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I'm dying to find an

idea to pursue
by mask

Hi everyone!

So I guess the title explains my problem. I

can't for the life of me figure out what to
build.

I'm a web developer and love to create

things. My dream is one day to be able to
build my own product and make a living as
a solo entrepreneur. I'm currently working
for myself as an independent consultant -
which pays well and all, but the work is
boring. And I'm trading time for money.

I read books and listen to podcasts on

finance and entrepreneurship and get
super motivated to get going, but I have no
idea where to start. What do I build?

I know, I know. Just look for problems in

your own life and fix them. But I don't
know of any problems in my life that can
be fixed by software. I'm sure they exist,
but I'm somehow blind to them.

Those of you who have built things - how

did you find what to build? Did you just
come up with an idea or did you follow a
process to come up with good business
ideas? What are some good actionable
advice for someone like me?

—mask posted to Ideas and Validation

on July 12, 2023

54

Say something nice to mask…

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I'm not a developer, but everything about this

1
community resonates with me. Maybe instead
of telling yourself that your goal is
"solopreneur or bust", there is some way to
find a partner who is also interested in keeping
it indie. It's much easier said than done - I
know this community can tire of non-technical
folks trying to sell pipe dreams to anyone who
can code. But it can be a stepping stone, a way
to start working on something.
gustafswede · 3 hours ago · REPLY

After reading through the replies here, I

10
realized that in this specific site (indiehackers)
you'll get a lot of advice to just build
something. But if you've been reading and
thinking and already working as a web
developer, then building something is just
more of the same.

The key is to talk to people. Not just get

people's written opinion online. And
specifically people who can't build anything.
Non programmers. Non-indiehackers. You'll
find that something that's super easy for you,
is literally impossible for someone else, and
then you must go find if they can pay for it.

Building tools for ourselves and scratching our

own itch is definitely something that's been
advised. But then you'll be building something
for developers and run into the "I can build
this in a weekend" folks.

Find people who can't build anything in a

weekend, and go make something for them.

I would go a step further and say go make

something for your mom. Or make something
for someone's mom.

IF you can't find a mom, there's tons of mom

bloggers.

And the best thing about moms is that they

talk. There's mom bloggers, mom youtubers,
mom twitch, mom twitters, mom
instagrammers.

IF you must read a book, read "The Mom Test".

This isn't some weird ad for that book.

I don't necessarily think that that book helped

me SO much but I do truly think that the way
the book approaches user interviews is top
notch style.

At least as an ethos of finding out how people

actually behave with technology and seek
solutions.
kamphey · 3 days ago · REPLY

"You'll find that something that's super easy

2
for you, is literally impossible for someone
else, and then you must go find if they can
pay for it."

This strikes to me really well, I am currently

working in an market research startup we
use all sorts of fancy tech like fine tuning
language models for getting AI assisted
qualitative analysis, but the feature that got
the most praises from some of our end
clients was "being able to generate a report
of the data that they already have
compiled".

It was literally just exporting db relations as

excel but the value end client got from us
was immense
this_shubham · a day ago · REPLY

This resonates a lot with me. I'm sure there

2
are a million things I could build to simplify
a non-technical person's life.

I would prefer to build B2B though, so not

sure if moms are my ideal audience.
Thanks for the book recommendation, I'll
check it out!
mask · 2 days ago · REPLY

If B2B means Business to Business... you

1
might be surprised how many moms run
businesses.
kamphey · 2 days ago · REPLY

yep, of course! I was thinking

1
specifically about creating a product
targeting moms for their role as moms,
not business owners
mask · 2 days ago · REPLY

Oh man… there’s an abundance of

9
opportunity out there, and I completely agree
with others that it can help just to build
something.

You could honestly build an extremely basic

TODO app, market it, and over time you will
likely build a following of users that will guide
your product. It’s like growing a plant.

One of the classic ways to identify a good idea

is to identify a problem, and it’s easy to see
problems when you have them yourself.

Apart from that, I find that starting somewhere

and brainstorming. As an exercise, try starting
with any of the following and then defining the
others from that starting point:

Name - Think of a catchy name (perhaps like

“Chop”) and then imagine what kind of
business would follow.
Output - Consider an outcome (like being
able to buy custom accent pieces)
Input - Consider what you have to start with
(like business data) and what you could do
with it.

