The best way to get startup ideas is to realize that they already exist and are just waiting for someone to grab them. There are great startup ideas all around us and you just have to train yourself to see them everywhere. But what does a good startup idea look like and how do you notice that you've "met" one?

A first point is definitely to train yourself to keep an eye on what seems to still be missing in the world. Try to specialize in one area, become an expert in it and let that guide your interests and your search for information, the job sector in which you want to seek employment. It can also be helpful to go work at an existing startup - many successful companies were born from ideas that the founders had while working at someone else's startup.

Next, how can you go about it? Let's look at some tips.

Tip #1

Start with what your team is particularly good at.

Yes, we've said this many times before but we want to say it again. This oh-so-trivial thing can become a very important zero-cost advantage to make your way into the world of entrepreneurship. The automatic founder/market fit allows you to accelerate the generation of ideas with a market fit that is already quite advanced and validated.

Tip #2

Pensa alle cose che vorresti che qualcun altro costruisse per te.

I'm sure that the smartphone apps that work as a TV remote control were invented by someone like me, who is tired of lying in bed after turning on the TV but not having the remote control with him/her, which is nowhere to be found, and is forced to watch what's on because the option "get up and admit defeat" is clearly not viable.

Tip #3

What would you be excited about working on for 10 years, even if it wasn't successful?

On the Internet, many attribute this motivational quote to Confucius: "Do what you love and you won't work a single day of your life". Confucius, of course, didn't have the rent to pay and for this very reason this observation should still ring a bell: putting passion into what you do is essential but it can't be our only driving force. This, in fact, can lead founders astray if they don't take enough time to look critically at what they're doing and understand if their idea can really become profitable.

Tip #4

Watch how the world changes around you and the possibilities that these changes can generate.

For the past two years, we have been the protagonists of a circumstance that has disrupted all of our lives and many market logics. Not only emerging technological inventions, new regulations and laws can be a source of ideas but also the birth of new problems. It's not a matter of looting, but simply of quick thinking in responding to new and completely unprecedented needs.

Tip #5

Talk to the people around you to learn about the problems they need to solve.

This method can be particularly useful if you choose to interact with people with expertise in specific areas or who work in interesting, cutting-edge fields. But you have to pay attention: not all people are able to articulate a need in such a way that it is clear how to respond to it. In fact, this strategy may work better if the people you crowdsource with are other startup founders.

Tip #6

Look for an industry in crisis.

In some industries, crises open up rifts where you can insert yourself in a disruptive way. Let's think, for example, about Spotify that has intercepted and, thanks to a perfectly executed strategy, has satisfied a need of music users that the record industry didn't seem ready to answer yet. In these cases, the flip side of the coin is that seizing these opportunities is not necessarily the same as embarking on an activity in a field that is necessarily in our ropes, and it can be risky if you know nothing about the industry you want to enter.

Bonus Tip

COPY!

There are plenty of companies in the world that copy and replicate validated and existing business models. There is nothing to be ashamed of, on the contrary: looking at the successes of the best can push you to achieve important goals. Studying a startup that works and replicating its operation, if done with common sense, can sometimes lead to results even better than the original. As we have already said in one of the previous chapters of this guide, in fact, the substantial difference in a business idea lies in the execution. Moreover, the pluralism of supply in the market can be a great advantage, especially for consumers.