If you google “startup business ideas” there’s no shortage of blog posts suggesting more than 50 career paths guaranteed to make you a rich person. In some cases, these articles can be a helpful brainstorming exercise. More often, they are common knowledge served to the thousands of people with the same goal as yours.
After all, we all know who earns a lot of money, but the chances are that many high-income fields are not your talent or passion. Without knowledge and dedication, it’s impossible to succeed in a highly competitive start-up environment. A successful startup should be a reflection of your personality and goals.
Good startup business ideas cannot pop into your mind after a quick Google search and a few listicles – but that doesn’t mean you should spend months looking around aimlessly. We can help you look in the right places – here is a list of 10 websites where you can find startup business ideas.
1. Springwise
The first step to your perfect idea is joining the club of people who also happen to have ideas. Maybe you’ll discover that your startup business ideas aren’t as original as you thought, perhaps you’ll find that nobody else thought of the same thing as you. What’s for sure is that you’ll find a spark for further brainstorming – as other people’s thoughts start pouring in, the process will take you places.
So how can Springwise help you with that? This website collects information about innovations from the entire world and updates its database daily. Its network of “springspotters” is active in 190 countries, always on the look for the latest discoveries in high tech, science, design and dozens of other fields. Big names such as Facebook, Bitcoin, Snapchat and Raspberry Pi had found their way to Springwise’s pages two years before they made it big.
While most crucial information on this website is accessible, you will find some reviews locked (a way around that is visiting startup’s designated web page). For its premium members, Springwise offers a palette of services, including monthly, quarterly and yearly reports and summaries, delivered directly to your email address.
Despite its pricey membership, Springwise tops this list thanks to its solid network of top-notch professionals whose analysis can be a valuable source of advice and direction as you move forward with your startup.
2. Beta List
Beta List is another amazing interactive destination for all people who want to be up to date with the latest innovations and startup business ideas. On this website, you can discover upcoming and recently launched startups, or you can submit your startup and get some valuable feedback from other users.
Beta List, however, has its limitations – it is dedicated exclusively to technology startups, including software, hardware and old ideas with a new twist. You won’t find blogs, online courses, agencies or e-commerce startups here.
If you want to present your startup idea on Beta List, you won’t be able to just throw it out there – you’ll have to follow the website’s guidelines and make sure that your landing page is presentable. Pay attention if you are on a tight schedule because apps that qualify for publishing take about two months to get featured. You can skip the waiting queue by paying.
Once you’re featured, people can leave likes and comments, and you can do the same – the only thing you need to sign up is a Twitter account. Beta List pushes you to be proactive – not only in search of ideas but with your own plans as well. It can help you become a bit of a risk taker and put yourself out there.
Bonus suggestion: Launching Next
Launching Next is similar to Beta List, featuring more than 5,000 new startups and startup business ideas at the moment. Just like with Beta List, submitting your idea is free if you are willing to wait – for $49, you can skip the queue and have your feature considered for publication within one day.
3. Prefundia
Prefundia has a similar concept to Beta List and Launching Next, with an added twist – the opportunity to get funding for your project.
After you create a project page for free, the users can leave feedback or pledge money for your product or startup. Although Prefundia boasts generating over $68 million through its launches, once you browse, you’ll notice that most startups are struggling to reach their funding goals in time.
This should not discourage you, as Prefundia is a valuable source of creative, average and sometimes borderline ridiculous ideas. Apart from giving you something to think about, Prefundia projects are a great insight into what works and what doesn’t – pay attention to the projects that manage to attract financial backers and see what sets them apart from failed fundraising attempts.
4. Fu**ed Up Startups
Speaking of risk-taking and putting yourself out there, F-ed Up Startups is a great source of positive thinking, despite its name signifying failure. The philosophy is pretty simple – failure should be viewed as an ordinary, unavoidable part of life and a valuable learning experience.
You’ve probably heard about the famous “9 out of 10 startups fail” statistic, and you may have seen numerous rebuttals of this claim. But even in the most optimistic calculations, your chances of making it are, let’s say, 50-50. If you don’t have to fail, well, don’t – learn from other people’s mistakes.
F-ed Up Startups speaks to entrepreneurs, businesspeople, students, and enthusiasts, and offers in-depth analysis of startup ecosystem and case studies of failed business attempts. You can find guidelines and ideas or contact the website teams for any query.
This place’s exceptional quality is the unique, analytical approach – while many blogs in the niche tend to write about the dreaded startup failure in general terms, F-ed Startups dig deep into each project and its specifics.
5. Crunchbase
Crunchbase is the ultimate database of world’s most innovative companies, where you can find news about the latest trends, investments, and activities in the business world.
One of Crunchbase’s greatest qualities is the sleek way it presents data – you can search by companies, people, investors, funding rounds, acquisitions, and you’re also updated on the latest major business events you may be interested in attending.
Crunchbase will help you gain insight into software used by some of the most successful tech companies, and it also offers tools for search, tracking, and analysis of web traffic. While the website is well equipped for meeting seasoned entrepreneurs’ needs, it can also help shape beginner’s outlook on how things work in the business.
Bonus suggestion: Startups List
Startups List is a fairly simple concept – it offers you a list of trending startups in more than 70 locations known as innovation hubs. You can search startups by names, people behind them, and the site also offers you a calendar of important business events you shouldn’t miss.
6. TechEu
You may have noticed that many startup-dedicated websites often focus their analysis on the usual hotspots of startup activity, often ignoring entire regions or the specific ecosystems in which new businesses are born around the world. If you are from Europe, Tech EU is the right place to look for the latest news about the old continent’s startup scene.
Tech EU offers in-depth, data-driven analysis of the latest innovations, taking into account both local and broader European economic factors. One of Tech EU’s essential missions is to inform entrepreneurs and business enthusiasts about the emerging markets in often overlooked central and Eastern Europe.
On this website, you will find the latest news, profiles of startup companies, podcasts, reports and opinion pieces written by the journalists with years of experience in technology, business, and startups. Even if you are not from Europe, professional reporting and different perspective make TechEU a must-have entry on your bookmark list.
7. Product Hunt
Product Hunt is pretty self-explanatory – you can look for the latest mobile apps, software, hardware, websites and tech innovations, or you can submit your own idea.
This website itself is a successful startup – after gained traction in the tech world in less than a year, it secured more than $6 million in funding. That was in 2014, and Product Tech is still rolling with thousands of hopeful product makers hoping to be the next big thing.
Product Hunt is more than a sheer database of new gadgets and startup business ideas – its greatest quality is the community-oriented culture, where users are encouraged to grade products, comment on them, but also ask questions, start conversations and create their own teams. Even if you don’t have a product yet, being in this environment will motivate you and provide you with valuable support and feedback. Product Hunt also organizes regular meetups, so keep an eye on the site’s calendar.
As browsing these websites becomes your daily routine, you will find yourself in a completely different place. You will no longer be a scared rookie looking to be told what to do. Your idea will come from your own knowledge and analysis, not a random suggestion.
After a while, you may stick to your startup business idea more confidently – or notice that it transformed into something completely different. Either way, when you take the hard road on your way towards the idea, you are not just a confused beginner with one great thought – you have everything it takes to take the next great step towards success.
Your learning process does not end with a great idea, so make sure you know how to kickstart your online business, or where to look for the most effective marketing strategies.
