Ask HN: How should I choose which startup idea to work on?
I've been a programmer for the last 7 years and my ADD brain is very good at pattern recognition, so I always get tech startup ideas. Lately I've been wanting to actually execute and start one of those ideas. I have a list of about 8 ideas that are scalable & realistic but I'm having a hard time on just picking one to focus on.
Any tips or guidelines for picking ideas amongst others? (I'm aware of Pieter Levels's "one idea a month" but other like Sam Altman advocate the opposite)
thanks !
4 comments
Your ADHD will be your biggest challenge. Unless you find a way to keep focused, how will you invest enough grit and determination for long enough to make any business work?
Perhaps find a non-developer cofounder, who has complementary skills to yours, and who is a bit more obsessive about making just one business work. Find an idea that interests you both enough to stick at it.
I co-founded with someone in part because I admired his tenacity, and that helped keep me focused. We also co-founded with two others that had other complementary skills to us (four founders with a successful result is uncommon). We had worked together so we had some ideas of each others morals, strengths, and weaknesses. We just did a boring miniscule B2B sector, but we had worked on parts of it together before at our job, so risk was relatively low.
Perhaps find a non-developer cofounder, who has complementary skills to yours, and who is a bit more obsessive about making just one business work. Find an idea that interests you both enough to stick at it.
I co-founded with someone in part because I admired his tenacity, and that helped keep me focused. We also co-founded with two others that had other complementary skills to us (four founders with a successful result is uncommon). We had worked together so we had some ideas of each others morals, strengths, and weaknesses. We just did a boring miniscule B2B sector, but we had worked on parts of it together before at our job, so risk was relatively low.
Talk to potential customers, ask how much they’d pay and build the one with the highest total, anticipated revenue.
think i'd agree with this general sentiment. would someone pay for it, how long would it take to complete it/mvp, etc.
I would pick the one that you would have the easiest time completing. That’s how I make my decisions: the one with the highest chance of execution and follow through.