For example, if I run this exercise (please don’t

hate me if they suck it’s just a starting point!):

Start with Name:

Chop - Build a library of professional or

community videos that shows aspiring
chefs and home cooks proper technique for
cutting, seasoning, etc in a tool that’s easy
to navigate.. you could start by linking
existing YouTube videos.

Start with Output:

Accentuate - Use a stable diffusion

algorithm from Hugging Face to generate
ideas for novel accent pieces and connect to
craftsmen to generate quotes. This can be
generalized to designs only, craftsmen
network, etc

Start with Input:

Lighthouse - A lot of people are building

tools to make it possible to chat with their
data using GPT and Pinecone. Instead,
iterate on that by combing that with more
conventional analytics and identifying
errors, inconsistencies, and critical points in
their data.

There are many more ways to ideate, but in

general I find that my best ideas come out
when I just let myself think freely and “play”
with ideas. I also find it helps to write them
down and get in the habit of considering
“crazy” thoughts.

Some other starting points: Problems, Existing

Solution, Branding, Emotion, Technology,
Beliefs, Customers, Strengths / Weaknesses,
Passions, Objects, People, etc…

The list is endless, but for me, starting

somewhere and listening can be helpful.

I’m new to this journey, so I can’t back up my

approach with proof yet, but this is just how
I’ve found the ideas that I am personally
pursuing.
zuluana · 3 days ago · REPLY

Look through negative reviews, and find

7
problems you can solve in the subreddit or the
problem you are having.

And ask yourself,

1. do enough people face the same problem?

2. can I then monetize a solution?
3. will people pay for the solution?

Rapidly test for an MVP and see how you go

AkshayRaveendran · 3 days ago · REPLY

Don't look for problems yet. Look for fresh

1
perspectives and the problems will start to
become obvious.
cbreynoldson · 12 hours ago · REPLY

I am also developing my product and to do

4
that I have learned the coding by myself. This
is not the first time to build products, and
those are not so similar. It seems more than
half of the source of motivation comes from
what I am doing. Not from what I want to do.

If I could say anything here, it might be better

to start something in your mind right now,
even if you think it is not what you really want
to do. It is quite difficult to find the things you
really want to do the most. While doing
something, you might get to love it. If not like
your consulting work, then you would find the
next. It is better not to do anything.
DaisukeMorry · 2 days ago · REPLY

That makes sense, I guess I should just start

2
something
mask · 2 days ago · REPLY

I have a SHIT LOAD of ideas and virtually no

4
one to build them.

For context, I own 2 profitable SaaS companies

(Loup & Median) which combine are worth
about $4 million dollars.

That is the douchiest line I have ever typed

but I am telling it to you because "I think" it
validates I am not a bull shitter and might have
a few good ideas.

Here are some ideas I would LOVE for you to

build
(NOTE: I might build these so I am not going to
give you too much context)

1.) Build me a tool that allows me to write and

publish 1,000 blog posts in 60 minutes or less
2.) I want a tool that auto emails every person
who hits my site WITHOUT asking for an email
(Yes, it's possible)
3.) I send 250 to 500 cold emails a day. I want a
tool to increase my open rates.
4.) Figure out a way to send personalized
videos at scale

I have about 10 other ideas but these are top

of mind.

If you think you could build one hit me up here

Squb · 3 days ago · REPLY

This resonates with me! I have found that it

1
just takes one idea to initiate a flywheel of
possibilities. I had a problem in mind and I
wrote down a list of 10ish ideas, all half-
baked and pretty crappy. But one of them
spoke to me a little bit more and I just
started talking to people about it (especially
my wife, who is really sick of hearing about
it).

Now that I'm pursuing this idea and forced

to talk about it, I find myself thinking
through challenges. And what's crazy is that
often these challenges spur other ideas -
they're tangential to the original solution,
but they could probably be their own
product as opposed to a feature.
gustafswede · 3 hours ago · REPLY

Damn, this is the party i wanna be at.

