Ask HN: How to Germinate Ideas?

5 points by bhollan 7 days ago | 1 comment

I've recently had an idea for a hardware startup, but I'm torn between assuming I'm wrong (because I've never launched before) and discussing the idea in a public forum (also spiralling with the thought of being 'scooped').

Do you "just have to know" the right people IRL to talk with who you trust not to steal your idea? Is there any chance of keeping my day job? How do you go from a seedling idea in your head that you can't prove wrong on your own and an actual business with a few co-founders/etc without giving away the idea?

posterity 7 days ago |

Go to online communities that you think would benefit from the hardware. Don't sell it by posting "I have this idea <xyz>. What do you think?" or "would you like <abc>?". Listen to the problems being discussed and contribute. If people talk about problems your hardware would solve, you have an audience.

Share your thoughts in those comment sections; if they're well received, that's a positive signal.

I ran this with a previous SaaS product, which helped me get early users. Seemed like others should need to write the same tool, so I open-sourced it -> https://github.com/obris-dev/openmagpie

Understanding the problems related to your solution and who's asking the questions also becomes a conversation starter for cold outreach later.