Generate Startup Ideas

Instructions

1. Start with Problems You've Felt, Not Solutions You've Imagined

   • List 10-15 moments in the past 3 years when you were frustrated by a missing tool or manual process
   • Examples: "Onboarding at [Company] took 6 weeks", "I spent $5K on [thing] that felt overpriced", "No tool existed to [X]"
   • For each, ask: did other people experience this? Or was it unique to me?
   • Circle the top 5 problems that felt "surprisingly hard" (simple on surface, painful in reality)
   • Avoid solutions: don't think "build an app for this." Just hold the problem.
   • Pitch each problem to 2-3 people; see if they nod and say "yes, that's annoying"

2. Conduct the Mom Test: Talk to People About Their Life, Not Your Idea

   • For each problem, find 15-20 people who experience it (LinkedIn, industry forums, Twitter, direct outreach)
   • Ask about their life/work, never lead with your idea: "How do you handle [problem area]?"
   • Listen for: Do they already have a solution? Is it a workaround? Would they pay to solve it differently?
   • Key questions: "Walk me through how you solve this today." "How much time does this take?" "Have you looked for tools?"
   • Red flags: they say "sounds cool" instead of telling you how they suffer. That means no real problem.
   • Green flags: they describe a workaround (spreadsheet, manual process, janky tool), complain about it, or mention losing revenue/time because of it
   • Keep notes on exact quotes; they matter more than your interpretation

3. Evaluate Market Size and Growth Trajectory

   • Estimate the addressable market: how many people/companies experience this problem?
   • Examples: if your problem is "small agencies can't afford enterprise accounting software" → maybe 10,000 agencies in your country, could grow to 50,000
   • Research: are companies entering this market? Are startups getting funded? Is there existing competition?
   • Assess growth: is the market growing (regulatory shift, technology change) or mature? Growing markets are easier to enter.
   • Size the TAM (total addressable market) conservatively: if you charge $100/month and TAM is 10,000 customers, max revenue ~$12M/year. Is that enough for a venture?
   • Create a simple one-pager: Problem, Addressable Market, Growth Signal, Competition

4. Identify Your Unfair Advantage

   • Ask: Why am I uniquely positioned to win this? What do I have that competitors don't?
   • Category 1 — Domain expertise: Did you spend 10 years in this industry? You understand the problem deeply.
   • Category 2 — Network: Do you know everyone in this market? You have distribution advantage.
   • Category 3 — Technical skill: Can you build something competitors can't easily replicate?
   • Category 4 — Founder motivation: Do you care about this problem more than anyone else? Persistence matters.
   • Category 5 — Timing: Did a technology change (AI, regulation, infrastructure) create a new opportunity? Are you early?
   • Honest assessment: which of these do you actually have? If your only advantage is "I'm smart," that's not enough.
   • Ask advisors: "Why would you bet on me to solve this vs. someone else?" Their answers reveal your real advantage.

5. Test Your Solution Thesis (Without Building)

   • Before writing code, validate your solution approach with 10+ people who have the problem
   • Don't ask "would you use this?" Ask: "Here's how I'd solve it. Does this feel right?"
   • Show prototypes, wireframes, or even just detailed descriptions. Avoid premature technical decisions.
   • Listen for hesitations: "Seems good but..." is the start of real feedback. "Sounds great!" is not.
   • Refine: Does your solution address the core problem? Or are you building the wrong thing?
   • Identify what you're uncertain about: feature set, pricing, user type. These become your first experiments post-launch.
   • One red flag: 10 people say "great idea" but no one volunteers to be your beta user. That means no real need.

6. Stress-Test the Idea Against Reality

   • Would I want to work on this every day for 5+ years? (Not "can I?" but "do I really want to?")
   • Could I raise venture funding for this? (Is the market big enough? Is the problem acute enough? Is the team right?)
   • Are there entrenched competitors with moats I'd need to overcome? Can I compete on something other than features (speed, integration, brand)?
   • What would cause this to fail? Market timing, regulatory change, competitor move, founder burnout. How likely is each?
   • Is this a venture business? (aim for $10M+ ARR with unit economics) Or a lifestyle business? (totally fine, but changes strategy)
   • Do I need co-founders? Do I have them? A great solo founder can win; a mediocre founding team usually fails.
   • Honest assessment: am I bullish on this idea or just rationalizing sunk time?

