Finding ideas

This area covers where Starter Story guests got their ideas and how they judged them: scratching their own itch, using domain knowledge, copying proven products, niching down and reading the competition.

Three ideas have the broadest support. The most common origin story is solving your own problem, often a tedious task in your own job (Alex Finn · Alex Finn (Jun 2025) ▶ 06:32) (Sebastian Röhl · Sebastian Röhl (Jun 2025) ▶ 09:07) (John Rush · John Rush (May 2025) ▶ 16:40). Competitors are treated as a good sign, because they prove people pay (Dmytro Krasun · Dmytro Krasun (Nov 2024) ▶ 02:49) (Cedric Roberge · Cedric Roberge (May 2026) ▶ 09:02), which leads to the advice to build only in markets that already make money (Samuel Rondot · Samuel Rondot (Jul 2025) ▶ 03:01) (Deven Bhooshan · Deven Bhooshan (Sep 2025) ▶ 02:53). “Copy what works” and boring niches are also the presenters’ editorial line (presenter · Samuel Rondot (Jul 2025) ▶ 12:57) (presenter · Bo (May 2026) ▶ 02:32). Finally, most idea filters start from pain: a painkiller, not a vitamin (Marc Lou · Marc Lou (Aug 2024) ▶ 14:54) (Gil Hildebrand · Gil Hildebrand (Dec 2025) ▶ 07:41).

The main debate is how far to copy. Some guests say new ideas are risky and a copy of a working product is the safer bet (Mike · Mike (Nov 2025) ▶ 06:03) (Deven Bhooshan · Deven Bhooshan (Sep 2025) ▶ 14:39); Blake Anderson counters that copycats plateau, while new ideas have far higher ceilings (Blake Anderson · Blake Anderson & Zach Yadegari (Aug 2026) ▶ 08:45).

Start with Solve your own problem, Copy a proven product and Where to find ideas, then test the idea with Validate before you build. For the app version of copy-and-improve, see Consumer subscription app — clone, onboard, paywall, content, scale.

Pages in this area

Live debates

• Can a lower price be your differentiator? — see Competition & differentiation
• Must the product itself be different, or is distribution enough? — see Competition & differentiation
• Should you enter a space that has already been done? — see Competition & differentiation
• How literally should you copy? — see Copy a proven product
• Copycat or something new? — see Copy a proven product
• Should an idea target a broad market or a narrow niche? — see How to judge an idea
• How much should you filter before starting? — see How to judge an idea
• Is Reddit the best place to find customer pain? — see Where to find ideas
• How narrow is too narrow? — see Niching down
• Does solving your own problem remove the need for market research? — see Solve your own problem

Blueprints

• Consumer subscription app — clone, onboard, paywall, content, scale