

Ask YC: What heuristics do you use to judge ideas? - ambition

When you come up with a vision or an idea for a startup, how do you judge its merits? What questions do you ask?<p>Here are some of the filters I apply:<p>How does it make the world better? What does it make easier or more productive?<p>Who pays? Why do they pay?<p>Edsger W. Dijkstra said, "Only do what only you can do." I ask, "Why me?" followed by "Why now?"<p>If this startup executes perfectly, what is the maximum it could earn?<p>The Innovator's Dilemma (by Clayton Christensen) outlines the characteristics of a "disruptive innovation." Is this product disruptive?<p>Who are the competitors? If none, why not? Else how is this different? How easily could companies skilled in execution crush it? (Poor Kiko...)<p>How long will it take to complete? How will it be funded until then?<p>Are there any better, related ideas?<p>What's missing?
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xirium
To many end-users, technology is magic and therefore anything beyond pixels on
their desktop is non-existent. Therefore, it would be worthwhile to consider
the proportion of code which is directly concerned with user interface.

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CHIEFARCHITECT
Believe you need a Tangible Vision. Know the basics for defining the planned
outcome. It is a generalization of fundamentals, technical specifics and
cyclical effects

