Basic Problem

 Hey all

I'm excited to welcome you back to my newsletter about product ideas, building side projects, indie hacking, and problems worth solving.

Kenneth Ewart Boulding's quote “anyone who believes that exponential growth can go on forever in a finite world is either a madman or an economist" always comes to mind when reading about some startup's hypergrowth news. And I wonder…

Why not use that entrepreneurial force to do good?

 Sustainability

On June 1st, Product Hunt opened registration for their Maker Festival "The Green Earth Edition." This competition is searching for solutions to, well, help our planet. Submission closes on June 18th, so you better start building. Need inspiration? I've got you covered.

First up, have a look at Basic Problem edition #32 about the circular economy. There you'll find ideas about reduction, reuse, and recycling, including niche ideas around repairs, sharing and lending, and trading.

The June 2nd edition of Springwise Weekly covers various sustainability products and projects. While not all are a good match for indie hackers, three caught my eye:

• Female refugee artisans hand-embroider old clothes for new looks – The cue here: "The needs of refugees can be an incredibly complex mix of basic requirements, with very specific locale and situation-based challenges." "Very specific" solutions sound perfect for indie hackers. In addition, remember the keywords "female empowerment" and "fempreneurs". You'll hear more of that later.
• A way to minimise contamination in home recycling – This is a student project using a Raspberry Pi and Arduino. How about making a small kit from it for sale? Including a course maybe? Targeted for the driving force at home: children.
• Design studio develops calculator to measure carbon footprint of construction – Another keyword here: "calculators." More to come on that.

So, calculators. Wunderman Thompson Intelligence lists five ethical calculators. "Consumers are increasingly keeping tabs on brands’ ethical practices and behaviors." Now replace "[big] brands" with small and/ or local merchants or producers who need the same kind of signaling and you have a got start for finding a niche to serve. (And when it comes to tools for selling, have a quick search for "sustainability" in Shopify's App Store.)

Talking about niches. Think about the mantra "as an indie hacker, find your niche to prosper" while reading Wunderman Thompson's Regeneration Rising: Sustainability Futures report. Let me just give you some ideas from this report in bullet form:

• "85% of people are prepared to rethink the way they live and spend to tackle climate change" and "70% are prepared to make dramatic changes to their lifestyle if it will help tackle climate change". Which solutions can tap into that sense of personal accountability?
• "Behavioral econudges" are needed to lower the barriers to personal sustainable living. Those barriers can be "not convenient", "not in the habit", "don't really know how", and more. These are actual first hints to problems worth solving.
• "Elevating woman" includes areas like education and investing in "fempreneurs". Both are areas that can be segmented for small solutions.
• "A growing affinity with nature", includes, somehow ironically, "digital nature." Think about something like a monetized version of Tree.fm, for example.
• "The collaboration imperative" is all about building networks. Those are not only needed for big global brands, but for your local neighborhood store as well.

Still no idea? Or are the ones above too abstract? Okay, let's turn to Reddit then. r/environment, r/ZeroWaste, and r/sustainability can be your entry points. Listen to those communities to find common patterns, problems, and questions.

Yes, these are all tough challenges, especially for side projects and indie hackers. But we love challenges. Now, to quote Steve Blank, get out of the building if you want to succeed. Find a problem, build a solution. And plant a tree.

 Social Listening

Listening on social networks to find out what people are looking for.

Top "request for product" tweets on Twitter:

• Every time I get an ical invite / new cal for all the info (name, date, email etc) to fill a new excel/sheet row, then text me a few pre-determined questions after the meeting, I respond to that then fills in those cells.
• Common app // aggregator for patient assistance programs (PAPs) for high-cost medications
• Haus limited edition bags in collab with artists
• Smart sunglasses that can capture the valuable things I read (by me simply pointing to it) and dump into a cloud database tagging book and page number

Selected "someone invent" tweets on Twitter:

• I need someone to invent an app that’s an e-book/audiobook combo. So when my eyes are tired I can switch to audio, but my default is reading.
• An app that replaces music by problematic artists with similarly-vibed music by wholesome people
• A tinder but for platonic relationship
• An app whereby you can find out if an employer has hired someone you know or don't like before you apply

 Worth Reading

Differentiation Strategy: What It Is, Why It’s Critical, and How To Get It Right – All about the sameness of products, explained loosely along various SaaS offers. And also offers some advice on how to differ. This is important for endeavors of all sizes. Cross your heart, what really makes our side projects stand out?

Differentiating an Indie Product: How ConvertKit, Savvy Cal, and Newsletter OS stand out – A lot of parallels to the article above from a strategic point of view, but with concrete, more relatable examples from the indie space.

How to Ask Useful Questions – Concise, actionable advice for clear, to-the-point questions without any of the usual fluff.

Silicon Valley's Social App and Teen Obsession – A short lesson about hypes and bubbles. Money quote: "It is very much a case of people in their 20s and 30s being funded by people in their 30s, 40s and 50s trying to make products for people who are 12 to 17 years old, while also creating a product that appeals fiscally to the 30-50 crowd with all the money."

3 Ways Innovation in Asia is Different – Okay, maybe Asian culture stands out. But IMHO, the insights apply to companies all over the world.

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