Fake #1: the category in a costume

Most "ideas" you hear at school are categories pretending to be ideas. They sound like products. They are not.

• "An app that helps people sleep better."
• "A site that helps kids learn math."
• "A tool to organize your homework."
• "Something for fitness."

You can spot this fake in one second. Try to name one specific person who would use it.

"An app that helps people sleep better." Who, specifically? Insomniacs of what age? With what kind of insomnia? Who pays, the user or their parent or their doctor?

"A site that helps kids learn math." Which kids? What grade? What country? With what specific math gap? Whose parent pays?

A category dressed as an idea falls apart the moment you try to name the customer. Every time. Without exception.

The test: Can you finish this sentence with specifics?

"It's for ____, age ____, who is currently doing ____ and frustrated because ____."

If you can't fill in all four blanks, you have a category, not an idea.

Why people fall for this one: categories sound big. "An app for fitness" sounds like a billion-dollar opportunity. "A workout-tracking spreadsheet for Sasha, age 16, who is training for the San Francisco half marathon and uses Strava but wants her Apple Watch heart-rate-zone data in the same view" sounds like a project a kid could finish in three weeks.

The second one is much more likely to become an actual product and an actual business. The first one is much more likely to become a slide deck and a screenshot of regret.

Got past Fake #1? Good. Here comes Fake #2.