Help me find a real problem to solve

Idea Pitches
#1

Hey guys,

I’ve been building products for a few years, but I’ve made the mistake of jumping to coding too soon.

This time I want to do the right thing and find a real problem to solve and that’s where I need your help.

I am doing so called “Idea extraction” calls.

The call is simply about the things that you encounter in your business, aiming to find a problem big enough that you’d actually pay for.

If you have 30 minutes to talk, let me know and we’ll schedule a call: michal.hantl@gmail.com

Thanks!

#2

Amy Hoy has a ton of articles, and a few courses on this. Start here:

1 Like
#3

Thanks I’ve done my share of reading, although its good to re-visit some of the materials.

#4

If any one is interested in the ‘real problems’, have a look at this: http://ideaspace.in50hrs.com/problems/.

This is an initiative by an incubation centre in Chennai, India to list out real problems that people face (not necessarily solvable by coding). I’m sure you can pick up one or two from there.

To give you one example:

Why isnt there a tool that can allow one to manage beta signups – and staggered release of account activation etc?

It goes on to explain the problem. The discussion is around this problem (no solutions are discussed) - is it real, how big is this problem, who has this problem and so on.

#5

The point I was trying to make was, ideas are a terrible thing to start a business from. From the linked website:

An idea is a terrible thing to build a business on.

A “Great Idea™” will make you its bitch.

Everything you do will become about the idea: You’ll worry that it’ll
get stolen. That somebody else will launch the idea before you do. That
the idea is not good enough. That it’s too big, or too small. That
you’ll finish your product and ship it and find out that… it was the
wrong idea.

Instead, find people who pay for things, find out what is causing them problems, and find a solution to their problem.

You will note that idea does not enter the process at all.

1 Like
#6

One I’d really like to see is I love Upwork’s payment protection program so that I am only paying for true work.

I am also a remote developer and would love to have this for myself outside of Upwork.

The best alternative I’ve found is RescueTime but I wish it had:

  • Screenshots and maybe video/gifs
  • The productivity score is flawed starting you off at 50%
  • The timer doesn’t feel like it’s accurate
  • Lose the range of productivity, just were you working or not
  • Track keyboard and mouse activity

My team only works on Macs and Chrome so I could care less about anything else. I’d pay probably $10 per month if it added enough value to my work life.

#7

What you described is what the company I work for makes :slight_smile:

They even handle paying your contractors via PayPal, if you want to.

#8

Well…I’m out of ideas, and this thing looks exactly like what I wanted! :stuck_out_tongue:

Then again this is the kind of stuff that makes me either find a competitor or leave.