How to come up with your next big idea
First, let me preface that some of my ideas are shit. But, I think it's better to go for volume at this step of the building process so some of them will be shit and that's okay. Also, no emotions attached to any idea. Either build it, or burn it. But don't dwell.
And since I'm building Mumblebee right now (a Reddit tool), I crossed a Reddit post that read:
Hey everyone, I'm currently on the hunt for a great SaaS idea, but I'm finding it difficult because it seems like all the problems I come across already have solutions available. I'm reaching out to the Reddit community to ask for some advice on how to find a valuable and unique idea.
Given the post, I figured I'd share three frameworks that I use to come up with all of my ideas.
1. Cross industry
If a solution exists in one industry, can it be applied to another one? For example, when you're going through the grocery store checkout and see candy bars in the checkout aisle, that is an exact equivalent of upsells in an ecommerce checkout flow.
I love the ScottsCheapFlights business model. Linkpunk is literally that, but for domains. Taphome is just Linktree, but for real estate agents. Mumblebee's main dashboard is Tweetdeck, but for Reddit.
2. Add a spin
Can you add a new take on an old model? For example, GDPR was a groundbreaking change for analytics providers. With the confusing new rulebook, website owners wanted something less invasive for their users. Thus, privacy-first, cookie-less analytics providers like Plausible and Pirsch were born.
Seed paper existed for decades before Cute Root was born. All I did was add a way for people to send seed paper to each other easily online and the idea took off.
3. Name first
Personally, this one is fun because I'm now doing this for Linkpunk subscribers and I'm finding some gems. Given a great domain name, can you build an idea around it? Odds are you probably can. Plus, it's easier to go from brand to idea, then idea to brand.
Here are some from a recent Linkpunk newsletter:
- AnyPitch.com: Live pitches that connect entrepreneurs and investors.
- AskDevs.co: Get help online from remote developers.
- LetterBrew.com: Create direct mail drip campaigns.
Don't sweat it
Idea generating is a low-stakes game (it's not validation), so don't sweat it. Plus, there is no perfect idea and odds are the one you'd like to build already has been done. THAT'S OKAY. It's not discouraging, but rather encouraging that there is a market for your product.
Good luck idea farming!