Finding Startup Ideas by Solving Your Own Problems

10 vocabulary flashcards summarizing key concepts about problem-driven innovation, niche markets, and the importance of founder–problem fit.

Solve Your Own Problems

A product-development strategy that begins with fixing issues you personally face, giving you immediate expertise and a built-in user base.

First-hand Experience

Direct, personal familiarity with a problem, viewed as the best foundation for creating effective solutions and gaining early traction.

Expert in the Problem Space

Someone who deeply understands an issue through lived experience, granting them insight competitors without that background lack.

Privilege Argument

Criticism that founders who only address their own needs may overlook pressing problems of less-represented groups or regions.

Problem-First Thinking

The practice of identifying a real user problem before designing technology or a solution, avoiding the trap of building products no one needs.

Niche Market

A narrowly defined customer segment small enough to avoid big competitors yet large enough to sustain a profitable business.

Traction

Demonstrable user adoption and feedback indicating that a product or service is gaining market acceptance.

Technology Looking for a Problem

A common pitfall where creators start with new tech (e.g., GPS) and search for uses, instead of solving an existing need.

Democratization of Access

The spread of internet and computing power that enables people worldwide to solve their own local problems and capture the rewards.

Small to Big Growth Strategy

Building a business by first dominating a niche—e.g., 1,000 users paying $83.33/month equals $1 million annually—before expanding further.