How do I get an idea for a startup?

I really enjoyed my first class. We had a guest speaker, Doctor Sean Wise the author of Startup Opportunities: know whento quit your day job. Before the class we could send inn questions that Sean, would answer during a Skype interview. The questions were helpful as they got me on the thinking path of finding an idea, which is the first step in starting a startup. Other important aspects you need to have when starting a startup is a product. Bala pointed out that great products come from great ideas which can lead to a great company. Finally you need a good team who shares your enthusiasm and can work together executing the idea.

But how do I get an idea? Sean, pointed out that the idea can be top down or bottom up. Bottom up is where you thinking of a solution to a problem people have to deal with in their day to day lives. Two years ago I got a bottom up idea, I was putting my food on a plate in the office cafeteria and was wondering the nutritional value of what was on my plate. Like so many other people I had no idea of how much protein, fat and carbohydrates where on my plate. I asked my coworkers why no one had come up with an app that could just tell me. I told them that I was going to make it happen. Of cores they laughed at me as the technical part of food recognition app with a good user interface is extremely complicated. The stubborn part of me though that this could be done, I was going to make it happen. I decided to contact my good friend, who is studying computer science and told her I had an idea for our company. We often talk about creating something huge, working together and concurring the world. I would look out for the business part and she would take care of the technical part. She told me that we should sign up for an idea competition at Reykjavik University. To make a long story short our idea won and we received a grant from Rannis for developing our idea further. At this time we were both extremely busy people, she working on hear studies and me with my job so the idea did not get the loving and caring it needed and faded out. Now google is training itself to count calories in food photos.  My idea was good but I was lacking the technical aspect to make it a great product and the team laced the passion of making it a reality.

I hope that this class will help me go further with the next idea. My mission is finding an idea that will solve a problem in people’s day to day lives. Who knows maybe my team will have a great idea that will be transformed in to a great product that will lead to a great company, the next unicorn.