Idea evaluation framework

New ideas are always exciting. We get hands-on and start building too early, only to lose interest later.

Here is a list of questions I currently use to reflect on ideas before I build them.

Who am I building for?

  • Where can I find them?
  • Do I have easy access to where they are?
  • Can I describe the my potential users in a short sentence?

What problems do they have today?

  • Can I explain the problem in simple words?

What is my solution?

  • What do I have to build?
  • Is it technically feasible and possible?

What is the current state?

  • How do people solve it today?
  • Who are the competitors? What is wrong with them?
  • Is my solution so much better to make them try it?
  • Have someone else tried this before?
  • What are the reasons for people to not use this? Can I solve this?

Why now?

  • Why is now the best time to do this?
  • Why haven’t anyone thought of this before?

Is this for me?

  • What is my unfair advantage?
  • Is this something I want to do for next 10 years of my life?
  • Does it align with my personal vision?

Answering all that question might take a lot of time. But thinking about these things will give you more time to reflect on the idea and decide if it is worth pursuing.

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