| Absolutely agree. I shake my head every time I see the "ideas are a dime a dozen" meme parroted on here. Good ideas are actually much rarer, harder to come by. I'll prove it. Go to any of the Ask HN "whats your side business" threads [1] and observe the many interesting responses. Here's a good one: [2]. Next, observe the follow-up questions, "What's your niche? How'd you get started? Wow, very interesting, curious about the details." And finally, the answers: Crickets. Why? Because the only reason these people are harvesting so many coconuts is because they're the only ones who know about the island - the idea is their only competitive advantage. If they shared that, the party would be over, and they know it. Ideas are extremely valuable. --- [1] here's a couple: - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29667095 - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24947167 [2] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29668604 |
These guys know about coconut island because they were out on their boat looking for it. Thats the hard part and how you derisk ideas. Understanding your users and market, figuring out how to execute well through trial and error and graft. (And some luck)
Theres crickets are on the insights to their users, what they know about their market, true. This is why its hard to copycat innovative companies. They know their users and the practicalities of running their particular type of business better than others. The ideas in the linked threads are easy to understand, you could interview their users, read a FAQ to see how it works.
I know the "insights" & "ideas" may seem like the same thing, but they are not. Ideas are second order, once you have the insight, you try various ideas to hone in on something that works. Ideas are lovely - easy, simple to understand. Thats why people flock to them. Insights are usually hard earned. Thats why the meme is incredibly helpful - ie forget your divine inspiration get out there and pick up a shovel.