4 ms·

Is it true that you can start a business by understanding and solving pain points? Yes of course it is. People who are going through this pain and who are awar

• charlieflowers 14y ago
  Well, yes, on the surface it is true, and clearly we can find real examples where it has worked out. But, still, the statement seems to be an over-simplification in some ways. That has been bothering me in the back of my mind for a few weeks, until Paul Graham wrote (just published) this: "A startup has to make something it can deliver to a large market, and ideas of that type are so valuable that all the obvious ones are already taken." http://paulgraham.com/growth.html http://paulgraham.com/growth.html A "startup" idea in particular has to GROW! And the ideas that have the potential to lead to that kind of growth have mostly been exploited already. Of course, all the time, new things become possible, which is where opportunity for new startups come from. So, perhaps you can build a "business" by just picking an industry and understanding its pain, but maybe building a "startup" is not so simple (except for the workings of luck, which of course cannot be predicted).