know what to make, it's mere effort to make it, and most decent hackers are capable of that.
Paul Graham • Startups in 13 Sentences
I should mention one sort of initial tactic that usually doesn't work: the Big Launch. I occasionally meet founders who seem to believe startups are projectiles rather than powered aircraft, and that they'll make it big if and only if they're launched with sufficient initial velocity. They want to launch simultaneously in 8 different publications, ... See more