2
I have ideas, time, capital and passion too.
Let's make a chat!
RitchieTakayama · 2 days ago · REPLY

Regarding #2, is that even legal? As a user, I

2
would hate that, lol! But curious.
igorlanko · 3 days ago · REPLY

Eh, it's a grey area, but I would say no.

1
BUT your IP(s) is being tracked since
people start bitching about cookies.

Now that it is being tracked you can fire

emails based on IPs who hit your site.
Squb · 3 days ago · REPLY

How would you find a connection

2
between an IP and an email?
igorlanko · 3 days ago · REPLY

Here is a link on how to do it

1
https://gprivate.com/65qpu
Squb · 3 days ago · REPLY

Unfortunately no, it's not possible to

1
send emails based on "IPs who hit your
site". Your IP is not actually unique to
your device, it's unique to your router.
Don't believe me? Connect your phone
and laptop to your WiFi and google
"what's my IP". It's the same for
everyone on a network. Change your
network and your IP changes. On top of
that, your ISP can change your router's
IP address on a whim.

And even if your IP WAS unique (it really

isn't), the only people who have access
to that IP-email association are email
providers (like google), and any website
you provided your email to, and they're
not going to publish it (to avoid millions
in fines).
davidhargat · 18 hours ago · REPLY

Squb, I'm interested. I don't have Twitter,

1
any other way to find you? You can find me
here! Hit me up, would love to talk!
https://www.linkedin.com/in/thatandyrose
thatandyrose · 17 hours ago · REPLY

Hi! I can't message you on Twitter, I am not

1
verified. Could you write to me?
tomoviktor · a day ago · REPLY

Wow
1
Nice ideas
Might build one myself
branni · 3 days ago · REPLY

Dm me if you do
1
Squb · 3 days ago · REPLY

I can offer some perspective since I literally get

3
paid to come up with ideas (I'm an industrial
designer)

In addition to what has been said -

To figure what to solve you need to expose

yourself to situations that you are least
comfortable in. Secondly, you would need to
really put yourself into someone elses shoes -
that's what we would call empathy.

Heres some more tips

1. Be genuinely interested into something.

Most people who dont have something that
they can obsess over, usually procrastinate
a lot. If you have a deep passion it makes it
easy for you to see parallel worlds. Eg. If you
are a guitar player, you can translate that
knowledge and emotion to playing drums,
writing music, releasing songs,
collaborating etc. (All individual fields with
unique challenges)
2. Look at your own life and try to constrain
your day to day things with unique contexts.
This is in some way the act of visualizing
what other peoples life looks like. Eg. You
wake up and check your emails (no
problem) but what if you add rules to that
situation - you wake up and check emails
but somedays you dont have the bandwidth
to do it all. You wake up and check emails
but some days you dont know which ones
are worth reading first, etc.
3. Future vision. Think of hypothetical
scenarios based on whats happening today.
Eg. If the apple vision pro is a hit, and so are
other VR/AR headsets, what does it mean for
humanity? What would we need to build to
support spatial computing and go beyond
screens? Why are we so tied to screens?
These questions will be abstract but will
lead you into actual research which you csn
rationalize over time.
4. Ask your friends to visualize. Eg. Ask them
how would they approach learning a new
software. Ask them what they would do in a
situation that you are comfortable in say,
learning web dev. You will get an array of
answers - "ill hire someone", "ill probably
ask chatgpt", "ill post online"... but ask them
WHY. The why is going to unlock how people
think and will give you a broader sense of
decision making for people.
5. build your observation skills. Journal or
capture moments from your day to day. Eg.
Notice how you interact with clients. Is that
pretty seamless? What would you wish they
did differently, what information would you
want to have before you work with clients.
Analyze everything and i guarantee you can
build that skill over time. Ask Why as much
as possible. Why does it happen, why has it
not changed etc.

Good luck and happy to answer any questions!

sushantv94 · 2 days ago · REPLY

i'm in the same position.... im from italy... well

3
i think the only solution is to join forces :)
boardmain · 2 days ago · REPLY

I keep an idea list. Even though most of the

3
ideas suck, they keep me going and eventually
I find an idea that I want to pursue
rpotham · 3 days ago · REPLY

Sounds good! I should probably keep a list

1
of pain points & things that annoy me about
existing products
mask · 2 days ago · REPLY

I suggest not starting to build anything but

2
identify what you are passionate about. Then
start writing about it in a suitable platform. I.e.
you have to find the right audience and
channel they are in. Once you have 10K+
followers that are engaged with your writing,
try to find out a common issue this audience
have. Solicit feedback about the subject.

