Here’s a collection of questions and observations that you can use to assess the potential of your ideas.

1 Observation by Patrick McKenzie

• Many things which purport to make particular business processes easier are not in fact solving a problem, because the existing process is Good Enough. If you can’t find any book written about it, any competing software, any much-maligned downloadable Excel spreadsheets… consider that it might not be an important enough problem. Many things which purport to make particular business processes easier are not in fact solving a problem, because the existing process is Good Enough. If you can’t find any book written about it, any competing software, any much-maligned downloadable Excel spreadsheets… consider that it might not be an important enough problem.

1 Observation by Erik Torenberg

• Younger founders should take market risk (market that are small or doesn’t exist yet)

Older founders should take execution risk (market is very clear & execution, expertise, and relationships are the differentiator).

2 Questions by Paul Graham

• Who wants this right now?
• Who wants this so much that they’ll use it even when it’s a crappy version one made by a two-person startup they’ve never heard of?

3 Questions by Andreessen Horowitz

• Who really wants this today?
• How many of those people are out in the wild?
• What macro story must play out in the market [for there to be] market-wide demand?

5 Questions by Tyler Tringas

• Can I make this?
• Are people currently spending money on it?
• How will I get the first 25 customers? Then the next 250?
• If it works, will it be sustainable?
• Am I the person to build this business?

5 Commandments by MJ DeMarco

• Commandment of Control. Is there one person or entity that can instantly kill your business with one decision? Are you fishing in a pond controlled by someone else? And what happens to your business when that pond is taken away?
• Commandment of Entry. If you do something that takes minutes to accomplish or solve, was there really a problem? Or are you merely stacking yourself atop a mountain of already existing solutions? If you’re starting a Mexican restaurant in a city full of Mexican restaurants, you aren’t satisfying dire cravings.
• The Commandment of Need. Do you provide sufficient relative value? If you open a pizza bistro and there’s already twenty-five other pizza places nearby, have you provided relative value? Your pizza might be darn good, but relative value doesn’t exist because more than likely, a few other pizza joints are also darn good.
• The Commandment of Time. Is there a way for you to detach income and your time?
• The Commandment of Scale. Is what you’re selling replicable, or easily copied into multiple units, locations or chains?

6 Questions by Lenny Rachitsky

• Do people really want this?
• Do enough people really want this?
• What has changed that now allows for this to work?
• Can you acquire these people efficiently?
• Is this the right team to build this?
• Can you stay on top?

7 Questions by Peter Thiel

• The Engineering Question: Can you create breakthrough technology instead of incremental improvements?
• The Timing Question: Is now the right time to start your particular business?
• The Monopoly Question: Are you starting with a big share of a small market?
• The People Question: Do you have the right team?
• The Distribution Question: Do you have a way to not just create but deliver your product?
• The Durability Question: Will your market position be defensible 10 and 20 years into the future?
• The Secret Question: Have you identified a unique opportunity that others don’t see?

20 questions by Dan Hulton

• Is this an exciting product?
• Does this solve a significant enough problem that people will pay for it?
• Will customers regularly use and see value from this product?
• Does this product provide value to companies at broad stages of their life cycle?
• Does this product align with your values?
• Do you like your potential customers?
• Will you be able to stay motivated to work on this product?
• Can you build this product in a reasonable amount of time?
• What is your moat?
• Is this product easy to distribute?
• Is downtime a life-or-death emergency?
• Will you spend a lot of time doing customer support?
• Will this product be all-consuming?
• Does the person who gets the most value out of your product control the credit card that will be used to pay for it?
• Do your potential customers regularly pay for products, ideally for this kind of product?
• Is your market a large one with a lot of upmarket competition?
• Is there demonstrated demand for a downmarket competitor?
• Is the market still growing?
• Is it easy to reach your audience?
• Is there a powerful distribution channel available to reach this market?

Misc Questions

• How many miracles are necessary? (Elad Gil )
• Can you articulate why most people think it’s a bad idea, but you understand what makes it good? (Sam Altman )