[ksj2114]

"The market must already exist". I think trying to find a brand new market is one of the biggest mistakes many founders make when trying to come up with a startup idea. An existing market indicates that demand already exists!

And when "no market need" is the most common reason startups fail [1], this seems to be often overlooked.

[1] https://www.cbinsights.com/research/startup-failure-reasons-...

[avinium]

You're exactly right, but I think the real world is even more more nuanced than that (particularly when it comes to software).

Some markets just don't exist, period. Think nail polish for pet turtles. It's easy to figure this out, because every pet turtle owner tells you "I wouldn't buy this". There's no two ways about it. You know exactly where you stand.

This is infinitely better than the alternative, which is selling a product that kind-of fits, to a market that kind-of exists. You've identified a problem, everyone is saying "great idea, love the design, etc" - but hardly anyone's buying. They all stall, or come up with excuses as to why they can't buy, even though they say the product is great.

Both are cases of "no market demand", but the former is an infinitely better place to be. You know exactly where you stand and what needs to be done - scrap everything and start over.

The latter is a very dangerous place to be. It's easy to give yourself any number of options - "maybe we just need a (UI redesign|new website|better marketing materials)". But fundamentally, the product is flawed. You haven't really found a market need. Odds are you've identified a market want. This is something that's nice for people to have (and that they might be happy to use). But it's not compelling enough to reach into your pocket and pay for.

This is an acute problem in software because

(a) we tend to be builders at heart, so we favour making things over identifying customer needs.

(b) it's relatively cheap to build something. Other industries have significantly higher barriers to entry, meaning you (usually) need to secure customers and funding before the production/manufacturing phase.

[derrickreimer]

Great points here. It's very tricky to get accurate information from potential customers. The fact that there is demand for what you want to build is a necessary, but not sufficient quality -- you must dig deeper to make sure the pain is bad enough for someone to adopt your product / switch from whatever they are doing now. I have to remind myself of this constantly :).

[davidivadavid]

I think it might be time to go beyond the idea that there are "markets" at all. That's just a vision inherited from mass-produced consumer goods that are all similar.

In reality, demand is much more malleable, and what people want and how those wants coalesce in different product categories is what defines the structure of those "markets."

People would do far better to start from first principles and understand what desires, wants and needs they want to serve, understand what products/"markets" serve those needs, and build products to satisfy them.

Unless of course you just enjoy the distribution advantage given by building something in an entrenched category. But then don't talk about your "tech" "startup" or about "innovation". You're just doing a cookie cutter product like everyone else.