Brainstorming how I would build a new indie startup if I had to do it again in 2023. Here are 5 principles I'd use... 1. Look for product categories where the incumbents are old and crusty, and customers want something new and fresh. Jason Fried and 37signals did this with the launch of Hey: a new email client that competes with Gmail, Yahoo Mail, and Outlook. 2. Build a product that people are already searching for. You don't want to have to convince customers that they have a problem and need to use your product; you want customers who have a desire and are acting on it. For example, Ben Orenstein doesn't have to cold call developers to convince them they need a remote pair programming tool. Instead, customers find Tuple because they're already searching for a solution. 3. If you're still looking for a good business idea, get in motion by building side projects in public. Adam Wathan was looking to build his first SaaS and was exploring the idea of building a Gumroad competitor. He was livestreaming a lot of his coding sessions. During those sessions, he realized that most of the people watching didn't care about the software he was building – they were way more interested in how he was writing CSS. He decided to follow that trail, which led him to create Tailwind CSS ☑. 4. A successful business idea will emerge out of the experiences, connections, skills, insights, and resources you've accumulated so far. When Jon Buda and I launched Transistor.fm, it came out of decades of experience we had with podcasting, building software products, launching other projects, making key connections, growing an audience, learning skills, pursuing experiences, taking risks, and working in public. The remedy for "not having good business ideas" is to go out and create more experiences: start a podcast and interview people you admire, attend meetups and conferences, get curious about how different industries work, and run some experiments (and tell people about your findings). 5. Learn to recognize the shape of a good opportunity. When I talk about "finding a good market," I'm describing the sum of demand for a particular thing: - Number of potential customers - How much they spend - The frequency at which they buy - Their willingness to pay Successful founders saw an opportunity at the right time and had the skills, connections, and resources to take advantage of it. Most good opportunities are not obvious (especially to outsiders). It's unlikely that you'll spot an opportunity in a space you're not familiar with. You're looking for evidence of unmet demand in a category you understand. Characteristics of a good opportunity: - Folks have a strong desire or need for a solution, - They're applying effort (time or money) to solve the problem, - And they're unsatisfied with their current solution. #startups #businessideas #bootstrapping #indiedev #indiehackers #saas #saasstartup
Adding on to #4, I’d say look for unique combinations of domain skills that only you have. In my experience, the best ideas come either from being super deep in one field, or from being able to spot crossover opportunities between two or more fields in which you’re really good, but not necessarily the best.
#4 all day. Use your experiences, discussions with others, repeated pain, and more to find your inspiration
At which point would you start growing an audience for what you're building, assuming you didn't already have one?
#1,4,5 my favorites, thanks for sharing. Justin Jackson can I ask you a question: What primary methods of validating B2B SaaS indie startup ideas do you consider the most reliable (if we can put it this way)? Would be nice to know your take on that, thanks!
Are you building something new Justin Jackson 👀
A podcast in concert with our upcoming journal sounds possible and almost doable.
A successful business fills a need!
Co-founder of Transistor.fm podcast hosting
8moCurious: what do you think I missed? Anything you'd add?