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    <p>This post is the first in a series of what I'm doing, how, and why in the world of software startups. I drafted this sometime in 2010 and did not polish it and release it, so here it is.</p> <p>Finding a software startup idea seems to occupy everyone. There's a lot of valid things to look out for and understand the importance of. For me, this is what I try to keep in front of me. Being an idea guy, and a developer I'm often left with a lot of ideas and not enough time to build them all, so I have to pick.</p> <p><strong>First, we have to understand ideas. None are original.</strong> So few that that statement is true. We're just connecting everything to the web in a novel way, like libraries connected people to information in books. Other variants include, attempting to internetize / computerize processes that currently aren't.</p> <p><strong>Second, all ideas generally start with an opportunity.</strong> To sell. Either to someone you already have, or a way to reach them (adwords, etc).</p> <p><strong>Third, the idea has to be marketable in a way that you can market it.</strong> If you have connections in an industry, it's not a bad place to start. I prefer to make the first few sales personally in-town to get the pitch and value presentation down before putting it online.</p> <p><strong>Fourth, any product is 80% marketing. 20% Product.</strong> Marketing is the single most important skill you need to get, not more coding or idea generation. Learning to sell my idea, approach and vision is the single biggest asset I have in my consulting business. Customers invest in me as much as my idea. The idea, sadly doesn't have as big of an impact as it should.</p> <p>Start learning marketing immediately. In general, in person, and online. Yes, it might not be exciting to learn marketing as a developer, but you wanted a business, not a coding job. Consider yourself doing the world a great service of providing better software raising the quality of life, and putting in the yeoman like effort to learn and implement marketing to reach them. Marketing in many ways is just clear, communication that focuses on benefits that a customer is looking for. All developers have to do is learn to stop talking about features and learn to talk about benefits. You have to reach customers who are looking for your product. Personally, directly, or automated online through adwords.</p> <p>Using these two approaches to generate ideas (Personal/industry connections vs. online niche searching), I'll share a few ways I discovered where good ideas exist:</p> <p><strong>1. Consult. Clients.</strong> Listen. Notice what isn't out there. Research it. Usually low competition and long term customers because no one's doing it. Most customers have a competitive advantage of "this is how we do it". Learn it and see if some software could benefit from it. Find the processes that take several hours a day or week and automate them. </p> <p><strong>2. Scratch your own itch.</strong> Solve a problem that you need solved. There could be something there. Try to pick something broadly appealing enough.</p> <p><strong>3. Find an online niche People are searching for things constantly.</strong> With low cost adwords. There are holes and weak/new niches where you can establish yourself.</p> <p><strong>4. Ignore creating new demand</strong> If you build something no one's looking for, it will be harder to get people to find something they don't know how to discover.</p> <p>Out of these approaches to build an idea:</p> <p><strong>1. Find a small business tool you can bill $35-75/month.</strong> Even if the idea is a complete failure and only get 10 clients, it's still $350-750 a month in passive income. In the beginning that's nice to have while you try out the next thing.</p> <p><strong>2. Leave your charity to giving, not receiving.</strong> Do not do any ideas that are a few dollars a month unless you have very strong response to your beta email list in a low cost adwords niche. It's often better to have 5 customers giving you 20 dollars a month, than 40 giving you 2 dollars a month and build a slow growing business around it.</p> <p>Once you have some ideas, you have to validate them. How to pick?</p> <p><strong>1. Don't try to swing for the fences and build the next Facebook the first time.</strong> Chances are you'll go through a few ideas. You need to be able to pay your way in life while you do and try to be a little successful along the way. Pick reasonable niche ideas that people are searching for. Test that niche via adwords to see what kind of response / interest you get to sign up for your beta mailing list while you build.</p> <p><strong>2. Build a simple proof-of-concept</strong> to see if you do it better, simpler, faster. See if that simple attempt makes your client happy.</p> <ol> <li>Like 37 Signals says, <strong>release something embarrassing</strong> and charge for it. See if people pay. Keep improving it.</li> </ol> <p>Once you find something that pays, build yourself a modest money maker that makes a few hundred to a few thousand a month. Chain a few of these money making ideas together.</p> <p>Now that you've had some experience exploring, validating, launching and automating ideas, you have enough passive income to sustain your lifestyle while you now go ahead and swing for the fences with a big idea. Of course, it took a little longer than expected but you learnt a lot and are much more well rounded at developing online business ideas.</p>
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    1. POWhat do you do when every possible business idea is already taken?
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