4 Mistakes to avoid when coming up with start-up ideas

Startup ideas are subtle.

No one knows for sure which ideas will succeed. However, there are both statistical trends and stories from thousands of founders making mistakes while coming up with startup ideas.

Let’s look at them below 👇

Mistake 1: Waiting for the groundbreaking idea

Many aspiring entrepreneurs fall into the trap of waiting for the perfect idea. They believe that a brilliant idea is a must-have to get started. Typically, these reasonably skilled people understand startups take disproportionate time and sweat and want to commit only when they have found something groundbreaking. Their point of reference is often successful companies such as Google, Facebook, and Uber.

The problem with this approach is analysis paralysis. The fear that the idea is not brilliant enough prevents you from even starting. When Google started, search engines were running for 3-5 years and doing well in the market. When Zomato launched, at least 20 other companies were doing food delivery.

The reality is ideas mutate over time. They evolve on the go from feedback, market adaptations, and a refining mindset.

💡If you resonate with this mistake: Know that a good enough initial idea clubbed with great execution makes startups successful.

Mistake 2: Jumping to the first idea that comes to mind

On the other end of the spectrum are aspiring founders who jump on the first idea that sounds exciting. I see this more often in people with sales or GTM backgrounds.

The thing is, if the startup is successful, you will spend years building on it. And if there’s something you are going to commit a significant proportion of your life to, it makes sense to pause and think critically for a couple of weeks on what to work on.

Sarang Garg’s LinkedIn Post on picking the right idea is on point here (image below). You can find “passion and the will to see the idea grow over a long time” is among the top two questions.

💡If you resonate with this mistake, ask yourself: How passionate and excited I would be to solve this problem? 

Reviewing the first two mistakes, you will see that I’m talking about two extremes. ‘Not starting at all’ at one end and ‘jumping on everything you like’ on the other. Ideally, you want to be somewhere in the middle.

Mistake 3: Starting with a solution

The third mistake in finding ideas is starting with a solution instead of a problem. Mostly, this happens when aspiring founders find a successful model working in Industry A and apply it to Industry B expecting it to result in replicate the success. An Uber for X idea is a good example of this.

 Let’s say you decide to build an Uber for laundry- you press a button on the app and your laundry is picked, washed, seamed, and delivered to your doorstep in 2 hours.

But what problem does it solve? Doing laundry is inconvenient? Maybe, it is a problem. 

But starting with a solution leads to tunnel-visioned building decisions.

💡If you resonate with this problem: Ask yourself, Is this a deep-enough pain point for the customer?

Mistake 4: Believing startup ideas are hard to find

The last mistake lies in believing that startup ideas are hard to find. Actually, they are not. There is a large list of real problems left to solve in the world. The reason you don’t see them is because you haven’t learned the knack to find them. 

Certain ways of finding ideas are much more likely to succeed than others. But that’s a deep topic for another time. For now, here’s an image I found in John Rush’s notes that could point you in the right direction.

Until next time! 👋

Saurabh