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The analysis paralysis that comes with wondering whether your idea is “venture scale” is a really common mental pitfall for many friends that have considered st

by aabhay 3y ago

The analysis paralysis that comes with wondering whether your idea is “venture scale” is a really common mental pitfall for many friends that have considered starting a company. Do what you’re passionate about, solve problems for people, and constantly question whether you are doing enough to solve this problem for everyone possible. If you’re asking yourself that question in the most intellectually honest way, you will naturally realize that the necessary tools to do things for many people involves software, AI, and all those common tropes of “venture scale” business. You’ll end up realizing that things like consulting are doomed to not solve the problem for a broad swath of people.

paulddraper 3y ago
I have friend still searching for his "billion dollar" idea. Whereas if he had done some of his "million dollar" ideas, he'd be much better off, both financially and in a position to create a unicorn.
- theGnuMe 3y ago
  Tell your friend that a billion dollar idea is always at first a stupid idea that will never work. See: 1. Dropbox 2. AirBnB 3. Uber
  - wizzwizz4 3y ago
    All of those were things that already existed, in some capacity. Dropbox did it better, AirBnB had better advertising (which, by the network effect, meant their offering was better). and Uber must be some kind of money laundering scheme: a multinational taxi service that underpays its drivers (often to the point of abusiveness[0]) that is still haemorrhaging billions of dollars a year. [0]: https://www.uberpeople.net/threads/what-happens-to-uber-rates-when-the-price-of-fuel-increases.37648/ https://www.uberpeople.net/threads/what-happens-to-uber-rate...
  - tcgv 3y ago
    At the same time most stupid ideas will in reality never work.
  - YetAnotherNick 3y ago
    This is a weird list. Competitors of first two already existed which means there was a proven market, and Uber solved a problem that everyone knew existed and could be solved technically, just that it was hard.
    - andersa 3y ago
      What hard technical problem did Uber solve?
      - rcme 3y ago
        Logistics
        to11mtm 3y ago
        Uber didn't solve logistics, if they had, they would have used their money to actually be a logistics provider, or one of the big ones would have bought them out. As it stands, last I was aware their current business model was fairly unsustainable without continued exploitation of drivers. Legal shenanigans aren't 'innovative' unless you're SBF.
        rcme 3y ago
        Prior to Uber, call-to-order taxi services were largely operated by human dispatchers. The exploitation of drivers and legal practices of Uber are valid criticism of Uber, the company, but not valid criticisms of their product imo.
        YetAnotherNick 3y ago
        Who said innovative? I just said that the problem that uber was trying to solve was a known problem. Also btw legal shenanigans could be quite innovative. Word policing like this doesn't achieve anything.
    - wongarsu 3y ago
      Uber also had a proven market. Taxis existed for about 400 years before Uber was created. Gig jobs also existed before and mostly seemed to suffer supply issues (not a lot of flexible work available), leading to lots of scams in the area. Like Dropbox and AirBnB, Uber brought some improvements for customers, but demand was well established.
  - paulddraper 3y ago
    That's a kinda odd list, and I'm trying to parse your point. Uber had a pivot into a VC-scale idea, but AFAIK the other ones didn't.
  - api 3y ago
    So you’re saying my combination squirrel feeder cat feeder has potential?
    - libsarenthuman 3y ago
      [flagged]
  - Uehreka 3y ago
    > Dropbox We (the HN community) need to stop regurgitating and reswallowing our own mythology like this. Like, yes, when Dropbox first posted their idea on HN some people were like “just setup an SMB share”. But when I got to college in 2008 my friends (CS and non-CS-majors alike) were all using Dropbox to share pirated music and group project files, and it was clear to all of us how useful it was. I know I wasn’t alone in this. It is not the case that “everyone thinks good ideas are stupid”.
  - legostormtroopr 3y ago
    Uber is still constantly losing money on every trip. They are “working” because VC is pumping them with money to subsidise growth and adoption.
firecall 3y ago
Outside of SV and a few other zones around the world, most people just want to have a half decent business I suspect. For me, living in an obscure part of Australia, I’m happy with a business that means I don’t have to commute and work in someone else’s office! I’ve done big tech and run my own shop with staff and offices, and now I’m very happy working from home and seeing my family more often! More Money would be nice though
- skiman10 3y ago
  I ran a business doing consulting work and was hired onto a small startup a few months ago. The relief I get from still having the freedom to work remote and on a team of talented people without a true boss is freeing especially since I don't have to focus on the economics of my business or business taxes or acquiring new clients. I love that tech gives us the freedom to all have different preferences and live comfortably in them. Well as long as we get "lucky" enough to find our niche preferences.

