

Find A Small Problem And Build A Simple Solution. - j_camarena
http://jcamarena.com/toughts/find-a-small-problem-and-build-a-simple-solution/

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discreteevent
This may sound naive but has anyone got any advice or links to advice on the
best way to find real problems to solve, big or small. Preferably small,
though because with the big ones its often harder to tell whether they are
something that people really want. I'm looking for a way of finding the kinds
of things where its relatively easy to tell whether they have a good chance of
making some money right now. Its a tall order,I know but you never know what
people know until you ask.

~~~
patrickyeon
"The Best of edw519", <http://edweissman.com/53640595>

"How do I find business problems to solve" is answered a few times over, from
different angles, in Ed's comments collected there. I'm not going to tell you
which answers exactly, because you should probably read the whole thing.

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jluan
Find a big problem, identify a basis for its vector space, and build that
basis.

My opinion is that all "small problems with simple solutions" that have become
successful were actually cases of big problems masquerading as small ones.

~~~
j_camarena
So true.

The problem i see is that people limit them selves saying "to do X first i
need W and i don't have W".

You need to start with anything, NOW. No excuses. NOW... then you will find a
bunch of new "problems" to solve.

You are in a "blind spot" until the ball starts rolling.

~~~
pbhjpbhj
> _You need to start with anything, NOW. No excuses._ //

So I've got a problem and an outline solution. I just need R&D capital and a
few months in a workshop to create a prototype, get a patent and then take
that looking for investments ...

How do I start "NOW" with what I have, no money, no time, no workshop.

Enthusiasm doesn't solve every problem.

~~~
j_camarena
Well; those are excuses from my point of view.

You can save money and sure you can invest less time on hackernews and more in
your ptoject.

If you can't do anything of that for what you have in mind try to go for
something smaller but always thinking in the long-pitch.

I'm just saying ..

~~~
pbhjpbhj
I can't save money, really I can't.

Time I can probably manage a little of, but then I use HN for relaxation when
I'm tired so it's not really productive time that I'm using up. The project is
nothing without capital and a workshop; just dead.

Sure there's other things to do but then I'm giving up on the project and that
would be falling to the point you attacked that to do X [this project] I need
Y and Z.

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sun123
I guess,finding a problem to solve is in itself sort of a talent.

~~~
discreteevent
That could be true but I think that very few people really have that talent.
Most people have only one or two good ideas and those come from observing
something in a domain that they are in. That's why pg gives the advice to work
on something you know about because no doubt he has observed the relative
success rate of people who work on things inside and outside of their domains.
I think there may be a few people who do have the talent to find problems
outside of their immediate domain but I also think that like any 'talent' its
probably something you could learn and develop by observing those people, how
they think, what they do etc.

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variousbagels
This might be a great article and I wouldn't even know it. I can't get past
the first few sentences because it is thoroughly riddled with typos, missing
capitalizations, and other careless errors that would've been fixed if this
post wasn't written free-thought and was re-read before publishing.

Try presenting yourself professionally online. Often times what you say is
just as important as how you say it.

~~~
j_camarena
Thanks for the feedback :)!... I'm still reading and fixing typos .. but i was
finishing the Spanish version of my article first.

Also, my English is not pretty good because is not my primary language.

~~~
variousbagels
I apologize that that came off as rude. Your English is a lot better than my
Spanish.

~~~
j_camarena
no problem, i already fixed some of the typos :).

~~~
Mz
_I’ts true?. Do i need to diversify my startup? Or its a better idea to put
all the eggs in one basket?._

Should be (or at least a better version, not promising it's perfect):

Is it true? Do I need to diversify my startup? Or is it a better idea to put
all my eggs in one basket?

(Feel free to copy and paste if you can't tell what I did different.)

best of luck

~~~
j_camarena
thanks

~~~
Mz
No problem. But you missed a detail: You still have a period after a question
mark at the end of that paragraph. The period should be removed.

Take care.

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j_camarena
La versión en español del articulo esta aqui // The Spanish version of the
article is here:

[http://jcamarena.com/espanol/encuentra-un-pequeno-
problema-y...](http://jcamarena.com/espanol/encuentra-un-pequeno-problema-y-
construye-una-solucion-simple/)

------
highace
This hit home for me. Previously we had identified a problem, but instead of
just getting out there and getting started with the quickest working solution,
we spent ages building a fully comprehensive service that did it all and more.
The outcome: we wasted resources building things we didnt need and werent
used, while our competitors sailed off into the sunset.

~~~
tomblomfield
+1

This happens so often with early start-ups, including my own.

I wish someone had told me; Build something that provides an basic minimum
quantum of utility. Release it immediately. Iterate.

Or maybe they did tell me, but I wasn't listening.

