How to Think About Startup Ideas (The YC Way)

Most founders overestimate how important the idea is and underestimate how much execution and iteration matter. Still, some ideas are far more likely to work than others.

At Y Combinator, the goal isn’t to predict winners perfectly — it’s to help founders stack the deck in their favor.

After studying top YC companies, thousands of applications, and years of pivots, a few clear patterns emerge.

The most common mistake: solving problems users don’t care about

Many founders can describe a problem eloquently — but users don’t actually feel it.

“That’s a solution in search of a problem — and it’s the most common failure mode we see.”

If users aren’t urgently trying to solve the problem today, no amount of clever technology will save the idea.

The trap of “tar pit” ideas

Tar pit ideas feel obvious, widespread, and easy — but hide deep structural challenges.

They attract founders year after year.
And they almost never work.

“If an idea has been tried for 20 years and no one has made it work, assume it’s much harder than it looks.”

These ideas consume time, talent, and optimism — without compounding progress.

Founder–market fit matters more than idea quality

Great startup ideas usually fit the founders pursuing them.

“Don’t look for a good startup idea in the abstract. Look for a good idea for your team.”

Your unfair advantage isn’t the idea — it’s what you uniquely understand, notice, or can execute better than anyone else.

The best ideas often look bad at first

Many iconic startups looked boring, competitive, or hard early on.

Stripe. Gusto. Dropbox.

“Hard things scare people off — that’s why they’re opportunities.”

If something feels uncomfortable to start, that’s often a signal — not a red flag.

Most great ideas aren’t brainstormed — they’re noticed

“At least 70% of top YC companies got their ideas organically, by working on something and paying attention.”

Great founders don’t sit around waiting for inspiration.
They work on real problems and stay alert to friction.

Ayub’s commentary

What stands out most is how anti-romantic this framework is — and that’s a good thing.

YC isn’t telling founders to chase inspiration.
They’re telling you to chase truth: real problems, real users, real constraints.

The biggest unlock for new founders is reframing the question from:
“Is this a good idea?”
to:
“Is this a good starting point for us?”

Once you internalize that, you stop waiting for perfection and start moving.

And that’s usually the difference between founders who build companies — and founders who just think about them.