Stop looking for new ideas

How do you learn to play music?

• By playing popular songs. The all time hits, the top songs from your favorite artists.

You don’t go around trying to make new music from scratch.

Then why do you look for NEW ideas when it comes to entrepreneurship?

Just start with what’s working for someone else. Copy their idea, give it your own spin, iterate and improve.

As long as you care about the problem you’re solving, you will figure out a way to make it profitable.

Simple framework -

Innovation = Imitation + Iteration

Want practical ideas on what to innovate?

Few places you can look for inspiration -

Indie Hackers -

These companies are -

• In the AI space (coz it’s hot right now)
• Self funded
• Revenue verfied by Stripe
• Started as side projects

Check out this query on the Indie Hackers website.Tweak the categories and play with the filters on this page.

Gumroad -

Best selling products in Gumroad’s “Business and Money” niche -

There are several othre categories you can look at -

• Fiction books
• Design
• Software engineering
• Writing and publishing

Pick your niche, and go down the Gumroad rabbit hole.

There are more marketplaces you can go into and look up what are the hottest selling products. (Read more about marketplaces in - “Money making ideas, where to find them”)

Or even look up to what your favorite solopreneurs on Twitter are making money with, and copy their product.

We’ve all seen at least 15 “Chat with PDF” apps and 5 “AI customer support” apps, yet all of them are doing alright.

You CAN build another one, it’s okay.

There are 5 Billion internet users in the world, the market is big enough!

Further reading -

Read Derek Sivers’ short essay on this -

Imitate. We’re imperfect mirrors.

My friend Manish shared a great quote from Mark Twain -

“There is no such thing as a new idea. It is impossible. We simply take a lot of old ideas and put them into a sort of mental kaleidoscope. We give them a turn and they make new and curious combinations. We keep on turning and making new combinations indefinitely; but they are the same old pieces of colored glass that have been in use through all the ages.”

Check out Manish’s tweet.

One last time..

Stop trying to come up with brand new ideas to build a business around.

Start with what’s already working and give it your own spin.

Innovation = Imitation + Iteration

🔗 Super Links

Useful links you don't want to miss -

• Get expert insights to discover and do your best work. Finally build a career you’re proud of. Read Dan’s dispatches (Also, check out this unconventional method of clarifying what matters)
• An interesting approach to price discovery.
• The harder you try, the worse it gets - The law of reversed effort (YouTube)
• The 7 red bags of consumer psychology (last week’s post)
• Learn how to dominate Twitter from the most tactical Twitter course in the market.

(*Links in bold are classified ads, to reserve your spot, hit reply or please send me a DM on Twitter.)

🤗 How can I help?

• Entrepreneurship is a long journey, don’t go at it alone. Join a tight knit group of creators, indie hackers and solopreneurs. Get clarity, direction and focus.
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