You’ve decided you want to get rich in software. You’ve got the skills, you’ve got the infrastructure, you’ve got a friend who designs the cutest damn logos anyone’s ever seen, and your work ethic is off the charts, plus you’re still on good terms with your ex who has an MBA, your uncle is an attorney, and your sister is an accountant.
Now all you need is a killer idea.
Often, that’s the hardest part. Lots of people can code, sysadmin, and do design work, but coming up with something that’s going to really take off in the marketplace is a totally different skillset.
Recently my Facebook ads have been clogged with adds for “courses” called “MicroSAAS bootcamp” and other things. All of them purport to show you how to build the side gig of your dreams. You code something up, buy some cloud hosting, and the customers roll in. All of these courses assume you already have the killer idea…but what if you don’t?
In that case you can check out. RequestForProduct.co, which describes itself as “a crowdsourced directory of product ideas people wish exist.”
The site scrapes social media for phrases which indicate the poster is wishing a product exists, or explicitly uses a hashtag like #RequestForProduct or #RequestForStartup.
Some recent examples:
- “is there anything out there to monitor your computer and detect when you are in flow/deep work? Would be neat to tie this into messaging status.”
- “What are the best ai-enabled email tools out there? I want something that auto categorizes my email (using my custom email organization system) and writes drafts for me.”
- “Would you be willing to pay a premium on an existing Europe trip to curate an experience that best suits your personality”
- “Turntable FM for generative #AI artists I want a feed of the most creative stuff y’all are promoting AI to make”
There’s a high noise-to-signal ratio but if you’re willing to spend some time mining for gems, perhaps your killer product is being asked for in the marketplace.
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I also enjoy using LEBs! I have an empire of little guys for VPNs, larger guys for apps, and big guys for databases and storage. When I'm not in front a screen I'm into German Shepherd dogs, quality knives, target shooting, theology, tabletop roleplaying games, and forest hiking.
I enjoy writing technical articles here on LowEndBox to help people get more out of their systems. You can find me on LowEndTalk @raindog308
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