7. Compare Your Top Ideas on Key Dimensions

   • Create a simple scorecard (1-5 scale on each):
     • Problem urgency: do people feel real pain or is it "nice to have"?
     • Market size: is there a billion-dollar market or a $100M niche?
     • Your unfair advantage: how strong is your edge?
     • Defensibility: can you build a moat (network, data, switching cost)?
     • Time to revenue: can you get customers in months or years?
     • Personal conviction: do you genuinely believe in this?
   • Plot ideas on a 2x2: (Urgent Problem, Strong Advantage) quadrant is the sweet spot
   • Discuss with advisors or co-founders; get their honest assessment
   • The goal is not to pick the "best" idea on paper; it's to pick the idea you're most convinced about and can commit to

8. Make Your Decision and Commit

   • After interviews and analysis, pick ONE idea to focus on (or narrow to two max)
   • Write a short charter: The problem, who has it, why you're building it, what success looks like in year 1
   • Set a decision point: if in 3 months you haven't validated the core hypothesis, pivot or pause
   • Talk to potential customers and get 5-10 who say "yes, I'd use this" before you launch
   • Remember: ideas change as you learn. The goal isn't to pick perfectly; it's to pick something real and commit deeply

Output Format

## Startup Idea Validation Report

**Date:** [Month/Year]
**Founder(s):** [Names]

### Problem Statement
**Core Problem:** [Clear 1-2 sentence description]
- How I experienced it: [Personal story, 2-3 sentences]
- How others experience it: [Interview quotes from 3+ people]
- Current solution: [What people do now, workarounds]
- Frequency: [How often people face this problem]

### Market Research
| Dimension | Finding | Source |
|-----------|---------|--------|
| Addressable Market (TAM) | [X] companies/people | [Research source] |
| Market Growth | [X]% CAGR | [Data source] |
| Existing Competition | [Competitor 1], [Competitor 2] | [Market research] |
| Customer Acquisition Path | [How would you reach them?] | [Interviews] |
| Pricing Precedent | [Similar tools charge $X/month] | [Competitive analysis] |

### Interviews Conducted
- **Interview 1:** [Title, Company] — "Quote about problem" → Signal: Pain/No-pain
- **Interview 2:** [Title, Company] — "Quote about solution fit" → Signal: Interested/Skeptical
- **Interview 3:** [Title, Company] — "Quote about willingness to try" → Signal: Would beta/Not interested
- (And so on for 10+ interviews)

### Founder Fit & Unfair Advantages
- **Domain Expertise:** [Level of expertise, years in industry]
- **Network:** [Key relationships, distribution advantage]
- **Technical Edge:** [What can I build that others can't?]
- **Motivation:** [Why do I care about this problem?]
- **Timing:** [Why now? What changed?]

### Competitive Landscape
| Competitor | Approach | Strengths | Weaknesses | Why We Win |
|-----------|----------|-----------|-----------|-----------|
| [Incumbent 1] | [Solution approach] | [3 bullet points] | [3 bullet points] | [Key differentiation] |
| [Startup 1] | [Solution approach] | [3 bullet points] | [3 bullet points] | [Key differentiation] |

### Solution Approach (High-Level)
- Core value prop: [1 sentence about what you'd deliver differently]
- Key features for MVP: [3-5 must-haves]
- User type (ICP): [Ideal customer profile]
- Pricing model: [Subscription, one-time, freemium, other]
- Path to revenue: [How/when would you make money?]

### Idea Scorecard
| Dimension | Score (1-5) | Rationale |
|-----------|-----------|-----------|
| Problem Urgency | [X] | [People describe in pain terms or convenience terms?] |
| Market Size | [X] | [TAM and growth trajectory] |
| Founder Fit | [X] | [Unfair advantages and motivation] |
| Defensibility | [X] | [Can you build a moat?] |
| Speed to Revenue | [X] | [Can you charge in months or years?] |
| Conviction | [X] | [Do you genuinely believe in this?] |
| **Overall Score** | **[X]/30** | [Would you commit 5 years to this?] |

### Decision
- **Go / Pivot / No-Go:** [Which one and why]
- **Next Steps:** [If Go: form founding team, customer research, prototype. If Pivot: what changed, where next. If No-Go: why, what you learned]
- **Decision Point Review:** [In 3 months, what metric would prove this is/isn't worth pursuing?]

