The best startup ideas feel a little dumb
Most million-dollar ideas look dumb until they work.
You scroll past them daily—half-baked comments, duct-taped workflows, broken UX that people oddly love. But instead of leaning in, we chase trendy, newer, "smarter" projects. Why? Because that obvious idea feels beneath us.
This week's links are a reality check: the best founders don't dream bigger, they observe better. If you're still hunting for your next big thing, maybe it's already in your search history—you just haven't reread it yet.
In this week's edition:
- Les Mapp's dead-simple method for spotting million-dollar ideas in Reddit comments and old forums
- Seth Godin on why obsessing over your startup's name is just high-effort procrastination
- Karri Saarinen's anti-hustle playbook for building standout products without sprinting into burnout
- A retro gaming stunt that exposes how fast tech loses its magic—and what that means for founders chasing "new"
- The UI kit that's weird on purpose—and why that's exactly what your design process needs
- And more...
Most Interesting
New tech wears off fast—and breaks your brain
A retro gaming stunt proves modern tools feel old in days. Our brains crave novelty, then delete the buzz almost instantly.
Seth Godin on why obsessing over your startup's name is just high-effort procrastination.
Million-dollar ideas are hiding in Reddit threads
Les Mapp turns niche complaints into recurring revenue—no AI, no big tech. He hunts raw pain in obscure comments and validates fast with simple MVPs.
Craft > chaos: Linear's slow-product strategy actually works
Karri Saarinen ditches speed for precision, proving that deep focus still builds buzz. His 10 rules prioritize clean teams, thoughtful decisions, and real user trust. Proof that "move fast" is just tech bro cope.
Tools I'm Trying
A thoughtful planning tool for folks who want to be intentional about their time.
Weird UI components that somehow spark better ideas. A copy-paste playground of offbeat Tailwind/React blocks. The weirdness feels silly until you use it—then it's liberating. A low-stakes way to un-stiff your design brain.
What's Trending
Two-pizza teams just got replaced by one dude and ChatGPT
AI is vaporizing product workflows—no more docs, mockups, or meetings. Just build, ship, fix, repeat. If you're still scoping for six weeks, congrats—you're already behind.
The case against conversational interfaces
A thoughtful counterpoint to the chat-for-everything trend.
OpenBrain unveils a series of AI agents that rapidly outpace human research. AI-2027 maps a month-by-month collapse of control as models scale past human oversight. It's fiction—but barely. This timeline feels less like sci-fi and more like a spoiler alert.
Closing Thought
The best startup ideas aren't impressive—they're embarrassingly obvious in hindsight. Stop looking for clever. Start looking for annoying.
