6 ms·

Ask HN: How to find real problems

18 points by tmaly 9y ago

How do you go about finding a real problem to solve when your trying to build something?

achairapart 9y ago
You don't. They'll find you.
LarryMade2 9y ago
Problems aren't always things that don't already exist. Maybe theres some automated task that just isn't efficient, theres a potentially solvable problem. Also besides efficiency, could also be usability, convenience, interoperability, security, scalability, reliability, etc. Theres potential all around you just be aware of whats going on talk to people in the fields you are interested in, etc. Even better try stuff out and see for yourself.
andreasgonewild 9y ago
I spent the last 32 years coming up with interesting problems to solve. Even though most of them never went anywhere, it's obvious to me that there is a bigger perspective where everything I've learned fits in. Ironically; my best advice I can give is to follow your passion; solve the problems you care deeply about, the best way you can think of, and don't bother so much with other peoples opinions. Unless you're in it for awesome profits, in which case I'm probably the worst person to answer.
miguelrochefort 9y ago
If you're looking for problems, you're doing it wrong. Problems are abundant. So are opportunities. Is your life perfect? If not, then you found your problem.
Helprace 9y ago
I think instead of looking for problems, you should look for your passion.. And what you could stick with time and time again to perfect. But as someone said, problems are everywhere. You can take a random software, pick its weakest point and work from there to create a better version.
edimaudo 9y ago
Listen intently to people.
- tmaly 9y ago
  really understanding someone, where they are coming from, how they see something. This is a challenge sometimes. Everyone has a different set of inputs that got them to where they are presently.
1ba9115454 9y ago
Well you don't know it's a real problem umntil you try it. You may need to try many things to find something that people actually want. There are ways to try and mitigate this risk i.e. perhaps it solves a problem you already have.
jacksimmos 9y ago
The idea here is - instead of looking for problems, you should ask yourself what you are passionated about. Problems come and go, but the passion to stick to one thing and see it through to the end is what will truly make you successful in whatever you wish to pursue.
goodpersonon 9y ago
This has really put me in real problem: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14711385 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14711385 Am I equal as compared to my friend?
HeyLaughingBoy 9y ago
Assuming you're trying to build software, then find online forums that deal with the domain of software you want to build and lurk for a few days. If there's one thing people love to do online, it's complaining. You'll find problems galore.
mindhash 9y ago
If you pick a problem that you have faced or are facing, it will be easy to solve and relate to. Problems are everywhere but jus finding problem is not enough. You need to be able to relate. I am not saying you can't pick a problem that you never seen first hand but that just adds up learning curve and eats away your time to jus learn basics of the domain. So better focus on what you have seen or are seeing.
orky56 9y ago
Although scratching your own itch is sound advice, it's difficult to assess whether's the market size is just you. I recommend being lazier on the finding the problem part since most problems already exist and the variety of solutions just address them. The real innovation and value proposition when building something is whether your solution has the ability to overcome the friction and displace a meaningful segment of the market. This can be a innovation in distribution, performance, scale, cost, etc. All problems are real. The question is whether they are real to others and how real you can make the solution for someone other than yourself to use it.
meric 9y ago
Do lots of other activities with other people and learn about the world.
mattbgates 9y ago
Most of my problems are my own. For example, I wanted a place that I could write notes and even have the freedom to use HTML and CSS on the Internet. BUT.. I wanted to not have to enter in my email address or register for an account, so I came up with a web app called MyPost ( https://mypost.io https://mypost.io ). MyPost helps me keep track of my URLs, projects, ideas, etc., and I can easily share them with anyone, and have those people edit that very same post with just the password. I've never advertised it, monetized it for a month before I pulled the cord on the ads because they just got annoying, but mostly just talked about it on here or Twitter, and I let everyone else do the work of spreading it. 3,000 posts later and its being used in at least a dozen countries, including U.S., Russia, Brazil, Philippines, Germany, etc. This project was my first project that taught me a lot about user-interface, databases, etc. Interesting enough: I designed it the way I would like to use it and I've never received any complaints. I think most founders and developers get upset when their startup or idea fails to gain much traction. One of the biggest reasons for this is the fact that they, themselves, created a system to help people with a problem, without ever having that same exact problem themselves. When it comes to an issue: be selfish. Solve it for yourself first, then solve it for others. Now I could be wrong, but lets say I'm having a problem and I create a web app to help me deal with my issue. I'm using it everyday, modifying it, making changes, expanding upon it to make it do other things. I'm immersed in it and constantly making it better. When I talk about it, I'm passionate about it and I'm happy when others get to use it. I'm currently working on some other web apps that will be subscription-based, but they too are solving problems that I have... and I'm sure I'm not the only one having problems. I'm currently working on some reminder and communication apps.. my memory is horrible... so I'm creating useful apps that help me, remind me, and push me to get out of my lackadaisical and relaxed state of mind into a sense of urgency. I have found that I'm far less upset, even if something doesn't gain as much traction as I would have liked, when I do it for myself and use it for myself everyday. If other people want to use it, enjoy it, and even pay for it, than that is great. If not, I'm sure they'll find some other thing that will solve their problems. I do get a daily email from http://www.oppsdaily.com/ http://www.oppsdaily.com/ and that shows me problems that other people face -- some are not big issues or the solution already exists, while others -- I might brainstorm on how that might be worth working on, though I think I've only ever come across one opportunity where I looked into it further and decided to do something about it.
GFischer 9y ago
If you're looking for B2B ideas, one way is to talk to businessmen :) (it helps to know the basics of their business). Several times, I've tried offering a certain solution, and during the conversation you learn they don't have the problem you think they had, but they have some other problem you might want to solve.

