Did you hear about the $8.5 billion purchase of Skype by Microsoft? That was the 2nd time Skype founders were able to make money selling their company. The first time was when they sold Skype to Ebay, before buying it back in 2009.
Wouldn’t you just love to be in the shoes of Skype founders Zennström and Friis? They are reaping rewards (~$1B) now, 8 years after founding Skype in 2003. What did they do right? What does it take to be able to develop a product, build a company around it, and be able to get investors and eventually sell the company? Definitely hard work and good relations… and more importantly it began with: a startup idea.
Where does your startup idea come from?
Some would say scratch your own itch. Our nagging needs and wants bring about inventions, innovations, and conveniences we experience today. Like… I don’t really read the paper IRL anymore—still, it shouldn’t be so hard to find out what’s showing at the cinemas today—so ProudCloud came up with NowShowing.ph.
Find out what kind of product or software already has multiple competitors. Maybe even something you already use. Competition can be good. For instance, there are a myriad of time tracking and invoice billing providers, and they’re able to sustain themselves—there’s already an established market. You could improve by offering an alternative that has great aesthetics, usability, and functionality. And get a niche of that market or even steal all of it.
Go out of your office, your house and keep an open discerning eye. See the world and look out for hotspots, i.e. high-density spots in dire need of an efficient solution. For example, Music CDs -> iTunes, Amazon MP3 store, etc. (Matt Cutts)
Take some advice from incubator Y Combinator and check out 30 ideas Paul Graham like to fund. Even though he listed those in 2008, a lot of them are still opportunities—just waiting for the right entrepreneur to come along and turn the idea into a reality.
Have a notebook and pen (or smartphone) at all times, so you can jot down your little complaints about everyday life—and maybe your startup idea will come from those daily inconveniences that you usually just ignore.
To find that idea, I think it’s imperative that you get out there and talk to people—both people you already know and people you have yet to chat with. You and I could learn a lot from college friends we rarely get to see, the secretary in another department, the blogger you’ve been following (or been hating), your mom’s best friend. They could be your potential market, after all—don’t they all use Facebook or Google now? If that’s how big your company’s going to be, it would be nice to immerse with the regular (not-so-techie) folks once in a while.
One last note, don’t be afraid to run it by your peers or even at startup meetups. I know some people who want an NDA even when it’s not even a working prototype yet. To me, that’s bonkers. You’re telling that person about your “idea” because… you’re running the idea by them. Just to get their opinion. They could be a potential user or investor or advocate or even competitor. Maybe they’ll bash you or they’ll have recommendations for you. Which you’d only benefit from if you’re not so “stealth”-y.
Good luck in your search for your startup idea.
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