E.g.: I love yellow apples, they are better than

reds. What do you think? write me...

If you can identify a common pain, start

building in public for the list. See if you can get
early sign ups and pre-orders.

Validation is key here.

Tzahi · 20 hours ago · REPLY

So after reading the comment look like most

2
people have the same problem, so I will share
my tips on this.

I learnt this from Sam Parr

https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=knhs0ioBJfE . He talked about newsletter
but it is applicable everywhere else.

If you stuck and have no idea go to forum like

website. Here we use reddit.

1. Go to a subreddit that is the most related to

you. For example you are good as
programmer go to programming subreddit.
2. Find the post that asking question with very
good upvotes and good engagement.
Understand what problem this guy have
and why people upvotes.
3. Find the comment with highest upvote.
Read and understand what make these
people comment and engage.

From here you will find what people like to

engage which mostly is some kind of problem
etc. And there will be you honey pot of idea. Of
course some problem here hard to solve but
you will have idea on what to do.

There is an entire article about how to mine

idea from reddit so here you go :
https://medium.com/@muhdazharali98/strug
gling-for-idea-heres-how-to-extract-ideas-
from-reddit-e36bc72275a0
aquidor223 · a day ago · REPLY

I'm a mobile & backend developer and I am in

2
the same boat as you.
SpecterSpy · a day ago · REPLY

I decided to make a post about my discovery. I

2
listed few methods to start with.
Here is my response to this post: Avoid the
grave with these starting methods.
tomoviktor · a day ago · REPLY

Thanks for the post. I am kinda in the same

2
situation. Now I can browse advices. :)
tomoviktor · a day ago · REPLY

This is going to sound very generic but it's

2
because it rings true: build what you're
passionate about. It won't ever feel like work.

I, myself, am a coffee enthusiast, and resigned

from a good-paying job so I can pursue what I
truly love. Which is coffee. So I started my own
super small neighborhood coffee shop, and
while the earnings isn't as big as what I used to
earn, I can say all the hardship is worth it.

BUT that's just me.

In your case, you mentioned you love to build

things. You could list your top 10 things that
you're passionate about. And then narrow the
list down as much as you can until maybe you
have 3. From there, just join communities
around those 3 things you're passionate
about, dive deep into their pain points, and
see what you can build. Often times you don't
need to build something brand new but rather
innovate on existing products that could use
some improvements and package it to your
branding.
MM_Alex · 2 days ago · REPLY

You could list your top 10 things that

1
you're passionate about. And then narrow
the list down as much as you can until
maybe you have 3. From there, just join
communities around those 3 things you're
passionate about, dive deep into their
pain points, and see what you can build

That actually sounds like a good idea, I

should try this. Thanks!
mask · 2 days ago · REPLY

The advice to look for problems in your own

2
life doesn't always work because sometimes
your success may be found solving a problem
that someone else is having.

The key to doing that is to become extremely

observant. Even if you follow all the good
advice on here and you can come up with a
decent idea to pursue, if you lack this core
skill, you will fail and won't understand why.
 The best ideas also aren't found in subreddits
of people complaining or negative reviews.
(No one complained about not having
DoorDash before it ever existed)

Don't be in a rush to figure it out now because

that's where you make sloppy mistakes, but
over the next 3 weeks, try to look at your own
world and question why things are the way
they are every day. Think through the
systematic gears that creates them, the
financial incentives of all the parties involved,
and how things might be improved.

As you do this, you will become really good at

noticing problems no one talks about and
inquiring about them.

