

Struggling to come up with product ideas - lugg

Does anyone have any advice for someone who rarely has problems in their life? I generally make do with what I have and am generally a happy person. I dont need more, I dont really want for anything. (Other than much money of course)<p>How can someone like me come up with problems to solve when I myself have none?
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narrowrail
My guess is you're young and have had few jobs (if any), so business problems
are out. Therefore, you are looking at consumer-focused products, and consumer
products are typically of the vitamin variety rather than medication. I would
probably look at your parents, siblings, and friends to see what they complain
about.

Edit: Woops! I HN-stalked you and realized my assumption was horribly wrong.
Sorry. I bet you solve problems in your life all the time using tools most
people can't use (i.e. grep). Here's a problem you might solve: How to
determine and deal with all the phones, tablets, computers, dvd players, and
TVs on your home network 'dialing home' and pushing data you might or might
not want pushed? In other words, a cheap firewall/IDS/IPS that is easy to use
without overwhelming a laymen with things they don't understand.

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mapster
I think it comes down to 'is this really the path you should choose?' an
example. an owner of a car repair shop wants to hire a new mechanic. He's
going to look for the natural/creative problem solver who can improvise and is
really into mechanics. So if you are not always thinking about solutions or
deep into some technology or industry and wondering how to make it better,
more efficient, then why choose this path? (round peg in a square hole).

what are you really good at, or interested in? work hard at that. many ways to
contribute in a startup than being the founder / idea man. In fact, it seems
there are a fair share of tech startups whose engineers really helped the
founders make the service/product marketable. without them it would have been
just an idea.

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lugg
I get where you're coming from, extremely valid advice, I'm certainly a square
so to speak. I love solving problems, I love learning, I love coding. Solving
problems and constant learning is precisely what got me into software
development.

I feel I'm so entrenched with solutions to every problem I don't need anymore
solutions. I need problems.

I think I need to go against my assumptions and do what many have said: start
to focus on other people, start looking outward. Looking inward hasn't really
helped anything.

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passubuy
I would suggest going out and having some adventures! If you don't have any
problems, you probably aren't taking a lot of risk with your decision making.
Get out in the world and experience things. Perhaps start by volunteering,
this way you can help others AND see how others are struggling. It will help
you to sympathize with others, and allow you to view the world in a more
realistic sense...therefore helping you to identify problems that you could
help solve!

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lugg
That is... a really good idea. I think you're right on the money there, I take
almost zero risk in everything I do, I've been working on it but not nearly as
hard as I could.

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jaworrom
Pick a really boring, antiquated industry. Think about how you can add glamour
to said industry. Think about how you can redefine workflow, transactions,
purchasing, sales, marketing, etc. Change the way business processes run. If
the industry dictates everything, try and build something that gives the
consumer greater power/choices.

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lugg
Thanks, this resonates greatly with how I would like to tackle things, while I
guess your advice falls under industry disruption, I think I like it more
simply because it challenges status quo and that is me through and through.

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jaworrom
Then it sounds like you know exactly what you need to do :) Go tackle the
giants!

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LocalMan
Your problem is your lack of problems. Build an app that adds empathy to a
person they can understand the problems of other people. Make zillions.

Write an app that summarizes complaints from around the web and collates them
into an organized list. That should help.

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meowface
If you don't see a problem that needs solving, then don't make a product or
service.

Perhaps you could offer something that doesn't solve a problem, but instead
offers something nice that didn't exist before. Writing, art, comedy, and
other things fall under that umbrella (one can make money off of these, though
you have to be good).

Trying to find a problem in need of a solution just so you can develop a
solution is nearly always a recipe for future failure and disappointment.

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danielrhodes
Stop focusing on yourself. Solve other people's problems.

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mattwritescode
Take a look at what problems others have in their lives.

Likewise take a look at what problems businesses have and come up with
solutions.

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shiraabel
You're looking the wrong way. It's not about you.

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lugg
While thats correct, if I have a problem which needs solving it should be a
lot easier to define the product, isn't that generally good advice.

Do you have any examples / tips on how to see problems in a world where you
don't see many?

