What makes a great app idea
A simple philosophy
Thinking up a great consumer app idea is exciting — because the right one can impact millions. But most “innovative” ideas don’t fail due to a lack of technology. They fail because they solve problems that few people actually have.
So here is what I have found:
Your innovative ideas won’t work:
I think most of the unique ideas that no one is doing are a bad start. Thinking of unique ideas is not a big skill. You can potentially think of most unfeasible ideas on the fly, and you will see proof that no one is doing them. But the answer is simple: no one is doing them because no one requires them.
Let me give you an example:
- I hate elevators; it takes too long to go from the 20th floor to the 0th floor, and it is boring.
Logical Solution — Make elevators faster -> No one is doing this, and personally, I don’t want to ride in a fast elevator.
Psychological Solution — Install mirrors in elevators -> People are too busy staring at themselves, they forget when the 20th floor arrives
- Novelty is easy; necessity is rare.
- If no one is building it, the default explanation is not “hidden opportunity” — it’s “insufficient demand.”
- It’s simple to generate ideas that are unfeasible, impractical, or unwanted. The skill is noticing real, recurring problems people will adopt solutions for.
Your unique advantage:
I think for the best app ideas, you need to have uniquely experienced certain problems to think of a solution. There must be a problem in your life. You found a hack to solve it. You ask your friends and family. Do they also face the same problem? You give them your hack, and people love it. That is the start of productizing the hack into a solution.
Let me give you an example:
- Cooperate employees use to Order magazines. They did not care about the magazines at all, except for the last page. It had all the job postings. Interesting that there is no one place to access these job postings. That is the start of Job Posting websites. I think to observe that and to build this solution. You need to know both about the magazine and web development to build a Job posting Company like LinkedIn or Naukri. You have to be uniquely positioned to be a founder with a great idea
- Lived pain: You repeatedly encounter a problem.
- Working hack: You devise a simple workaround that meaningfully helps.
- Social proof: Friends or colleagues try the hack and ask to keep using it.
-Productisation: You formalise the hack into a product with a clear core loop.
I try to interview founders and understand their thinking. If you want to know more. Here is my latest Podcast.