Here's an example from my own life so you can

see what that looks like:

I live in the USA. One day I went to a small

African shop to buy some chips that I like.
When I walked in, I noticed that the business
owner lady was almost falling asleep at the
counter and she perked up when me and my
wife walked in. We shopped around and left
after 10min.
But it got me thinking.
"Why was she almost falling asleep?" Maybe
it's because she's bored there.
"She wasn't bored while we were there
though?" I guess this means that we were
probably the only customers that walked in
the past couple of hours.
"Yikes. Does that mean her day is mostly spent
sitting in this building by herself for HOURS in
the off-chance a customer walks in?" That
sounds like a trash way to live if your business
isn't busy/popular.
"This seems like a prison of your own making.
Why run this small business then?" Maybe it
makes enough money to not need a job but
not enough to hire employees to run the
counter for you.
"Her face didn't scream I am extremely happy
and satisfied at all, so what could be done to
help this person out caught between those
two financial levers: make enough money to
survive, but not enough to hire employees to
buy time freedom?"

I had found a problem worth solving.

I knew she likely wasn't the only small biz

person in this situation, so I started playing
around with different ideas of using tech to
make her life easier. "What if she could run her
entire physical small business shop from the
house? So she doesn't HAVE to be here
endlessly for hours by herself doing nothing?"

Now granted some of the ideas I came to were

bad or hard to do. I ultimately didn't act on
this because I don't care about this customer
segment or problem.

However, this is a concrete example of what it

means to be observant. I did this thinking
exercise regularly (~ twice a month) until I
eventually landed on a problem I cared about
grinding for.
FrenchMajesty · 2 days ago · REPLY

Try building a product and you will get many

2
ideas. For example i created my blog and
enabled basic analytics given by the service
provider. They don't retain the logs beyond
72hrs. So i tried google analytics but was
overwhelmed by its interface, tried few more
with one issue or other so decided to build my
own.While building it i realized that the the
same product can be useful for my product
analytics as well so if i really want i can spin it
into 2 products and it carries on as you work.

If you are consulting its even better because

you are getting paid to solve a problem which
your clients feel worthwhile to pay. See if you
can spin it into new product and pitch in to
your other clients or find clients with similar
needs.

If you are active on twitter you can often find

people complaining about their problems see
if you can solve any of them.
pdyc · 2 days ago · REPLY

Hey mask,
2
I completely understand your desire to find an
idea to pursue. Building your own product and
being a solo entrepreneur is an exciting goal.
It's great that you're seeking advice on how to
get started.

Finding the right idea can be a challenge, but

there are strategies to explore. Consider your
passions, hobbies, and areas of expertise. Talk
to people, listen to their needs, and identify
potential gaps in the market. Brainstorm ideas
and validate them through research.

Remember, not all ideas have to be

groundbreaking; sometimes, solving a small
problem can lead to a successful business.
Stay persistent, be open to feedback, and keep
learning from others' experiences.

You're on the right track, and with

determination, you'll discover the perfect idea
for your venture. Best of luck on your
entrepreneurial journey!
EvaLyra3 · 2 days ago · REPLY

Keep track of observations you make in your

2
field as you go along. For each observation,
note down why you think the observation is
true (or why it exists as it does at that
moment). For example, the state of the art of
web dev is React. This is because it

1. Is open-source and has a large company

backing it (Meta)
2. Popularized a new paradigm which was
more effective in maintaining large
applications (components, virtual dom,
declarative programming)
3. Spawned an ecosystem of tools, libraries
and frameworks which lowered the barrier
to entry and supported niche use cases.
Then you can ask yourself questions like
"Was it coincidence or an inevitability that it
turned out this way?", "How can this be
improved?", and so on.

But, it all starts with observation. As long as

you are intentional about paying attention to
the world around you, you will definitely find
worthwhile ideas to pursue.
rnallandigal · 2 days ago · REPLY

The project I’m currently working on was

2
started because my wife kept complaining
about the problem in her own work. It
happened to be something I knew I could fix
with software so that helped, but on the flip
side it’s niche and incredibly simple. Solutions
don’t have to be complex to be valuable.
stevedylandev · 3 days ago · REPLY

Cool! Is this starting to make you some

1
money yet?
mask · 2 days ago · REPLY

for me i get some pleasure from building toy

2
things so i'm ready for when a real idea arrives.
savanthongvanh · 3 days ago · REPLY

I know, I know. Just look for problems in

2
your own life and fix them. But I don't know
of any problems in my life that can be fixed
by software. I'm sure they exist, but I'm
somehow blind to them.

