Scribd
Upload
228K views22 pages

Startup Ideation Insights by Trip Adler

I made this presentation for a session at the Founder Institute on how to come up with ideas for startups. It covers the story about how we came up with the idea for Scribd and my effort to formalize the process of startup ideation.

Uploaded by

Trip Adler
Copyright
© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PPT, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
228K views22 pages

Startup Ideation Insights by Trip Adler

I made this presentation for a session at the Founder Institute on how to come up with ideas for startups. It covers the story about how we came up with the idea for Scribd and my effort to formalize the process of startup ideation.

Uploaded by

Trip Adler
Copyright
© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PPT, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
  • How to Come up with Good Startup Ideas
  • The Process of Startup Ideation
  • Idea A
  • Idea A-B
  • Idea C
  • Idea D
  • Idea E
  • Idea F
  • Idea G (Scribd Beginning)
  • Idea G-H
  • Idea G-H-I
  • Idea G-H-I-J
  • Idea G-H-I-J-K-L-M-… (Scribd Today)
  • The Trip Method of Startup Ideation
  • The TM: Basic Principles
  • Trip Method Unit (TMU)
  • Putting the TMUs together: Path to Success
  • Getting Started
  • How to Evaluate an Idea
  • More Ideation Lessons
  • Thanks

How to Come up with

Good Startup Ideas

Trip Adler
Co-founder and CEO, Scribd

Founders Institute Presentation


May 19, 2009
The Process of
Startup Ideation
The Scribd Story (SS)
The Trip Method (TM)
Idea A

Nowigo - a ridesharing
service
Lesson: Just because you
have an idea, it doesn’t mean
it’s a good idea
Idea A-B

Nowigo - transportation
search engine + ridesharing
service
Lesson: Work on something
that has potential to be huge
Idea C

Hulist - Craigslist for colleges


Lesson: Work on something
that has a built-in mechanism
for getting huge fast
Idea D

Moobub - Spam-your-friends
Lesson: If you try it and it
doesn’t work - and this
causes you to lose confidence
in the idea - then stop
working on it
Idea E

1-800-ASK-TRIP - A call
center for everything
Lesson: This idea is
awesome!
Idea F

Almost Twitter - Rate-your-


happiness
Lesson: Bounce your ideas
off smart and creative people;
get them involved in the
creative process
Idea G
(Scribd Beginning)
A way for academics to
publish online more easily
“The YouTube for academic
publishing”
Idea G-H

A way for academics,


creative writers, or anyone to
publish online more easily
“The YouTube for all kinds
of writing”
Idea G-H-I

 A way for academics, creative


writers, or anyone to publish
online more easily by uploading
documents sitting on their hard
drive and displaying them in a
web browser
 “The YouTube for documents”
Idea G-H-I-J
 A way for academics, creative writers,
or anyone to publish online more easily
by uploading documents sitting on their
hard drive and displaying them in a web
browser, and drive traffic to them from
Google, social sites, the Scribd
community, etc.
 “The YouTube for documents”
Idea G-H-I-J-K-L-M-….
(Scribd Today)
 Many more major ideas along the
way: iPaper, groups, API, mobile
reading, ads in documents, Scribd
Store, etc.
 A social publishing company that
aims to liberate the written word
by democratizing the publishing
process for everyday people
The Trip Method of Startup
Ideation
 The basic idea: A startup is not just one
idea, but a series of ideas put together
 What this means
 Just come up with an idea and start working on it
 Constantly keep pushing yourself to come up with
new ideas
 If you come up with a better idea
- And it fits into the original, then merge
- And it’s totally different, then switch (okay early
on, much harder later)
The TM: Basic Principles
 Push yourself to be creative
 Usually two hour bursts once a week
 Stop everything to ‘be creative’

 Move your best idea forward 90 hours per


week
 Building it, researching it, promoting it, etc.
 Trust your instincts and don’t worry
about others’ opinions
 Always evaluate, combine concepts, and re-evaluate
 If your gut tells you an idea is good, then it’s good
Trip Method Unit (TMU)

Idea B is better Idea B

Idea B is good and


Idea A-B
Idea A Idea B related to idea A

Idea B is bad
Putting the TMUs together:
Path to Success
Quality of idea
Success!
F-G-I
F-G

A-D
Time
A

B E J

C H

= TMU
Getting Started
 Think of something you need/want
 Think of something others need/want
 Figure out what’s broken and how can you fix it
 Find out what’s working for other companies and apply it in
a new way
 Invent a new technology and figure out how to apply it
 Think of a marketing/growth strategy and then fit a product
into it
How to Evaluate an Idea

 What other people think (probably better if they don’t like it, but not always)

 User data; reaction by the user / customer

 Success of similar ideas

 Sounds different / weird / radical

 Potential to change direction / leaves options open

 Has a way to get big fast

 Potential to be something huge / game changing

 Something you have the resources / knowledge / expertise to build

 Your gut feeling - what matters the most - needs to be developed through TM
More Ideation Lessons
 Having a great idea is often about connecting
the dots

 Creative ideas often form from intersection of


two people’s thinking

 If any idea seems too good to be true to you,


then get started

 It’s often about simple innovations - taking


existing elements and repackaging them

 Don’t pay too much attention to what’s trendy,


but learn from what’s working for others
More Ideation Lessons

 Being a good founder is a learned


skill - through trial and error
 Commitment is good but always
challenge your current ideas
 Hard work + creativity + TM =
Success
Thanks

Trip Adler
trip@[Link]
[Link]/tripadler

You might also like