Startup (and business) theory is really pretty simple: 1) Identify problem 2) Come up with, or look up for existing solutions 3) Develop, iterate 4) Identif

Startup (and business) theory is really pretty simple: 1) Identify problem 2) Come up with, or look up for existing solutions 3) Develop, iterate 4) Identify and get some competitive edge 5) Keep pleasing clients Of course, there's a ton of things underneath all this, like marketing, funding, or simply being lucky with timing. The copy-cat method is probably the most legit, and battle-tested method. I.e, simply just copy some existing product or solution, with a known market. The entrepreneurship scene preaches originality and novel idea to hopeful founders, but to me, it always ends up with a race for who can do something better than their competitor. I've noticed that in many countries outside US, especially western Europe, some of the largest startups are those that play-by-play copy successful US startups, probably hoping to get acquired once the US startups start expanding to said countries.