Have you dug into either of these resources?

https://www.indiehackers.com/post/how-
to-brainstorm-great-business-ideas-
ab51c3d51c
https://stackingthebricks.com/
ChrisDrit · 3 days ago · REPLY

I exactly know this feeling. I created a little

2
directory that contains super detailed side
project ideas that might help: sidelist.io
thimo · 3 days ago · REPLY

This has worked for me.

2
1. Clear your mind in any way that works for
you (I meditate and do breathing exercises)
2. When your mind is clear, you "ask" for an
idea or an inspiration for an idea. You can
think of it as asking the universe, infinite
intelligence, yourself, God, whatever
explanation works for you.
3. Feel that you already possess and embody
the state which you're after.

These are some of the principles from the law

of attraction used by many many successful
people in one way or another. Look it up!
Nemomakes · 3 days ago · REPLY

1. I think keeping your desire to start your own

2
SaaS top of mind throughout your daily life
can allow you to see potential opportunities
and has been helpful for me.
2. Another thing to consider, which may seem
counter-productive is to stop looking for an
idea and let your subconscious do some
work for you. Sometimes stepping away
from something for a while can be helpful
and provide you with new perspective when
you return to it.
3. Are there any apps that you currently use
that could be better?
4. Maybe you could create an app that helps
you brainstorm app ideas?
samuelgrieve · 3 days ago · REPLY

Hey @mask, my team and I build a survey

2
engine, and we're looking to get our surveys in
front of as many people as possible. We're
hoping to get partners on board building their
own apps and websites, which can be a very
profitable start for a business. We're hoping to
find partners like you. Any interest in chatting?

If so, you (or anyone reading this) can reach

out to mike@surveycheddar.com
ZECTBynmo · 3 days ago · REPLY

Micro SaaS Ideas can come to your rescue. I

2
have been writing this and it's a good starting
point to brainstorm SaaS ideas. Trusted by 25K
subs.
upenv · 3 days ago · REPLY

Build a consultant firm, and learn the ins and

1
outs of it. Learn how you could scale the
current operation you already have. How easy
would be for you to get another client and
allocate that work for a margin to another
dev?

You are looking out for coding problems to

become a better dev imho and not to build a
businesses.
arthurbarros · a day ago · REPLY

yep, what @thatandyrose said. I'm not

1
interested in managing people, I want the
freedom and flexibility of a solo business.
Also, my goal is to get away from trading
time for money
mask · 18 hours ago · REPLY

Not sure I agree, but I get your point

1
arthurbarros. The problem with this idea is
you essentially become a manager, which is
the opposite what the OP wants to me,
which is a solopreneur
thatandyrose · a day ago · REPLY

Find something niche and users are having

1
problems with
Startingabusiness · a day ago · REPLY

Full disclosure, I am still building, but, I find

1
the idea part of Pieter Level's talk, How to
Build a Startup Without Funding to have the
essential points behind creating ideas. I can't
post links yet, but it is available on YouTube.

What he suggests that I would generally agree

with is to do things that are unique and
original. This allows us to see new problems.

The most recent episode of the podcast, #283,

had a somewhat parallel message at times.
There are tons of repos on GitHub solving tech
problems; outside of tech there may be many
more opportunities, especially low-hanging
fruit.
blakedeckard · a day ago · REPLY

It's usually a good idea to build in a space that

1
you know. What type of consulting work do
you do?
matt_trussell · a day ago · REPLY

consulting for a big client in the energy

1
sector, web dev
mask · 18 hours ago · REPLY

" I'm dying to find an idea to pursue "

1
how about:
stop "dying".

I mean it literally: solve "death".

I Don't care how you do it: AI, voodoo,

zombieland ... you choose the solution
domain.
Death is a huuuge problem, the TAM is
humongous: every "still breathing" human.

Sure you could build some insignificant web

app nobody really cares about,
or jump into the "AI-everything" hot trend of
the day,
but if you want to make something that will
make a dent into the time-space continuum,
this is something that might ...

