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good point, but what happens when you get stuck and can't think of something to work on that people care about? Obviously, a person who loves to learn won't tak

by gfr 16y ago

good point, but what happens when you get stuck and can't think of something to work on that people care about? Obviously, a person who loves to learn won't take it as a moment to veg out, but may instead focus on problems that stretch the mind to generate some new ways to think about problems. But there are lots of problems that stretch the mind. Perhaps you choose to spend your time learning about modern computer architectures. If this interests you, great. But from a startup perspective, it probably has a lower expected chance of spinning out a startup for you than say working on an information retrieval system. But perhaps it is better worth your time just talking to people about their problems. I'm sure there are success stories on both sides of the spectrum.

dutchrapley 16y ago
>what happens when you get stuck and can't think of something to work on that people care about? It's more complicated than creating something that people care about. You need to solve a problem in a creative way, and also figure out a way monetize, while being passionate about it at the same time. Think about web analytics. Google bought Urchin years ago and is somewhat the standard authority for web analytics. You would think all innovation in that market would come from Google. Then you have a company like Clicky (getclicky.com) pop up from nowhere. They do analytics, but they add a twist: real-time analytics. Don't worry about thinking up something people will care about. You're not going to know whether someone will care about or pay for your product/service until you launch. Start by scratching an itch. Don't have one? Scratch someone else. If it were as easy as looking into a crystal ball and figuring out a solution that people would pay for, everyone would quick their jobs and create their own startup. Why did Facebook succeed where Friendster failed? This is the importance of starting small, or everyone's favorite term, minimum viable product. What are the necessary features that someone will pay for? Maybe you launch with what you think is the MVP, but customers then say, "It's a deal breaker if it doesn't do x." This is the importance of starting small, you can change direction quickly. Tim Ferriss talks about preemptive testing in The 4 Hour Work Week. >But perhaps it is better worth your time just talking to people about their problems. Exactly. And the great thing about this is that there are a ton of problems outside the realm of IT that need to be solved, where we have a chance to make a difference and build solutions that matter. The takeaway is that the barrier to entry is very, very low. A little bit of money and some elbow grease can take you a long way. Good luck!

by gfr 16y ago

dutchrapley 16y ago

>what happens when you get stuck and can't think of something to work on that people care about? It's more complicated than creating something that people care about. You need to solve a problem in a creative way, and also figure out a way monetize, while being passionate about it at the same time. Think about web analytics. Google bought Urchin years ago and is somewhat the standard authority for web analytics. You would think all innovation in that market would come from Google. Then you have a company like Clicky (getclicky.com) pop up from nowhere. They do analytics, but they add a twist: real-time analytics. Don't worry about thinking up something people will care about. You're not going to know whether someone will care about or pay for your product/service until you launch. Start by scratching an itch. Don't have one? Scratch someone else. If it were as easy as looking into a crystal ball and figuring out a solution that people would pay for, everyone would quick their jobs and create their own startup. Why did Facebook succeed where Friendster failed? This is the importance of starting small, or everyone's favorite term, minimum viable product. What are the necessary features that someone will pay for? Maybe you launch with what you think is the MVP, but customers then say, "It's a deal breaker if it doesn't do x." This is the importance of starting small, you can change direction quickly. Tim Ferriss talks about preemptive testing in The 4 Hour Work Week. >But perhaps it is better worth your time just talking to people about their problems. Exactly. And the great thing about this is that there are a ton of problems outside the realm of IT that need to be solved, where we have a chance to make a difference and build solutions that matter. The takeaway is that the barrier to entry is very, very low. A little bit of money and some elbow grease can take you a long way. Good luck!