The Best Entrepreneurs Don't Come Up With Great Ideas, They Solve Market Needs

And there is absolutely no doubt in my mind that some of them—like a Shazam-like app that identifies cars, and an automated airline seat grabber—could be successful.

 “But why are you are giving away these ideas,” lots of people have asked.

The answer is simple, even if it has multiple parts.

1. I don’t want to run anything. Once upon a time, I was a middle manager for the largest division of a Fortune 500 company and not only did I hate it, I may have been the worst boss who ever lived. Really.

2. Like everyone else, I believe what is just as important as the idea you have come up with is a) the team you assemble and b) how you execute the idea. And I have no intention of doing either. See point #1.

3. I think good ideas—and even GREAT ideas—are incredibly commonplace and are not worth very much.

And that’s the key.

You and I can come up with wonderful ideas all day long but unless they satisfy a large enough need, one that can support a business, they don’t do anyone any good.

Yes, I would (probably) purchase all the products and services I came up with as a result of trying to generate new ideas.  But, I have absolutely no idea if anyone else would buy.  I may have simply come with things that would make my life better, but no one else’s.

That’s why you always want to start with a market need.

Now, could I do the research and see which of my six ideas resonated most with potential buyers. Absolutely.

But do I want to invest all that effort?

No.

So, if you want to take any of my ideas and run with them, please do. (Just remember me when you are rich and famous.)

If you don’t want to develop them, then just remember this:  The secret of creating a successful product or service is beginning with the market need.