Good luck!
titux · 2 days ago · REPLY

Couple possible paths. As a web developer I'd

1
reach out to your past clients who know you
and presumably really like the work you've
done with them. I'd ask them what are some of
their biggest current challenges and see if that
sparks any ideas for you. If it does, whammo a
built in potential customer. If that doesn't
appeal my second idea is I'd sit down w/ a cup
of coffee, clear mind and 1-2 dozen index cards
& golf pencil. I'd then take 15 minutes to jam
on writing down any biz idea that pops in your
head, one per card. During the second 15
minutes I'd write down what is the price range
you think each idea would sell for on each of
those individual cards, including margins, one
time revenue, recurring annually, monthly, etc.
Then for the third 15 minutes I'd consider who
the main buyers would be, their profiles, job
positions and personal attributes, etc. During
the last 15 minutes of the hour I'd rank order
them most fav to least. I'd then start working
on the #1 idea giving yourself a 30 day timeline
to generate early revenue. (Since 1989 I've
built nine NewCos each cashflow positive in
under 90 days, just as a reference)
MarkGrimes · 2 days ago · REPLY

Get a job. You'll have a handful of ideas within

1
the first month.
yunanimous · 2 days ago · REPLY

We just chose our interest first. What we did

1
and work is I and my co-founder find the
hobby we like together. It came up with
reading books. So we look in the bigger picture
which reading books falls into personal
development industry. After that we find the
problem in the industry by

reaching out my friends and colleagues over

100 people to ask about their struggles and
challenges
also reach out strangers from Linkedin. At
first, a bit shy but after 10 people. It would
be normal.

After we did research and interview a lot, we

see the pattern of problem. Then, we
brainstorm the solution to solve those.

Cheer up . It would not be easy in this

startup journey, but I guarantee it'd be worth
it!
stwboom · 2 days ago · REPLY

As someone in a similar situation, you should

1
just keep a list of ideas and start building small
ideas before building bigger and bigger ideas
and eventually you will either find a working
product or a problem that you can then build a
solution for!
rogutkuba · 2 days ago · REPLY

You don't have ideas because you don't try

1
new things. Just by starting and recreating an
existing business you'll probably encounter an
idea or two.
strzibnyj · 2 days ago · REPLY

To be honest I work as a product manager and

1
want to create a new product by myself out of
work. But I have the same problem
michelsn1 · 2 days ago · REPLY

hi, glad to see the post.

1
first of all, I, myself was litterally like you. my
work was boring, so i chased just money.
so i started trading, coins. but i wasn happy. i
couldnt feel like that way.

after that, i decided to move myself to

uncomfortable zone. quit my work, and met
people - i went in to real-world. and that
worked.

now im building my own product alone. but

my life become more dynamic.

i know that im not a person who can advice to

others, but if you dont mind, please
remember. "go in to uncomfortable zone!"
william_jung · 2 days ago · REPLY

I have few idea and I'm learning on Udemy to

1
build front end of angular and backend I'm
using aws serverless which is API gateway,
lambda and dynamoDB.

If you ok, can ping in telegram @ engkeen

We see if we can do something.

engkeen · 2 days ago · REPLY

Hey @mask, I'm a growth professional with

1
over 10 years of experience in tech and an ex-
entrepreneur. What I'll do is to decide where
you'd like to look at first. Then, join groups or
read software reviews and gather as much
insight as possible.

For instance, you'd like to build a Hubspot app.

Check what is already in the market, look at
Hubspot and Hubspot apps' reviews, join
groups or talk with Hubspot affliate agency
owners. Start with the market in mind, and
focus on the problems there.

Of course, you can start with a problem of

yours or those around you; but I think there is
a lower chance to find a lucrative business
idea from that.

I have a couple of micro SaaS ideas that I've

been putting some thought and research on.
Why don't we connect on LinkedIn? We may
have some similar synergies. :)
oykuso · 2 days ago · REPLY

I'd suggest to focus on stuff that has

1
communities built around it, e.g. movies - the
/r/movies subreddit has more than 30 milion
people on it, there are many websites and
services for it, APIs, etc.

In those communities people talk about the

subject all the time, the good and the bad
things, their needs, and usually they are very
likely to support someone who is trying to do
something for the community - being it
feedback or even money.

