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Ask HN: I want to start something but I have no team and idea. What should I do?

1 points by rainboiboi ↗ HN
I just graduated with a computing degree in Southeast Asia (won't mention where) and I'm deciding if I should go for a job hunt. However, after being in the local startup scene for some time, I itch on the idea of starting something up but I have no idea what to do despite having a list of potential ideas nor do I have a team. Previously my interest in startup has landed me a internship in a VC firm and I have learnt more about startup than just being a technical guy. Long story short, I'd like to ask what is the best way to figure out my situation and move forward.

p.s. I do have a education loan to take care of and that's mostly the bulk of my financial stress other than needing money for food and transport. Rent is a non-issue as I'm staying with my parents.

9 comments

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luck87
If you find something, please contact me :-) Apply to Ycombinator it is a dream for most of us..
rainboiboi
Please email me at rainboiboi [at] gmail.com, if you'd like to chat and are in Southeast Asia. :)
lsiunsuex
Many startups started with 1 (technical) person

Many startups started after normal work hours

Find a good job that pays the bills and lets you live a bit - after work, work on your ideas. If they turn out to have potential to make money - maybe you've saved enough from your day job to fund that, or someone with money to back you finds your idea interesting and does so (usually for a stake in the idea)

My "startup" is just 2 of us, and I'm the only technical person in the team. Been doing it for 4 years now, maintaining a day job the whole time. We're just now (last few months) finally making some money - not enough to leave the day job, but enough that the idea has been validated.

Work hard, focus, and if what you produce is good enough, maybe it'll be a win!

rainboiboi
Thanks for the advice but I personally finds it hard to get motivated unless I'm working in a team. Not sure if this is a hindering factor but certainly something I need to re-evaluate myself. Anyhow, thanks for your story - all the best to your startup. :)
onion2k
Make a list of the problems that you (or the people around you) are facing.

Pick the hardest one and see if you can think of a workable solution. If you can't, pick the next problem. And so on.

Start talking to other people about the problem. If they seem enthusiastic about solving it, work to get them on board.

Congrats, you now have a startup.

Starting something really is that easy.

github-cat
You said you have a list of potential ideas. Why don't you start with one of them which you are most interested in?

It's not a problem that you don't have a team now. You can look for people while you begins your first step.

The most difficult thing for most people is they don't action on what they dream. And then they regret when others have taken actions on what they have dreamed.

So please start to DO something and then you will figure out what to do next.

Good luck!

raooll
If you are planning to build something please count me in.I am right now in the same place as you. I have technically sound and am looking for ideas to start working on.
[dead] rainboiboi
Please email me at rainboiboi [at] gmail.com, if you'd like to chat and are in Southeast Asia. :)
philipov
Get some practical experience apprenticing under another company, and (most importantly) pay off all your debt. Let your first mistakes out the gate be someone else's liability, and turn those mistakes into ideas for when you eventually set off on your own.