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Ask HN: What do I do?

7 points by lewisgodowski ↗ HN
I've recently started a blog where I document potentially good startup ideas I come up with.

The cofounder of my current startup said that he thinks I've come up with some good ideas, but we're unsure of how to go about them.

We don't want to abandon our current startup, but at the same time, we don't want to leave these ideas alone to be forgotten, or even stolen.

Ideally, we would like to at least pursue them all (similarly to how Google goes after their numerous ventures), but we obviously don't have the money or manpower to do that.

We're unsure of what to do. Any thoughts/advice?

6 comments

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mixmax
Do one thing and do it well. Forget about everything else - ideas are cheap. Can you come up with just one example of a startup that's had success in it's initial stages that's been doing more than one thing? I can't.
dlf
As a startup, you're resources are extremely constrained. Your most constrained resource is time, esp when you have customers.

The hard fact is that you really can only focus on one idea, so make the most of it and pick the one that you're most frustrated doesn't exist yet.

Popular advice these days is to just do something you're really interested in, but it's resulting in a bunch of redundant nonsense in popular spaces like music and geolocation social networks. I would only do something based on interest if I had a really unique offering (Turntable.fm comes to mind). Otherwise, focus on something that just sucks and that's begging for a solution. You don't need to convince the market that they want/need what you have. They already know they do and have been waiting for it. If you can do something that you're uniquely positioned to do, even better.

Best of luck!

kls
If you have a blog and you have readership and you think someone that reads that blog might want to pursue one of the ideas you may want to try to position the blog as a mentorship forum, where people can submit and find ideas and group together to pursue them. You may be able to create a system in which their is an upsell for people that take the ideas and execute to contribute back some equity.
anujkk
Same is happening with me. I have over dozen really good startup ideas that I would like to pursue but can't do that right now due to lack of time. Apart from that I also get few requests from other hackers/startups to be their co-founder.

I have been thinking about it from some time now and have found a way around. I will do something similar to ycombinator minus funding. I will give my full attention as a founder to only one startup at a time but for other startup ideas (mine or other people's) I will work as technology/business adviser for 5%-10% equity. I will give them technology/business related advice or will code/design on weekends. Networking with other hackers/founders will be important as I would need people who can give their full time and take these startups forward with little guidance and help from me. I'm sure there are many hackers looking for good ideas for startup or stuck with wrong ideas.

For my own ideas, I will quickly develop a functional prototype using bootstrap/django and will look for hackers who can take the work forward.

I'm not sure whether this strategy will work or not but there is no harm trying it.

lewisgodowski
This is the option I was thinking of pursuing. I don't have nearly the connections to successfully shop these ideas around, so I guess I'll hold onto them until someone "worthy" comes around. If worst comes to worst and I don't find any founders, I'll just wait until I have the time and/or funds to make my ideas a reality.
anujkk
I would suggest you to -

1. Keep working on these ideas as weekend projects(when you want to do something other than your regular work, for change). You can keep refining the idea, make UI mockups using bootstrap, code functionality using your language/framework of choice. You don't need to worry about doing it quickly or completing it before some deadline date. Just work on it as a fun projects. When you will get time to actually do it full time or when you find someone who can do it, you won't be starting from zero. Even having a HTML mockup is better than nothing and trust me it doesn't take much time. A good HTML mockup for your ideas can be easily developed at weekends. It will help you with [2]. If you get more time at weekends, you can try adding some functionality - generic(authentication etc) or idea specific.

2. Start networking. Be active on g+/twitter/hn/quora etc. and actively look for good hackers from your area. Attend startup events and make friends. Tell them about your ideas and your vision. Show them your html mockups. Try to bring them in your team.