Topics related in general to business ideas and ideation.
37
votes
11answers
5k views
What if Google+ stole my idea? Can I do anything about it? Should I?
From around March 2009 to October 2009, my sister and I built a website and dubbed it our "first startup": Jumpino.com. Truthfully, it was hardly a startup: we had no capital, no way of monetizing, ...
28
votes
17answers
1k views
What criteria do you use to judge the viability of a startup?
I'm currently building an evaluation grid to help me pick my next venture from my list
I would like to get more criteria to complete it.
Criteria can be both objective and subjective. I prefer ...
15
votes
9answers
1k views
How novel does a startup idea need to be?
I Googled my idea and found another company that has been doing the same thing for a few years. It's for somewhat of a niche market, but everyone I talk to (including potential clients) says it's a ...
15
votes
26answers
1k views
What's the best business book you have ever read? [closed]
I need inspirational and pragmatic business books.
14
votes
6answers
6k views
How do you find a gap in the market?
I want to start a new business but I don't know what business to start. I know I have certain talents and aptitudes, but how do you find a gap in the market? I want to go where the money flow is and ...
13
votes
2answers
430 views
When to compete on an idea?
I spend a lot of time thinking about potential start up ideas. I come up with a couple every now and then, but when I go searching online there is always quite a few competitors. I don't think I've ...
13
votes
8answers
3k views
5 tests my next business idea will have to pass - Can you add more?
I launched my most recent app a few days back. The idea is to aggregate all the business related videos, compile the meta data and also generate more meta data and present to the users. I have been ...
11
votes
13answers
984 views
How did you conceive your startup idea?
I think a lot of conceivable startups have already been conceived. A lot of workable business ideas have already been worked out. How did you manage to conceive your startup idea?
All is well if you ...
10
votes
5answers
3k views
Should I pitch my idea to Angel Investors?
We have an idea for a website. I am a software developer, but I don't want to spend all my time creating this site that won't sell or be marketable or popular whatsoever, and make us no money.
Would ...
10
votes
8answers
501 views
Deciding on the right idea
I get ideas for websites that I think would be viable business ideas on a regular basis. I currently have about 5 swimming around in my mind, but very little time to devote to their development.
...
10
votes
2answers
440 views
Does the concept of “Unlimited Vacation” increase productivity and attract talented employees?
Does the concept of "Unlimited Vacation" increase productivity and attract talented employees ?
I've read about it here, specifically:
Unlimited vacation fosters productivity and loyalty because ...
10
votes
3answers
230 views
What are the liability risks of shared startup ideas?
I've been working on a startup plan, and, per the advice I've seen many times, haven't kept it a secret, but rather have talked to a lot of people about it, and gotten some good ideas and direction. ...
8
votes
5answers
1k views
How to validate startup idea w/o giving it away?
My current startup has stabilized and is running pretty much on cruise-control... What is interesting, however, is that as I was looking to provide an additional service to my potential customers, I ...
8
votes
9answers
3k views
Should I pursue someone who stole my idea?
I consult to companies. I specialize in problem resolution, project management, research and occasionally, if there's a call for it, development.
Recently, I was contacted by a development manager at ...
8
votes
6answers
554 views
How do you verify the viability of your idea?
I would like to hear from those folks that have gone through their initial market research and idea validation stages of their start-up and would like to share how they went about making sure their ...
8
votes
2answers
444 views
When a huge company copies your startup
What do you do when a huge online company (as dominant as say Google, Apple, Microsoft etc in their respective niche) has a big feature that's been lacking in their very popular product, and your ...
8
votes
6answers
471 views
What's the most interesting Twitter strategy that you've seen a startup use?
It seems like most startups on Twitter use one of two strategies:
1) Broadcast links & information about the company.
2) Broadcast links & information about the industry related to the ...
7
votes
10answers
623 views
Should I trust software development companies from Asia?
There are lots of sites around the internet that offer cheap labour from an offshore location. What do you think about using this type of site to speed up your local business? Is it a good idea? Has ...
7
votes
10answers
3k views
How do you protect the key features of your product without a patent?
I'm working on improving an old web based product but afraid that my idea will be copied by the bigger players. For example, let's say I build an improved a web-based task management software but ...
7
votes
7answers
551 views
How to deal with easily copyable idea?
I have a new idea that's dead simple and I don't think it's been done before. what precautions should I take to prevent a copycat from emerging and getting popular?
I know getting all the press is ...
7
votes
7answers
530 views
Dropping ideas all the time. Does the “idea” really matter?
For the past 4-5 months I've been brainstorming ideas for web startups. I start to implement an idea and on the way discover that it's not going to work (too hard to implement, etc.).
I know that ...
7
votes
9answers
3k views
How did you come up with your business idea?
For those of you who have successful businesses, how did you come up with your business idea?
I'm trying to think of a business idea but none of the ideas I've come up with so far (currently about ...
7
votes
4answers
1k views
How do you evaluate the competitive landscape before building?
Suppose you are evaluating an idea for commercial viability. You look to see whether there are competitors. Of course there are, because there always are. How do you judge whether the market has an ...
7
votes
4answers
274 views
Examples of tasks you have successfully delegated
I am looking for examples of tasks that you have successfully delegated to others - be it either in house staff, virtual assistants or outsourcing.
7
votes
2answers
286 views
Are patents worth investing in?
We have got patents for specific technologies in the past, they cost a lot and the value was not really visable.
We often develop specific algorithms for real-time systems and work with a range of ...
7
votes
2answers
404 views
How to determine the business potential of an idea?
