Dalton Caldwell

Tarpit ideas are uniquely dangerous because they don't look bad — they look great. You get validation, positive feedback, even early users. That's what makes them traps.

To find a great startup idea: look for large companies owned by PE or publicly traded, that customers hate. Big known market + horrible software = opportunity. That's how Zip found procurement.

When deciding whether to pivot, count your remaining ideas. If you have a dozen untried growth ideas, keep going. If your best idea is 'maybe we should pay influencers or something,' it's time to pivot.

Brex started as a VR headset company. Retool started as a UK Venmo clone. They were the objectively worst-looking companies in their YC batch. They became the most successful ones.

Segment couldn't have started with their final idea. They learned about analytics running their first startup, then pivoted to a Mixpanel competitor, then discovered nobody wanted the competitor — they just wanted the JS snippet. The final idea emerged only through grinding.

If you're consuming the same podcasts, reading the same Twitter accounts, and hanging out with the same people as every other founder — of course you'll all have the same startup ideas. You need to change your information diet.