### Learnings & Insights
- What surprised you during interviews
- Misconceptions you had about the problem
- Key insights that shifted your thinking
- One thing you wish you'd validated earlier

Example

Founder: Sarah Chen, ex-VP Product at a fintech startup

Problem Exploration: Sarah spent 3 years managing payments compliance at her startup. Rules changed constantly. Her team maintained a 50-page Google Doc updating payment regulations by country. When she left, she noticed solo founders and small fintech teams had the same problem — no accessible source of truth on payment rules, struggling with compliance drift.

Interviews (Partial List)

• Interview 1 — Mark, Founder of payment processor startup: "We have one person literally reading regulatory updates every week and Slack'ing the team. Takes 5 hours. We've missed changes before." → Signal: Real pain, recurring cost
• Interview 2 — Lisa, Head of Compliance at FinTech Co: "We subscribe to three different compliance alert services and they still miss things. No single source of truth." → Signal: Willing to pay, problem is urgent
• Interview 3 — David, Solo founder of remittance app: "I'm bootstrapping, can't afford compliance software. I do it myself. Terrifying." → Signal: Huge market need among bootstrapped founders
• Interview 4 — Jennifer, Lawyer specializing in fintech: "Most startups don't even know what they don't know. They need education, not alerts." → Signal: Adjacent need: education + alerts

Founder Fit

Unfair Advantages:

• 8 years in fintech; deep relationships with compliance officers, lawyers, founders
• Experienced at compliance workflows firsthand (not theoretical knowledge)
• Network includes regulatory contacts who could review content
• Willing to commit >5 years to a deep, boring, but high-value problem

Honest Assessment: Sarah isn't a technologist, but compliance problems need depth, not just tech. Her team would likely be a technical co-founder + regulatory specialist. Both are findable but require intentionality.

Market Size

• TAM: ~15,000 fintech/paytech companies globally, growing 20% YoY
• ICP (ideal customer): 10-100 person companies with payment products (eliminates solo founders initially)
• Revised TAM: ~8,000 companies
• Pricing precedent: Compliance tools charge $500-2K/month (companies will pay)
• Addressable revenue: 8,000 companies × $800/month = ~$76M/year TAM

Solution Thesis

• Central database of payment regulations updated daily (human + AI-driven)
• Smart alerts (not alert fatigue) targeted by country, payment type, and company size
• Educational framework so founders understand the "why" behind rules
• API for fintech platforms to embed compliance info

Idea Scorecard

Decision: Go

Sarah decided to pursue this as her next venture. Next steps: find a technical co-founder, interview 30 compliance officers to refine product, document 5-10 regulatory frameworks as proof of concept, talk to customers about pricing and packaging.

Edge Cases

1. "This Problem Only Affects Me" — You've done interviews and nobody else mentions it. This is not a business; it's a tool for yourself. If you can't find 10 people with the problem, pivot or drop it.

2. "It's a Great Problem but I Don't Care" — On paper, the market is huge and the timing is right. But you're not actually excited. Don't do it. Founding is 5+ years of your life. Passion matters more than market size.

3. "I Have Multiple Unfair Advantages" — More than one founder is now interested. Do you have a co-founder? Or are you considering two ideas and picking based on which has better market? Choose one path and go deep; splitting attention between ideas kills both.

4. "Customers Love It, But No One Will Pay" — Classic freemium trap. If they love it but won't pay, either the problem isn't urgent (nice-to-have) or you're targeting the wrong customer. Reposition or pivot.

5. "An Incumbent Just Launched This" — A big company or well-funded startup built what you were planning. Do you have a defensible advantage (focus on a niche they ignore, faster execution, better UX)? If not, the timing may have passed. Pick a different angle or move to a different idea.

6. "My Network Is Too Small" — You lack distribution advantage, but you have deep domain expertise and unfair technical skill. You can win through product excellence and grassroots adoption. Takes longer, but is doable. Just accept that your path to scale will be organic, not through your network.