3 ms·

This disappointingly reminds me of that post a while ago from the guy who finally got into YC after 8 tries or something, not because he found a great problem t

This disappointingly reminds me of that post a while ago from the guy who finally got into YC after 8 tries or something, not because he found a great problem to solve with a great solution but because he really wanted to get into YC and found a formula that would at least open that door (small business CRM). If you want to find traction without a product, I strongly recommend reading "The Mom Test" and following the advice in there - it's going to get you much farther than what this team did. If you don't want to do that, at least follow the often-repeated advice of YC itself for startups: - Scratch your own itch - Be in love with the problem - Talk to potential customers to find what they need, not what they want Then you can iterate on an MVP like this team did, but hopefully with less wandering and head scratching in the beginning. If your starting goal is "I want to start a startup" and you then go looking for a product to shoehorn into a market, I think you're doing it wrong and you should probably stick with working a day job.

acuozzo 4y ago
1. Scratch your own itch 2. Be in love with the problem 3. Talk to potential customers to find what they need, not what they want What if {{1} ∩ {3}} ∪ {{2} ∩ {3}} = ∅? That is, what if everything you love to do is not marketable and the solutions to the problems you care about are not marketable either? > If your starting goal is "I want to start a startup" My starting goal is "retire by 50 without taking a hit to my six-figure lifestyle". Achieving it via my technical chops is the only way I know how. I'm a bad investor and my wife is a spendthrift. It's highly doubtful that we'll get there "the slow way" (e.g. collecting on several corporate real estate investments) by starting at 34.
- personjerry 4y ago
  > That is, what if everything you love to do is not marketable and the solutions to the problems you care about are not marketable either? Don't start a startup then. > My starting goal is "retire by 50 without taking a hit to my six-figure lifestyle". Don't start a startup then. You don't build a startup for income security or to get rich quick.
  - altdataseller 4y ago
    I absolutely love this advice. Its clear cut and simple. You can not force these things.
    - acuozzo 4y ago
      > You can not force these things. Why not? Computer Science & programming are my passions. I work as a Software Engineer. I'm not passionate about the projects I work on at my job, but doing so pays the bills. Why can I not make use of the same discipline that brings me into work everyday to bring my own product to market? __My issue is in identifying what other people want.__ The CS & programming topics that excite me (i.e. compilers & PL design) haven't had marketable products since F/OSS won in the '80s/90s. The backscratcher I'd design to scratch my own itch(es) can't compete with thousands of free ones worked on by an order of magnitude more people. I highly doubt every successful payroll/billing/HR startup founder was intrinsically-motivated to build their product. I'd be satisfied building boring CRUD like https://bonus.ly https://bonus.ly if I could turn it into a small, successful "Lifestyle Startup" and coast.
      - zupa-hu 4y ago
        > __My issue is in identifying what other people want.__ Probably accurate. So that’s what you need to figure out then. It’s great you are aware of it, now make it the nr.1 most important thing in your life.
  - acuozzo 4y ago
    > You don't build a startup for income security or to get rich quick. Got it. Two questions: 1. What are some acceptable __extrinsic__ motivations to build one? 2. When this thread eventually crosses the "No True Scotsman" threshold, can we discuss the legitimacy of so-called "Lifestyle Startups"?

acuozzo 4y ago

1. Scratch your own itch 2. Be in love with the problem 3. Talk to potential customers to find what they need, not what they want What if {{1} ∩ {3}} ∪ {{2} ∩ {3}} = ∅? That is, what if everything you love to do is not marketable and the solutions to the problems you care about are not marketable either? > If your starting goal is "I want to start a startup" My starting goal is "retire by 50 without taking a hit to my six-figure lifestyle". Achieving it via my technical chops is the only way I know how. I'm a bad investor and my wife is a spendthrift. It's highly doubtful that we'll get there "the slow way" (e.g. collecting on several corporate real estate investments) by starting at 34.

personjerry 4y ago
> That is, what if everything you love to do is not marketable and the solutions to the problems you care about are not marketable either? Don't start a startup then. > My starting goal is "retire by 50 without taking a hit to my six-figure lifestyle". Don't start a startup then. You don't build a startup for income security or to get rich quick.
- altdataseller 4y ago
  I absolutely love this advice. Its clear cut and simple. You can not force these things.
  - acuozzo 4y ago
    > You can not force these things. Why not? Computer Science & programming are my passions. I work as a Software Engineer. I'm not passionate about the projects I work on at my job, but doing so pays the bills. Why can I not make use of the same discipline that brings me into work everyday to bring my own product to market? __My issue is in identifying what other people want.__ The CS & programming topics that excite me (i.e. compilers & PL design) haven't had marketable products since F/OSS won in the '80s/90s. The backscratcher I'd design to scratch my own itch(es) can't compete with thousands of free ones worked on by an order of magnitude more people. I highly doubt every successful payroll/billing/HR startup founder was intrinsically-motivated to build their product. I'd be satisfied building boring CRUD like https://bonus.ly https://bonus.ly if I could turn it into a small, successful "Lifestyle Startup" and coast.
    - zupa-hu 4y ago
      > __My issue is in identifying what other people want.__ Probably accurate. So that’s what you need to figure out then. It’s great you are aware of it, now make it the nr.1 most important thing in your life.
- acuozzo 4y ago
  > You don't build a startup for income security or to get rich quick. Got it. Two questions: 1. What are some acceptable __extrinsic__ motivations to build one? 2. When this thread eventually crosses the "No True Scotsman" threshold, can we discuss the legitimacy of so-called "Lifestyle Startups"?