The GW Entrepreneurs' Trever Faden shares his scientific method to brainstorming a kickass startup idea using the wisdom of Paul Graham, Y Combinator, and Clay Christensen. Learn More at: www.gwentrepreneurs.com or www.treverfaden.com

1. Coming up with a
kickass idea
GW Entrepreneurs
gwentrepreneurs.com

2. To come up with startup ideas
“The way to get startup
ideas is not to try to
think of startup ideas.
It's to look for problems,
preferably problems you
have yourself.”
-Paul graham
Further reading: How to Get startup ideas

3. IDEation process
IDentify topic
CIscover market
examine jTBD
APply pro/con
tHink solutions!
identify metrics
oPen expeirmentation
nEgotiate results

4. 30 Problems worth solving
By y-combinator
1. A cure for the disease of which the RIAA is a symptom.
2. Simplified browsing. The web for grandparents and children
3. New news. Blogs? crowdsourced? Reddit & Hacker News?
4. Outsourced IT. Wofoo, Amazon Web Services, Google Tag
Manager...
5. Enterprise software 2.0. SMB Technology
6. More variants of cRM. Salesforce, Pipedrive, Trello...
7. Something your company needs that doesn't exist. “We’d pay
for X to make our lives easier”
8. dating. chicken Egg Problem: Sites w/ less people = better
matches, but a smaller # of matches...
9. Photo/video sharing services. Instagram, Tumblr, Snapchat,
Flickr, deviantArt...2.0
10. Auctions. Ebay 2.0

5. 30 Problems worth solving
By y-combinator
11. Web Office apps. compete with Microsoft Office...Google Cocs?
12. Fix advertising. Engaging ads that provide value add to the
viewer + advertiser?
13. Online learning. 2U, coursera, Skillshare...
14. Tools for measurement. Identify most productive units
(people, departments, projects) in the organization
15. Off the shelf security. AdT competitor? Smart House?
16. A form of search that depends on design. Search + design =
Advantage over google
17. New payment methods. Square? Bitcoins? Nfc?
18. The WebOS. chromeOS
19. Application and/or data hosting.
20. Shopping guides. Identifying what you want..not just the
cheapest place to find it

6. 30 Problems worth solving
By y-combinator
21. Finance software for individuals and small businesses. Intuit 2.0 ,
indinero...
22. A web-based Excel/database hybrid. Robust spreadsheet as
database...intuitive database creation with integrations
23. More open alternatives to Wikipedia. Wikipedia = wide...what about
deep?
24. A buffer against bad customer service. User-friendly wrapper
around customer service...user end!
25. A Craigslist competitor. craigslist as a good business!
26. Better video chat. Skype 2.0! Rabbit?
27. Hardware/software hybrids. Software driven hardware solutions.
See Meraki! Sold for $1.2 billion!!!
28. Fixing email overload. Inbox as to-do list + Too many emails. Mailbox
App? Mailplane
29. Easy site builders for specific markets. Niche intuitive web builders.
Wix or Weebly or About.me for restaurants, hair salons, etc...
30. Startups for startups. Yc, Techcrunch, Elastic Sales!

7. Identify a topic
Pick
A
Passion
or
pain point

8. Discover market
who
currently
solves
the
Problem?
List them!

9. Examine job to be done
identify
The job
customers
Are trying to have
solved
Talk to users of a current
solution if necessary

10. Apply pro/con
What features
Do current products have
that makes them
Solutions
To the
JTBD?

11. Think solutions!
What features
Would make a
better solution
To the
JTBD?

12. Identify metrics
What would you track
To see if you
better solve
To the
JTBD?

13. Open experimentation
Ask potential customers...
Landing page + ads...
Market research

14. Negotiate results
Track customer reception
Adjust for what works
Drop what does not
Iterate...