Looking for a startup idea? Stop doing market research, do this instead
Figure out what problems you’ve had a lot of experience with, professionally or personally, and try to fix that. For example, my previous startup, Arcus, we started by fixing a problem I had a long history of experience with: paying my family’s bills back home.
Here’s WHY that's the best approach:
The MBA way to look at startup markets: “This market is HUGE, we only need 1%”. The engineer’s way of looking at the startup market: “At my last job, I had this problem, many companies have the same problem, I think XYZ can solve that”. The latter typically works better than the former, because it has unique insights that 99% of other founders don't have. Any problem that you had for a decade, will make you “master” of that problem.
When you launch a startup—or any long shot in life—the first question isn’t What’s my product? Or What’s my market? Instead of what, ask yourself why. No matter how great your ideas or products are, your startup isn’t likely to succeed if you can’t answer that one question. The more you look back at your personal or professional experiences, the easier it is to find your why
Most startups pivot for lots of reasons (i.e., market size). The more insight you have about a problem, the more likely your pivot, though it may be a different product, still relates to the original problem you have mastery of