18 points by tmaly 9y ago

How do you go about finding a real problem to solve when your trying to build something?

achairapart 9y ago

You don't. They'll find you.

LarryMade2 9y ago

Problems aren't always things that don't already exist. Maybe theres some automated task that just isn't efficient, theres a potentially solvable problem. Also besides efficiency, could also be usability, convenience, interoperability, security, scalability, reliability, etc. Theres potential all around you just be aware of whats going on talk to people in the fields you are interested in, etc. Even better try stuff out and see for yourself.

andreasgonewild 9y ago

I spent the last 32 years coming up with interesting problems to solve. Even though most of them never went anywhere, it's obvious to me that there is a bigger perspective where everything I've learned fits in. Ironically; my best advice I can give is to follow your passion; solve the problems you care deeply about, the best way you can think of, and don't bother so much with other peoples opinions. Unless you're in it for awesome profits, in which case I'm probably the worst person to answer.

miguelrochefort 9y ago

If you're looking for problems, you're doing it wrong. Problems are abundant. So are opportunities. Is your life perfect? If not, then you found your problem.

Helprace 9y ago

I think instead of looking for problems, you should look for your passion.. And what you could stick with time and time again to perfect. But as someone said, problems are everywhere. You can take a random software, pick its weakest point and work from there to create a better version.

edimaudo 9y ago

Listen intently to people.

tmaly 9y ago
really understanding someone, where they are coming from, how they see something. This is a challenge sometimes. Everyone has a different set of inputs that got them to where they are presently.

1ba9115454 9y ago

Well you don't know it's a real problem umntil you try it. You may need to try many things to find something that people actually want. There are ways to try and mitigate this risk i.e. perhaps it solves a problem you already have.

jacksimmos 9y ago

The idea here is - instead of looking for problems, you should ask yourself what you are passionated about. Problems come and go, but the passion to stick to one thing and see it through to the end is what will truly make you successful in whatever you wish to pursue.

goodpersonon 9y ago

This has really put me in real problem: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14711385 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14711385 Am I equal as compared to my friend?

HeyLaughingBoy 9y ago

Assuming you're trying to build software, then find online forums that deal with the domain of software you want to build and lurk for a few days. If there's one thing people love to do online, it's complaining. You'll find problems galore.

mindhash 9y ago

If you pick a problem that you have faced or are facing, it will be easy to solve and relate to. Problems are everywhere but jus finding problem is not enough. You need to be able to relate. I am not saying you can't pick a problem that you never seen first hand but that just adds up learning curve and eats away your time to jus learn basics of the domain. So better focus on what you have seen or are seeing.

orky56 9y ago

Although scratching your own itch is sound advice, it's difficult to assess whether's the market size is just you. I recommend being lazier on the finding the problem part since most problems already exist and the variety of solutions just address them. The real innovation and value proposition when building something is whether your solution has the ability to overcome the friction and displace a meaningful segment of the market. This can be a innovation in distribution, performance, scale, cost, etc. All problems are real. The question is whether they are real to others and how real you can make the solution for someone other than yourself to use it.

meric 9y ago

Do lots of other activities with other people and learn about the world.

mattbgates 9y ago

Most of my problems are my own. For example, I wanted a place that I could write notes and even have the freedom to use HTML and CSS on the Internet. BUT.. I wanted to not have to enter in my email address or register for an account, so I came up with a web app called MyPost ( https://mypost.io https://mypost.io ). MyPost helps me keep track of my URLs, projects, ideas, etc., and I can easily share them with anyone, and have those people edit that very same post with just the password. I've never advertised it, monetized it for a month before I pulled the cord on the ads because they just got annoying, but mostly just talked about it on here or Twitter, and I let everyone else do the work of spreading it. 3,000 posts later and its being used in at least a dozen countries, including U.S., Russia, Brazil, Philippines, Germany, etc. This project was my first project that taught me a lot about user-interface, databases, etc. Interesting enough: I designed it the way I would like to use it and I've never received any complaints. I think most founders and developers get upset when their startup or idea fails to gain much traction. One of the biggest reasons for this is the fact that they, themselves, created a system to help people with a problem, without ever having that same exact problem themselves. When it comes to an issue: be selfish. Solve it for yourself first, then solve it for others. Now I could be wrong, but lets say I'm having a problem and I create a web app to help me deal with my issue. I'm using it everyday, modifying it, making changes, expanding upon it to make it do other things. I'm immersed in it and constantly making it better. When I talk about it, I'm passionate about it and I'm happy when others get to use it. I'm currently working on some other web apps that will be subscription-based, but they too are solving problems that I have... and I'm sure I'm not the only one having problems. I'm currently working on some reminder and communication apps.. my memory is horrible... so I'm creating useful apps that help me, remind me, and push me to get out of my lackadaisical and relaxed state of mind into a sense of urgency. I have found that I'm far less upset, even if something doesn't gain as much traction as I would have liked, when I do it for myself and use it for myself everyday. If other people want to use it, enjoy it, and even pay for it, than that is great. If not, I'm sure they'll find some other thing that will solve their problems. I do get a daily email from http://www.oppsdaily.com/ http://www.oppsdaily.com/ and that shows me problems that other people face -- some are not big issues or the solution already exists, while others -- I might brainstorm on how that might be worth working on, though I think I've only ever come across one opportunity where I looked into it further and decided to do something about it.

GFischer 9y ago

If you're looking for B2B ideas, one way is to talk to businessmen :) (it helps to know the basics of their business). Several times, I've tried offering a certain solution, and during the conversation you learn they don't have the problem you think they had, but they have some other problem you might want to solve.