u/Affectionate_Pear977

Those of you who have started a business and have passed or just hit (congrats!) 1K MRR, can you tell me that ahah moment when you got your idea? Details like where you were, what led to it, etc.

Whether that moment was truly glamorous or just plain and normal, I'm all ears.

Was it the usual "solve my own problem"? If not, how'd you spot the gap?

MY STORY (NOT RLLY NECESSARY FOR Q)

If you're wondering what led to this post, here's my story:

A little about me: I'm 19, I'm a software engineer/student and have worked in SF as an intern and am currently at a biotech startup in Chicago.

This summer break while doing my internship full time, me and my buddy (who's a founding engineer in a fintech startup that recently raised and also a student) decided to make our first online dollar in a business WE owned.

We already tried our hand at 2 startups before this in our freshman and sophomore years but they failed before any revenue because the ideas weren't great and we forced it (great experiences though). We did end up making our first sale this time around on a poster business, but that seemed to be a one off thing and it quickly died. After trying 2 more ideas that came up dead, I felt that m

Those of you who have started a business and have passed or just hit (congrats!) 1K MRR, can you tell me that ahah moment when you got your idea? Details like where you were, what led to it, etc.

Whether that moment was truly glamorous or just plain and normal, I'm all ears.

Was it the usual "solve my own problem"? If not, how'd you spot the gap?

MY STORY (NOT RLLY NECESSARY FOR Q)

If you're wondering what led to this post, here's my story:

A little about me: I'm 19, I'm a software engineer/student and have worked in SF as an intern and am currently at a biotech startup in Chicago.

This summer break while doing my internship full time, me and my buddy (who's a founding engineer in a fintech startup that recently raised and also a student) decided to make our first online dollar in a business WE owned.

We already tried our hand at 2 startups before this in our freshman and sophomore years but they failed before any revenue because the ideas weren't great and we forced it (great experiences though). We did end up making our first sale this time around on a poster business, but that seemed to be a one off thing and it quickly died. After trying 2 more ideas that came up dead, I felt that most markets that two 19 and 20 yr olds can enter with $0 are too saturated to be of any good unless we niche down.

This has been an ongoing problem for the last 2 years. Most of my ideas seem too forced and the general advice "solve your own problem" seemed mostly useless to me. I don't have many pressing problems at the moment.

I decided to type this post up because I don't like sitting around just thinking. Hoping stories will inspire and teach me a few lessons.

Those of you who have started a business and have passed or just hit (congrats!) 1K MRR, can you tell me that ahah moment when you got your idea? Details like where you were, what led to it, etc.

Whether that moment was truly glamorous or just plain and normal, I'm all ears.

Was it the usual "solve your own problem?" If not, how'd you spot the gap?

MY STORY (NOT RLLY NECESSARY FOR Q)

If you're wondering what led to this post, here's my story:

A little about me: I'm 19, I'm a software engineer/student and have worked in SF as an intern and am currently at a biotech startup in Chicago.

This summer break while doing my internship full time, me and my buddy (who's a founding engineer in a fintech startup that recently raised and also a student) decided to make our first online dollar in a business WE owned.

We already tried our hand at 2 startups before this in our freshman and sophomore years but they failed before any revenue because the ideas weren't great and we forced it (great experiences though). We did end up making our first sale this time around on a poster business, but that seemed to be a one off thing and it quickly died. After trying 2 more ideas that came up dead, I felt that most markets that two 19 and 20 yr olds can enter with $0 are too saturated to be of any good unless we niche down.

This has been an ongoing problem for the last 2 years. Most of my ideas seem too forced and the general advice "solve your own problem" seemed mostly useless to me. I don't have many pressing problems at the moment.

I decided to type this post up because I don't like sitting around just thinking. Hoping stories will inspire and teach me a few lessons.

I'm an undergrad (19) in Chicago majoring in CS, currently working at a biotech startup.

I'm mostly deep into software (I tinkered with arduinos and stuff but nothing serious), and I wanted to meet up with people around my age who are deep into hardware. Maybe we can work on a project together.

But I literally can't find anyone.

My network solely consists of finance, business, and CS majors but not people who actively work with wires and whatnot.

So: if you're into hardware and are in the Chicago area, where do you hang out? Where do I look?

Even if you're not around the age group of 19, I'd appreciate directions on where to look.