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How do you decide which startup idea to work on?

I have tons of ideas, literally 100s of them in my Standard Notes & although I did imagine to make them all its not feasible as building a thing is easy but rest part takes a shit ton of time.

Designing takes more time. Marketing even more. Developing I guess its the easy part for me. Since if I don't get answers, I post it all over the internet. I can't get exact answers about Designing & Marketing though.

So how do you decide which startup idea to work on? What triggers you? Is it just passion? Is it just money? Or is it something else?


I have a few criteria I use when deciding whether to work on an idea. I'll list them below, but I suggest coming up with your own that make sense to you personally.

How fast can I validate the idea?
Some products require a lot of upfront work before I can get any feedback. Other products can be quickly prototyped which will lead to feedback early on. For me that's crucial. It decreases the risk of wasting time on a product with no potential.

Does the reward/risk ratio make sense?
Related to the above. Ideally I focus on ideas that have high reward and low risk. Where reward is usually financial, and risk refers to invested time, money, and agony.

How much on-going maintenance will it require?
If the product is successful, how much work will it require to keep going? For example, I'll most likely skip any product ideas that require me creating content (podcasts, etc) on an on-going basis. Even if there's a huge money potential.

Do I have an "unfair advantage" ?
With plenty of ideas to choose from it makes sense to focus on one where I have a competitive edge. For me that includes the ability to relatively easily market to other makers (due to my network, BetaList, etc).

Does it contribute in any way to my other products?
Working on multiple products in parallel is tricky as there's only so much time in a day. Ideally I work on products that strengthen each other. For example I can market WIP to BetaList and vice versa.

Is it defensible?
Since I choose to focus on products that are easy to get off the ground, it's likely competitors will crop up. Some product ideas are more defensible than others. Related to the unfair advantage I talk about above.