One of the most common refrains from people interested in being an entrepreneur, but haven’t taken the entrepreneurial plunge, is that they don’t have a good idea. My immediate response to the “I don’t have a good idea” statement is “what ideas do you have?” Almost always, an idea is presented followed by the fact that they looked around and someone else was already doing it, so they gave up on it.
Here a few things to keep in mind regarding startup ideas:
- A startup idea that is truly, completely unique is likely a bad idea
- Other companies working on the same or similar idea validates the idea (still might not be a great one but at least someone else thinks it’s a good one)
- Ideas are plentiful, it’s the execution of the idea that’s much more difficult
- Many times it takes the second or third generation startup with the same idea to be successful (being too early with an idea is a failure)
Ideas are important, but they shouldn’t be unique. Find an idea that has great founder fit and out execute the competitors.
What else? What are your thoughts on looking for startup ideas that aren’t unique?
David Cummings on Startups 
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