this dovetails into my test for whether i’m looking at a good startup idea or not… if existing solutions are all complicated spreadsheets, there’s both a potential market of users, and the problem is complex enough to warrant some code to manage it.
ETA: obviously not all good startup ideas fit into that thesis, just the ones i tend to enjoy working on.
It's a good test, but also a trap. Because the relevant follow-on question is "Is it possible to design a single solution that will please most of these people?"
Sometimes, the nature of the problem makes flexibility irreducible.
ETA: obviously not all good startup ideas fit into that thesis, just the ones i tend to enjoy working on.