Problems I refuse to live with

I do not brainstorm product ideas. I collect irritations.

Every product I have built started as something that annoyed me personally, repeatedly, until building software felt easier than tolerating it. That filter does a lot of work for free.

Why irritation beats inspiration

An irritation comes with a spec. You know exactly when it happens, how often, and what "fixed" feels like, because you live it. An inspired idea comes with none of that. You have to guess, and most guesses are wrong.

The test

Before I build anything now I ask one question: will I still use this myself in six months if nobody else ever signs up? If the answer is no, it is not a product, it is a hallucination with a landing page.