What Makes a Good Startup Idea? Data From Successful Ideas.
We gathered data from hundreds of thousands of startup ideas and submissions.
These submissions came from our site where people Validate Startup Ideas .
Below is a snapshot of what industries people want to enter and the insight that shows if
people are chasing the correct ideas or not.
Founder Intention Index
Which industries founders WANT to enter
Technology / AI ████████████████████████
Education ██████████
Healthcare █████████
Consumer / Retail ████████
Finance / Fintech ███████
Marketplaces / Platforms ██████
Local / Services █████
Founders are still clustering around tech and AI, even when their backgrounds don’t support it.
Skill–Industry Fit Score
Do founders have an edge in the space they chose?
Low alignment ███████████████████
Medium alignment ███████
High alignment █████
Most founders are entering industries where they have no real leverage.
Beginner takeaway
Your fastest path forward is usually where you already understand the customer.
Customer Clarity Score
How specific founders describe who they’re building for
Vague (“people”, “users”) █████████████████
Semi-clear ███████
Clear, reachable customer █████
Clear customer thinking is still rare at the idea stage.
Why it matters
If you can’t picture the buyer, you can’t validate.
Strong vs Weak Idea Inputs
Strong Inputs Share:
Specific customer (“HR managers at 50–200 person companies”)
Clear pain (“manual approvals delaying payroll by days”)
Founder advantage (“built payroll tools for 6 years”)
Weak Inputs Share:
Abstract goals (“revolutionize productivity”)
No lived experience
“Big companies” as customer
Buzzwords instead of problems
Problem Heatmap
What founders WANT to solve
Workflow overload ███████████
AI automation █████████
Education access ███████
Marketing complexity ███████
Mental health / burnout ████
Financial literacy ███
The “Why This Idea Exists” Index
Founder motivation patterns
Personal frustration ███████████
Using existing skills █████████
Trend curiosity ███████
Income replacement ██████
Status / identity ████
Ideas rooted in lived pain start clearer and move faster.
Top 5 Strongest Idea Inputs (Anonymized)
Based on input quality only:
Medium-sized manufacturers struggling with compliance documentation
Specialty contractors blocked by approval bottlenecks
Urban adults seeking private, stigma-free health clarity
Small business owners confused by funding approvals
Early professionals overwhelmed by overbuilt productivity tools
Why these stand out
Each ties a clear customer to a painful, repetitive problem.
Founder Language Clarity Score
How ideas are being described
Concrete, actionable ███████
Mixed clarity █████████
Buzzwords / abstraction ███████████
Clear thinking sounds boring, but it’s not.
“Should You Be Building This?” Signals
Early misalignment indicators
Customer hard to reach ███████████
Founder far from problem █████████
Distribution unclear ████████
Regulation underestimated █████
Founder Momentum Signals
What predicts progress
Repeated tool usage ███████████
Idea → landing page action ████████
Short gaps between steps ███████
One-and-done submissions (mistake) ████████████
Curiosity is your superpower! Stay curious about the problem and customer.
How do you know if you have a good startup idea?
It's a blend of personal experience, unique insight and access to customers!
Be sure to 👉 Validate Your New Business Idea today!
These submissions came from our site where people Validate Startup Ideas .
Below is a snapshot of what industries people want to enter and the insight that shows if
people are chasing the correct ideas or not.
Founder Intention Index
Which industries founders WANT to enter
Technology / AI ████████████████████████
Education ██████████
Healthcare █████████
Consumer / Retail ████████
Finance / Fintech ███████
Marketplaces / Platforms ██████
Local / Services █████
Founders are still clustering around tech and AI, even when their backgrounds don’t support it.
Skill–Industry Fit Score
Do founders have an edge in the space they chose?
Low alignment ███████████████████
Medium alignment ███████
High alignment █████
Most founders are entering industries where they have no real leverage.
Beginner takeaway
Your fastest path forward is usually where you already understand the customer.
Customer Clarity Score
How specific founders describe who they’re building for
Vague (“people”, “users”) █████████████████
Semi-clear ███████
Clear, reachable customer █████
Clear customer thinking is still rare at the idea stage.
Why it matters
If you can’t picture the buyer, you can’t validate.
Strong vs Weak Idea Inputs
Strong Inputs Share:
Specific customer (“HR managers at 50–200 person companies”)
Clear pain (“manual approvals delaying payroll by days”)
Founder advantage (“built payroll tools for 6 years”)
Weak Inputs Share:
Abstract goals (“revolutionize productivity”)
No lived experience
“Big companies” as customer
Buzzwords instead of problems
Problem Heatmap
What founders WANT to solve
Workflow overload ███████████
AI automation █████████
Education access ███████
Marketing complexity ███████
Mental health / burnout ████
Financial literacy ███
The “Why This Idea Exists” Index
Founder motivation patterns
Personal frustration ███████████
Using existing skills █████████
Trend curiosity ███████
Income replacement ██████
Status / identity ████
Ideas rooted in lived pain start clearer and move faster.
Top 5 Strongest Idea Inputs (Anonymized)
Based on input quality only:
Medium-sized manufacturers struggling with compliance documentation
Specialty contractors blocked by approval bottlenecks
Urban adults seeking private, stigma-free health clarity
Small business owners confused by funding approvals
Early professionals overwhelmed by overbuilt productivity tools
Why these stand out
Each ties a clear customer to a painful, repetitive problem.
Founder Language Clarity Score
How ideas are being described
Concrete, actionable ███████
Mixed clarity █████████
Buzzwords / abstraction ███████████
Clear thinking sounds boring, but it’s not.
“Should You Be Building This?” Signals
Early misalignment indicators
Customer hard to reach ███████████
Founder far from problem █████████
Distribution unclear ████████
Regulation underestimated █████
Founder Momentum Signals
What predicts progress
Repeated tool usage ███████████
Idea → landing page action ████████
Short gaps between steps ███████
One-and-done submissions (mistake) ████████████
Curiosity is your superpower! Stay curious about the problem and customer.
How do you know if you have a good startup idea?
It's a blend of personal experience, unique insight and access to customers!
Be sure to 👉 Validate Your New Business Idea today!
