Stop searching for billion-dollar startup ideas

I have a friend called Sam.

Sam works at a high-growth startup in Silicon Valley. He is smart, curious, and ambitious. His dream is to become a unicorn founder. Given how driven he is, I had no doubt he would achieve it.

Whenever I talked to him, he would tell me his startup ideas and ask for my feedback. Almost all his ideas are great, so I'm always excited to jam with him about them. Every time he shares a new idea with me, I become super excited and encourage him to go for it. This kind of conversation went on for 2 years.

Last week, I finally asked him "What happened to the idea you mentioned last time? Did it fail?"

"Oh no, I abandoned it because the market is not large enough", Sam said.

"Okay…what about that XYZ idea?" I asked

"Well, a VC told me the TAM is too small and not fundable," He said.

After a few more questions, I realized Sam had given up all his ideas for the same reason - "Not a billion-dollar idea". What's worse is that he works at a growth-stage startup. All he sees is double-digit MoM growth and how "easy" it is to unlock more growth. So he assumes it's the idea itself that causes the massive scale and growth.

But here is the problem - big ideas are difficult to execute, especially for first-time founders. Ideas like social networks, CRMs, messaging tools, etc may sound like a unicorn idea, but they are hard to get started.

The best ideas always seem small at first. Only in hindsight, it becomes obvious that it can grow into a billion-dollar business.

Facebook started as a Harvard student directory. Apple started out hand-building personal computers for enthusiasts. Early Airbnb requires hosts to have air mattresses and cook breakfasts for guests. If you were to calculate the TAM of these ideas before you start, how big would that be? Nobody, including their early investors, could have predicted the scale of these companies.

So instead of building a social network, how about making a social app for a niche user group?

I'm not saying you need to pursue all your small ideas, but rejecting them purely based on the projected scale is not wise. If your idea has interests from potential users, you should give it a try. You never know how big it can become.

So next time when you find an idea that people need, forget about the market size and just go for it.