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I'm really really amazed how creative and productive someone can be. Meanwhile I can't even find one ideas. It doesn't help that I'm not an app user. I keep my

I'm really really amazed how creative and productive someone can be. Meanwhile I can't even find one ideas. It doesn't help that I'm not an app user. I keep my digital stuff minimal.

larrik 7y ago
In this case, he's solving a real problem for a real person. This means you need to know people with problems, and recognize that they are problems (they may not think so!) and believe you can improve it. Of course, you can make something way better than what they have, and they still not use it...
amelius 7y ago
Most of these apps are basically just visualizing database data, with some very simple business rules for transforming the database. If you use the right framework, it becomes very easy and building an app is basically like filling out a template. Of course, if you start from the wrong framework, writing such an app can be a real challenge.
elliotbnvl 7y ago
One thing that seems to affect my creativity levels is how much I'm consuming. You're either a consumer or a creator. You can't be both at the same time.
- icebraining 7y ago
  That seems... unlikely. Most of the writers I'm aware of, for example, read quite a lot. Maybe it's the type of consumption?
  - elliotbnvl 7y ago
    Yeah, passive consumption is the issue. TV, videogames, etc.
    - wink 7y ago
      strong disagree on most? video games being a passive form of consumption.
- transitivebs 7y ago
  Completely agreed with this. Produce more, consume less as a general approach to the interenet.
jmstfv 7y ago
> Meanwhile I can't even find one ideas. Here's the cheat code for you: look at what businesses are constantly spending money on, and you will find plenty of business ideas. There will be competition, most likely a lot of it, but don't let that deter you. Competition means there's money to be made in the market, and people are already aware of the problem so that you don't have to educate them on why they need a solution (you will have to clearly communicate why your product is better, though). When going after existing markets, you basically swap an idea validation challenge with a sales and marketing challenge. Before launching my business, I had a misconception that if you're already solving a problem, you don't have to do much marketing and sales - WRONG! You still have to get in front of existing customers, repeatedly. Going after an existing market doesn't mean you have to launch a carbon copy of an existing product. You can differentiate by a price (probably not a good idea), by a combination of features, or by having a polished UI/UX/Developer experience. If your competitors suck, you can differentiate by virtue of not being broken (e.g. "Product X just works" can be your shtick). You can also out-market your competition (here's the one thing they don't want you to know: better products don't usually win over better-marketed products). Why businesses you might ask? Because they're not reluctant to part with their money if you can either save or make them money. You will have a higher average revenue per user (ARPU), which means you can spend more money on acquiring customers (CAC is the term-of-art) than if you were in B2C. You will also need fewer customers to reach your revenue goals, which will translate into less support. If your goal is to build a sustainable business, I think this is the most optimal approach to take. Just make sure you're not in the winner-takes-all type of market.
- freedomben 7y ago
  Thanks for your post. If you're launching a new product, how do you compete with products that have loads of features? At a previous startup I worked for we wrote tax software, which was a well established and entrenched market. Our big thing was really cloud-based, but acquiring customers was often really hard because we were always missing that one feature that people really cared about (and it's never the same feature).
  - jmstfv 7y ago
jbc1 7y ago
Start a development agency and advertise where non-tech people would look for you. Yellow pages, facebook page, fill out your details so they show up on google maps. You'll have a ton of businesses contacting you looking to have their ancient specialised software replaced or improved upon. They wont have a budget to make doing it just for them worthwhile, but it will be a fountain of SaaS ideas that come with built in validation and a first customer to learn the specifics from and act as a reference.
bobblywobbles 7y ago
It's truly inspiring, isn't it? I think it's moreso that you have a desire to help someone, using the skills unique to you, that is what makes it inspiring.

I'm really really amazed how creative and productive someone can be. Meanwhile I can't even find one ideas. It doesn't help that I'm not an app user. I keep my digital stuff minimal.

larrik 7y ago

In this case, he's solving a real problem for a real person. This means you need to know people with problems, and recognize that they are problems (they may not think so!) and believe you can improve it. Of course, you can make something way better than what they have, and they still not use it...

amelius 7y ago

Most of these apps are basically just visualizing database data, with some very simple business rules for transforming the database. If you use the right framework, it becomes very easy and building an app is basically like filling out a template. Of course, if you start from the wrong framework, writing such an app can be a real challenge.

elliotbnvl 7y ago

One thing that seems to affect my creativity levels is how much I'm consuming. You're either a consumer or a creator. You can't be both at the same time.

icebraining 7y ago
That seems... unlikely. Most of the writers I'm aware of, for example, read quite a lot. Maybe it's the type of consumption?
- elliotbnvl 7y ago
  Yeah, passive consumption is the issue. TV, videogames, etc.
  - wink 7y ago
    strong disagree on most? video games being a passive form of consumption.
transitivebs 7y ago
Completely agreed with this. Produce more, consume less as a general approach to the interenet.

jmstfv 7y ago

> Meanwhile I can't even find one ideas. Here's the cheat code for you: look at what businesses are constantly spending money on, and you will find plenty of business ideas. There will be competition, most likely a lot of it, but don't let that deter you. Competition means there's money to be made in the market, and people are already aware of the problem so that you don't have to educate them on why they need a solution (you will have to clearly communicate why your product is better, though). When going after existing markets, you basically swap an idea validation challenge with a sales and marketing challenge. Before launching my business, I had a misconception that if you're already solving a problem, you don't have to do much marketing and sales - WRONG! You still have to get in front of existing customers, repeatedly. Going after an existing market doesn't mean you have to launch a carbon copy of an existing product. You can differentiate by a price (probably not a good idea), by a combination of features, or by having a polished UI/UX/Developer experience. If your competitors suck, you can differentiate by virtue of not being broken (e.g. "Product X just works" can be your shtick). You can also out-market your competition (here's the one thing they don't want you to know: better products don't usually win over better-marketed products). Why businesses you might ask? Because they're not reluctant to part with their money if you can either save or make them money. You will have a higher average revenue per user (ARPU), which means you can spend more money on acquiring customers (CAC is the term-of-art) than if you were in B2C. You will also need fewer customers to reach your revenue goals, which will translate into less support. If your goal is to build a sustainable business, I think this is the most optimal approach to take. Just make sure you're not in the winner-takes-all type of market.

freedomben 7y ago
Thanks for your post. If you're launching a new product, how do you compete with products that have loads of features? At a previous startup I worked for we wrote tax software, which was a well established and entrenched market. Our big thing was really cloud-based, but acquiring customers was often really hard because we were always missing that one feature that people really cared about (and it's never the same feature).
- jmstfv 7y ago

jbc1 7y ago

Start a development agency and advertise where non-tech people would look for you. Yellow pages, facebook page, fill out your details so they show up on google maps. You'll have a ton of businesses contacting you looking to have their ancient specialised software replaced or improved upon. They wont have a budget to make doing it just for them worthwhile, but it will be a fountain of SaaS ideas that come with built in validation and a first customer to learn the specifics from and act as a reference.

bobblywobbles 7y ago

It's truly inspiring, isn't it? I think it's moreso that you have a desire to help someone, using the skills unique to you, that is what makes it inspiring.