My example was on movies, but can be

finance, coffee making, animes, drawing,
anything.
toolboxdevccp · 2 days ago · REPLY

You should relax your mind, stay present, and

1
like an artist look for creative ideas in your life
or your friends, your users, and other channels
happykaikai · 2 days ago · REPLY

I thinkinkg teaming up with someone can help

1
! I am on the same boat .... like i have ideas but
not a tech person ! Let me know if you need
any help for that, we can discuss it !
star_sash · 2 days ago · REPLY

I was in the same boat. But then recently i

1
came across crunch base. A company which
provides data of recently funded startups. I
love tracking startups. So I am now building a
cheaper solution to the same.
raiadi2008 · 2 days ago · REPLY

You may think to work together with someone

1
(if you like their idea). Btw I'm in a big need of
another pair of hands for my startup. What's
your qualification?
SeaCat · 2 days ago · REPLY

In fact, there is another way, you can try to

1
cooperate with people first, and in the process,
slowly find the product you want to build
hacksman · 2 days ago · REPLY

I am working to fix something that annoys me

1
the most, but I have the domain knowledge of
the field.

May be look for a problem from your domain

that you are unhappy with. Something that
can be made better, improved, made faster,
made more user friendly, more efficient.
Procureit · 3 days ago · REPLY

Start writing an ideas list. Don't do any editing

1
of it at first, even if you think the idea is silly
keep it (you can always alter it later, or maybe
find inspiration from it!). Every time you're
inconvenienced by something in life, write it
down. Also, maybe think of some solutions for
problems you encounter with consulting. Do
you need a better platform for it? Do you
struggle to connect with customers? Any of
these types of issues could be fixed with a
solution, so write it down! When you find a
solution you love, go for it! See what you can
do to fix the problem, do your due diligence,
and make it happen! Best of luck!
BotButcher · 3 days ago · REPLY

Would you be interested in co-founding a

1
startup? One already underway but in need of
a CTO… if the idea excites you.
TFappFounder · 3 days ago · REPLY

Just looking for inspiration and ideas for

1
solo projects at the moment :)
mask · 2 days ago · REPLY

Like someone already mentioned, you can go

1
to the app store or a marketplace and find a
niche/area/category you're interested
in/passionate about/don't mind spending time
building an app for, and look at the reviews left
by users and see their pain points and see if
you can build a better version with better
execution.
iSWATxJOKERi · 3 days ago · REPLY

I'm looking to onboard a second developer for

1
my project, YallFin. The main idea is that it will
be marketed to high schools and colleges (sold
institutionally) for students to read curated
articles pertaining to their interest. I'm using AI
to write the articles (to eliminate bias) and one
key function of the service is that it underlines
words (think of how wikipedia does it) so the
reader can actively read to learn. This is news
designed to educated and challenge existing
paradigms. Email me josh@yallfin.c0m if you
are interested to learn more about it!
JoshRose · 3 days ago · REPLY

Hello @Mask. I have an e-commerce website I

1
started working on with another developer but
his personal life became busy and he left the
project with me unfinished. We were almost
done building the MVP. Please message me if
you are interested in knowing more.
CaN_Do · 3 days ago · REPLY

This may sound ridiculous, but you just need

1
to build something - it can literally be
anything. What I've found personally is that
building something usually leads to you
running into issues in the process, which lead
to ideas for helpful things you can build. Also,
marketing is the tough part (I used to think
building was) and so, building something will
quickly help you learn to identify the types of
marketing skills you need to develop.
Genny · 3 days ago · REPLY

If I can't find myself an idea to pursue for the

1
moment, then I'd either help others with their
ideas or team up with like-minded people and
brainstorm
tusharthe · 4 days ago · REPLY

That makes sense. I guess this is my attempt

1
at teaming up with like-minded people
mask · 4 days ago · REPLY

Looks like it is and if you are interested,

1
let's connect on twitter
(https://twitter.com/imtusharbiswas) and
stay in touch.
tusharthe · 3 days ago · REPLY

How about a telegram chat? Lets build

1
RitchieTakayama · 2 days ago ·
 REPLY

Lets chat (https://t.me/tusharthe)

1
tusharthe · 2 days ago · REPLY

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