Looking for a startup idea? Find something you absolutely hate

I hate how noisy social networks have become. I hate how complex it is to rent a house. I hate short battery life. Hate cables. Hate the typing experience on smartphones. Hate confusing airports. Hate long lines of people everywhere.(This is barely 1% of the stuff I hate, but I think I’ve made my point…)

If you asked me how to find a startup idea, I’d suggest you find something which its current state of existence you hate, loathe, despise. Find absolutely intolerable.“Something” can really mean almost anything, from product categories, services, a process, method or even a social norm.

See, when you hate something so much that you find its current state unacceptable, you are literally incapable of sitting still — something must be done!

It’s nauseating how much “love” is dispensed throughout entrepreneurial circles. Executives everywhere preach about the motivating potency that love has on a would-be entrepreneur. “Find what you love,” is what they’ll tell you, then create a startup around that. It’s contagious feel-good advice that more often than not, get you nowhere.

Hate is as much an energizing force as is love. Likely even greater, and has one advantage: it’s an alarm system that tells you something’s wrong with the world. By thinking about the stuff you find intolerable, you’re by definition looking for problems — stuff that needs fixing.

The best startup ideas solve specific and obvious “pains” for its users, stuff they hate. And the best part: the products and services that solve pains are in turn loved by their users.