Start-up: is your idea a 'good' idea?

An intuition that tickles you? A spontaneous illumination? A tip that helps you go faster?
Is your idea innovative enough to found a company? We will give you the answer to this question. The answer is simple. So simple that it may seem obvious to you.

If you analyze your good idea you will realize that it solves a problem. Still? Yes, a good idea is the solution to an obstacle. So the potential of your idea is proportional to the difficulty of the problem solved.

A good idea is never born alone. Others probably had it.

This is the case of our project: Meta-API.io. When I met Mathieu Rasse, the founder and engineer who created Meta-API.io, he had already talked to developers about his intention to simplify the integration of APIs, the interfaces that allow the exchange between isolated services and data.

All developers who use APIs have recurring problems, but thanks to a SaaS solution, it was possible to facilitate the integration of APIs by automating the entire configuration stack in back-end development.

However, if the idea was simple, the will and the skills to develop such a project were rare.

And this last point is crucial, because if your project is close to your heart it probably means that your experiences, your skills or your competences favor you to solve this problem in another way, and maybe better.

An idea only exists if it is shared

In the forest of devices and screens, creating a startup begins by planting a seed. The little seed is the idea that will germinate by testing it with its potential users.

This is how Mathieu presented his project to me, I was excited. It was obvious to me to accompany him. On the one hand, because saving development time is precious today, but above all, for me as a designer, enabling new uses thanks to the APIs still seems to be a potential creator of so much wealth.

When you exchange with your potential users, you will discover how they deal with the problem you want to solve.
Maybe they already meet this need in a different way? This is not a problem because it means that your future solution has a potential. You have a potential opportunity but you have also detected a likely competition.

Real competition can help you. It allows you to benefit from real evaluations and measurements in an existing market. Your competitors' track record can also inspire your own strategy. Of course, you need to identify how to stand out.

If the market is non-existent, your idea may still be good but a new parameter needs to be evaluated?

The timing

In the short history of the digital world the meeting between a customer and a service has sometimes been delayed. You may have heard of Broadcast.com or Reel.com, these online music sites were born in 1997 and 1998 respectively. Their existence was not long, users preferred CD rom. The use of online services was obviously not yet anchored in the habits. We had to wait a generation, in 2008, to see the success of Spotify, the same service but with a real customer base.

Is the timing of your project in line with the times?

If there is no ready-made solution to identify contemporary expectations, or to put words on the zeitgeist, you can analyze if the problem to be solved is the subject of recurrent exchanges in dedicated groups, on social networks, or of tutorials on alternative solutions, or if it inspires newspaper articles etc.

Push your research and put numbers to it. The indicators that will push you to take action will be the time and money invested by people to solve the problem.

In short, find out if your target really needs your product on a daily basis.

It also depends on you

When you talk about your project, to what extent do you stimulate the imagination of your interlocutors? Would they be ready to follow you in such an adventure? What arguments do they put up against you? To what extent does your idea respond to their criticism?

These exchanges should help you to understand the maturity of your idea and to launch it.

Is your idea still viable? Yes?

Then we'll help you plan your flight in our next article: "But what does the competition do?" where we'll give you tips to perfect your Benchmark.

So stick with us, we'll be better together soon.