Video · ~15 min

How to Get and Test Startup Ideas

Michael Seibel · Y Combinator Free Beginner

How to Get and Test Startup Ideas

A short, plain-spoken YC talk where Seibel says it outright: be in love with your problem and your customer, and treat the product as something that can change. He walks through grading a problem instead of grading an idea, and picking a handful of real early users to check whether your solution actually lands. It is the fastest way to reset from solution-first thinking without reading a whole book.

  • Grade the problem, not the idea, because a problem is easier to judge honestly than a solution you are already attached to.
  • Stay in love with the problem and the customer and keep the product flexible, since the first version is rarely the one that works.
  • Test with a small set of hand-picked users who truly have the problem, rather than chasing early adoption numbers.
Watch on YouTube ↗

It answers 16 questions

  1. What actually counts as an MVP, and what's the smallest one I can get away with?
  2. How do I come up with startup ideas that aren't just 'Uber for X'?
  3. How do I validate an idea without building anything?
  4. Should I solve a problem I personally have, or chase a bigger market?
  5. I'm passionate about an idea but have zero background in it. Should I still do it?
  6. I have too many ideas. How do I pick which one to actually work on?
  7. I have deep experience but only as an employee, never a founder. Does that still count as founder-market fit?
  8. How do I actually validate my idea with a no-code prototype before I sink weeks into building the real thing?
  9. Should I validate an idea before I can code, or learn to build first?
  10. How do I find a problem worth solving in an industry I have never worked in?
  11. My market is huge on paper but almost nobody is actually paying for solutions today. Good sign or bad?
  12. My co-founder and I keep debating two ideas and cannot agree, how do we decide?

And 4 more across the hub.

Read with it

  1. The single best thing ever written on customer conversations. It teaches you to ask about the customer's life and past... momtestbook.com Book · ~130 pages The Mom Test Rob Fitzpatrick
  2. The definitive essay on where good ideas come from: notice problems you personally have, don't force it. Use it as the lens for... paulgraham.com Essay · ~20 min read How to Get Startup Ideas Paul Graham
  3. The permission slip to recruit users by hand, do things manually, and deliver 'insanely great' experiences to your first few... paulgraham.com Essay · ~15 min read Do Things That Don't Scale Paul Graham
  4. Todd Jackson studied how dozens of now-large companies validated their very first idea. The pattern that repeats: deliver the... Lenny's Newsletter Article · ~15 min read How to Validate Your Startup Idea Todd Jackson
  5. Long-form, candid interviews with Indian founders and investors on how they actually grew, distributed and built brand, one of... The Neon Show / Neon Fund Podcast · 200+ episodes The Neon Show (100x Entrepreneur Podcast) Siddhartha Ahluwalia
  6. Video · ~25 min How to Get and Evaluate Startup Ideas Jared Friedman
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