I am an IT engineer, I am familiar with programming and website development (not a complete expert though), I am also good with servers, OS, security and networking etc (whole 9 yards of IT).
What I ...
6
votes
8answers
1k views
How do you start a software business when you have no idea about it
Let's say that I have come up with a good software idea that needs to be built and designed. Let's also imagine that I have no background in IT and therefore need to find somebody to build and write ...
6
votes
5answers
595 views
Should I give away my idea to an incubator program?
I'm considering applying my site, currently early in development, to YCombinator. Do I risk having my idea stolen by going through with the application process? They're asking very specific questions ...
6
votes
8answers
1k views
Think I Have a Great Startup Idea, Don't Know Next Steps
Ok, so everyone thinks they have the next big great idea. Let's just assume for the sake of this question that I really DO have a good/great idea.
Some background and basic. I'm obviously not ...
6
votes
5answers
700 views
My startup idea has been developed before we could do it. What now?
So the idea for my startup which we have been also sharing with few incubators wasn't well received during the last 3 months. And now we find out that during this time the same has been developed by a ...
6
votes
5answers
611 views
Finding out another start-up has the same idea
I came up with a great idea for a webapp, I've been creating design docs, project specs etc. Everything was going well until I decided to google my idea, which to my surprise came up with one result ...
6
votes
6answers
191 views
How do you manage ideas (engineering changes) in a start up?
I'm involved, as a software developer, in an early stage (pre-profit) start up. The product is at a point where the basic core is implemented and we are building out features and adding polish, so ...
6
votes
5answers
402 views
Is there a place I can go to float my ideas and get feedback?
I have decided to take off an extended period of time and take one of my ideas to market. I have been an independent and very successful developer for over a decade. Bigger than that though I am an ...
6
votes
5answers
476 views
Protecting a website idea
Feel free to redirect me if there's a forum this would be better suited for, I'm still unfamiliar with the functions of the different forums.
I'm going to begin a project soon that requires a lot of ...
6
votes
9answers
336 views
Mobile platform of the future
We are thinking of launching some applications on the mobile platform. However, I am not sure which platforms we should target among, iPhone, Blackberry, Symbian and Android. Any thoughts on which of ...
6
votes
9answers
536 views
Strategies for coming up with ideas
The first step in any startup must be coming up with an idea and this seems a big first hurdle.
A lot of people seem to come up with these ideas either to address problems they are experiencing or ...
6
votes
4answers
348 views
What are the steps for getting a tech startup off the ground when you're the only team member?
I'm a software developer with over a decade of experience writing code. I've recently had an idea for a tech startup and am in the process of creating a prototype website and a pitch deck for the ...
6
votes
7answers
734 views
New Product Ideas - how to get started
I've got several ideas for new products that I think might fill various gaps in the market. However, I'm unsure where to start. I'm not an engineer, nor do I have access to facilities to create ...
6
votes
5answers
546 views
Barriers to truly global payment processing?
As a startup in Australia, one of the problems commonly faced here is getting a suitable payment service that customers world wide can use.
It seems that since the implementation of global AML/KYC ...
5
votes
18answers
789 views
Which is more important? The right people or the right idea?
As opportunities come and go one has to decide whether to get involved in each one. Some of those opportunities are about good ideas and some of them have easily recognisably good people behind them. ...
5
votes
7answers
563 views
Protecting my idea
I have a unique money making idea in the Social Web space. I have discussed the idea with some trusted friends who's opinions I highly value and they agree it is something unique. I also have a ...
5
votes
7answers
898 views
What if a big company copies my idea after my website goes public?
I have developed a website. If I go to meet an angel investor, he may ask, "Do you think your website is innovative?" I can answer "Yes." Then he may ask,"Suppose your website is innovative, what if a ...
5
votes
6answers
1k views
How to identify the problems to solve in an industry you know nothing about
I'm not sure how to word this but I'll do my best.
I'm in the software business. I know this industry very well and am able to identify problems within this industry. However, there's a ton of ...
5
votes
4answers
590 views
How Do I Prevent Somone From Stealing My Idea On KickStart
I have a great idea for a new product and I am thinking about launching it on Kickstarter, but I have one major problem. I am afraid that someone will steal my product and/or accuse me of stealing ...
5
votes
4answers
451 views
How to decide to fail fast vs sticking with your idea?
Many say you need to launch fast and then decide whether your idea works or not and then fail fast if needed. But how do you decide when to fail ( fail = stop working on current idea and start working ...
5
votes
6answers
440 views
I have an idea but no free time - can I pay offshore developer?
I am a software developer. I have a good idea and I'd like to create a startup.
I am planning to invite one or two of my colleagues as co-founders.
Problems:
1) Free time
I realised it is very ...
5
votes
4answers
282 views
Should I move forward with my idea if it is similar to someone else's?
I have two ideas for websites that basically take the same idea as some other site, but make that idea better. Kinda like Myspace being plowed by Facebook. I had the ideas on my own, but then I did ...
5
votes
6answers
354 views
What are the steps to go from an idea to having a business?
Let me preface this with the fact I am not a business student. I am a computer science student but I have a great interest in creating a startup. These questions have probably been asked before, so if ...
5
votes
8answers
486 views
Startup Business Model - infinite partners
Here is my weird idea about startup Business Model.
Facebook, Twitter and most of all other web startups valuation is based on number of users. Then why user don't get cut? What if you give cut to ...
5
votes
4answers
806 views
It is possible to startup a sucessful software company without being a programmer?
the idea is simple. How to execute, i don't know.
I have an idea for a software. Very good and simple idea, and I think it's simple to execute too. This software can bring to life a new company. I ...
