Thread by @afscott

🧠 learned so much from @ycombinator startup school's event today on startup ideas hosted by @snowmaker and @catheryn_li

📝 sharing my notes:

@ycombinator @snowmaker @catheryn_li 1/ avoid tarpit ideas.

tarpit ideas are common pain points that have been attempted by many startups. but no one has solved.

@ycombinator @snowmaker @catheryn_li 2/ don't wait for the perfect idea.

you'll never start!

be somewhere in between.

@ycombinator @snowmaker @catheryn_li 3/ pick the idea based on the team - not vice versa

@ycombinator @snowmaker @catheryn_li 4/ there are two kinds of big markets: i) big now and ii) will be big later (e.g. growing fast)

e.g. @coinbase

@ycombinator @snowmaker @catheryn_li @coinbase 5/ if you have entrenched competition, you need to have a new insight

e.g. @pulley cap table management

@ycombinator @snowmaker @catheryn_li @coinbase @pulley 6/ do you or people you know want this?

many companies start with a 'no' which means you need to talk to people!

@ycombinator @snowmaker @catheryn_li @coinbase @pulley 7/ did this only recently become possible?

e.g. @checkr doing new background checks for delivery drivers and riders

@ycombinator @snowmaker @catheryn_li @coinbase @pulley @checkr 8/ are there good proxies?

e.g. @RappiBrasil as a proxy for doordash but in South America

@ycombinator @snowmaker @catheryn_li @coinbase @pulley @checkr @RappiBrasil 9/ do you want to work on this for years?

but may not be an immediate 'yes'.

e.g. @boomaero

@ycombinator @snowmaker @catheryn_li @coinbase @pulley @checkr @RappiBrasil @boomaero 10/ is this a good 'idea space'

an idea space is a layer of abstraction above the startup idea. a class of ideas. like food delivery services.

different idea spaces have wildly different hit rates.

@ycombinator @snowmaker @catheryn_li @coinbase @pulley @checkr @RappiBrasil @boomaero 11/ things that make startup ideas seem bad but are actually good:

hard to get started - "schlep blindess" by Paul Graham paulgraham.com/schlep.html - e.g. @stripe
boring space - e.g. @GustoHQ payroll software
existing competitors - e.g. @Dropbox competitors had terrible UIs

@ycombinator @snowmaker @catheryn_li @coinbase @pulley @checkr @RappiBrasil @boomaero @stripe @GustoHQ @Dropbox 12/ full list of startup questions to ask yourself:

docs.google.com/document/d/1sj… docs.google.com/document/d/1sj…

@ycombinator @snowmaker @catheryn_li @coinbase @pulley @checkr @RappiBrasil @boomaero @stripe @GustoHQ @Dropbox 13/ how to come up with ideas:

best way is to just notice them organically. most YC startups start this way. e.g. @replit

when you sit down and think about ideas, you will tend to come up with tarpit ideas.

@ycombinator @snowmaker @catheryn_li @coinbase @pulley @checkr @RappiBrasil @boomaero @stripe @GustoHQ @Dropbox @Replit 14/ recipes for starting ideas:

ensure founder-market fit by starting with what your team is especially good at - e.g. @RentRezi @vetcove @Optimizely

@ycombinator @snowmaker @catheryn_li @coinbase @pulley @checkr @RappiBrasil @boomaero @stripe @GustoHQ @Dropbox @Replit @RentRezi @vetcove @Optimizely 15/ think of every job you've had (inc internships + life experiences)

what problems did you come across?

what did you learn that other people don't know

@ycombinator @snowmaker @catheryn_li @coinbase @pulley @checkr @RappiBrasil @boomaero @stripe @GustoHQ @Dropbox @Replit @RentRezi @vetcove @Optimizely 16/ think of things you wish personally existed - e.g. @DoorDash

great recipe BUT most dangerous because it can lead to tarpit ideas. ask why it doesn't exist.

@ycombinator @snowmaker @catheryn_li @coinbase @pulley @checkr @RappiBrasil @boomaero @stripe @GustoHQ @Dropbox @Replit @RentRezi @vetcove @Optimizely @DoorDash 17/ are there things that have changed in the world recently?

e.g. @gather_town was a response to COVID for virtual hangouts

@ycombinator @snowmaker @catheryn_li @coinbase @pulley @checkr @RappiBrasil @boomaero @stripe @GustoHQ @Dropbox @Replit @RentRezi @vetcove @Optimizely @DoorDash @gather_town 18/ look at other companies that have been successful recently and find variations

e.g. @nuvocargo is flexport for LatAm

@ycombinator @snowmaker @catheryn_li @coinbase @pulley @checkr @RappiBrasil @boomaero @stripe @GustoHQ @Dropbox @Replit @RentRezi @vetcove @Optimizely @DoorDash @gather_town @nuvocargo 19/ ask people what problems they have

it's hard and needs a lot of skill to do this well

e.g. @atobHQ makes fuel cards for trucker drivers

@ycombinator @snowmaker @catheryn_li @coinbase @pulley @checkr @RappiBrasil @boomaero @stripe @GustoHQ @Dropbox @Replit @RentRezi @vetcove @Optimizely @DoorDash @gather_town @nuvocargo @atobHQ 20/ look for big industries that seem broken

e.g. @LendUpCredit fixing pay day lending

@ycombinator @snowmaker @catheryn_li @coinbase @pulley @checkr @RappiBrasil @boomaero @stripe @GustoHQ @Dropbox @Replit @RentRezi @vetcove @Optimizely @DoorDash @gather_town @nuvocargo @atobHQ @LendUpCredit 21/ find a co founder that has an idea

for example there are many people on YC co founder matching platform that have an idea already and need help to build it!

@ycombinator @snowmaker @catheryn_li @coinbase @pulley @checkr @RappiBrasil @boomaero @stripe @GustoHQ @Dropbox @Replit @RentRezi @vetcove @Optimizely @DoorDash @gather_town @nuvocargo @atobHQ @LendUpCredit 22/ the best way to know if it's a good idea is to just launch it

@ycombinator @snowmaker @catheryn_li @coinbase @pulley @checkr @RappiBrasil @boomaero @stripe @GustoHQ @Dropbox @Replit @RentRezi @vetcove @Optimizely @DoorDash @gather_town @nuvocargo @atobHQ @LendUpCredit 23/ bonus statistic: 1 out of 4 YC companies are now working on a totally different idea

@ycombinator @snowmaker @catheryn_li @coinbase @pulley @checkr @RappiBrasil @boomaero @stripe @GustoHQ @Dropbox @Replit @RentRezi @vetcove @Optimizely @DoorDash @gather_town @nuvocargo @atobHQ @LendUpCredit 24/ 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼 thank you @snowmaker for sharing so much knowledge with the startup school community!

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