by aabhay 3y ago

paulddraper 3y ago

I have friend still searching for his "billion dollar" idea. Whereas if he had done some of his "million dollar" ideas, he'd be much better off, both financially and in a position to create a unicorn.

theGnuMe 3y ago
Tell your friend that a billion dollar idea is always at first a stupid idea that will never work. See: 1. Dropbox 2. AirBnB 3. Uber
- wizzwizz4 3y ago
  All of those were things that already existed, in some capacity. Dropbox did it better, AirBnB had better advertising (which, by the network effect, meant their offering was better). and Uber must be some kind of money laundering scheme: a multinational taxi service that underpays its drivers (often to the point of abusiveness[0]) that is still haemorrhaging billions of dollars a year. [0]: https://www.uberpeople.net/threads/what-happens-to-uber-rates-when-the-price-of-fuel-increases.37648/ https://www.uberpeople.net/threads/what-happens-to-uber-rate...
- tcgv 3y ago
  At the same time most stupid ideas will in reality never work.
- YetAnotherNick 3y ago
  This is a weird list. Competitors of first two already existed which means there was a proven market, and Uber solved a problem that everyone knew existed and could be solved technically, just that it was hard.
  - andersa 3y ago
    What hard technical problem did Uber solve?
    - rcme 3y ago
      Logistics
      - to11mtm 3y ago
        Uber didn't solve logistics, if they had, they would have used their money to actually be a logistics provider, or one of the big ones would have bought them out. As it stands, last I was aware their current business model was fairly unsustainable without continued exploitation of drivers. Legal shenanigans aren't 'innovative' unless you're SBF.
        rcme 3y ago
        Prior to Uber, call-to-order taxi services were largely operated by human dispatchers. The exploitation of drivers and legal practices of Uber are valid criticism of Uber, the company, but not valid criticisms of their product imo.
        YetAnotherNick 3y ago
        Who said innovative? I just said that the problem that uber was trying to solve was a known problem. Also btw legal shenanigans could be quite innovative. Word policing like this doesn't achieve anything.
  - wongarsu 3y ago
    Uber also had a proven market. Taxis existed for about 400 years before Uber was created. Gig jobs also existed before and mostly seemed to suffer supply issues (not a lot of flexible work available), leading to lots of scams in the area. Like Dropbox and AirBnB, Uber brought some improvements for customers, but demand was well established.
- paulddraper 3y ago
  That's a kinda odd list, and I'm trying to parse your point. Uber had a pivot into a VC-scale idea, but AFAIK the other ones didn't.
- api 3y ago
  So you’re saying my combination squirrel feeder cat feeder has potential?
  - libsarenthuman 3y ago
    [flagged]
- Uehreka 3y ago
  > Dropbox We (the HN community) need to stop regurgitating and reswallowing our own mythology like this. Like, yes, when Dropbox first posted their idea on HN some people were like “just setup an SMB share”. But when I got to college in 2008 my friends (CS and non-CS-majors alike) were all using Dropbox to share pirated music and group project files, and it was clear to all of us how useful it was. I know I wasn’t alone in this. It is not the case that “everyone thinks good ideas are stupid”.
- legostormtroopr 3y ago
  Uber is still constantly losing money on every trip. They are “working” because VC is pumping them with money to subsidise growth and adoption.

firecall 3y ago

Outside of SV and a few other zones around the world, most people just want to have a half decent business I suspect. For me, living in an obscure part of Australia, I’m happy with a business that means I don’t have to commute and work in someone else’s office! I’ve done big tech and run my own shop with staff and offices, and now I’m very happy working from home and seeing my family more often! More Money would be nice though

skiman10 3y ago
I ran a business doing consulting work and was hired onto a small startup a few months ago. The relief I get from still having the freedom to work remote and on a team of talented people without a true boss is freeing especially since I don't have to focus on the economics of my business or business taxes or acquiring new clients. I love that tech gives us the freedom to all have different preferences and live comfortably in them. Well as long as we get "lucky" enough to find our niche preferences.