Ideas I Want to Build
My brain doesn't stop generating ideas. Every conversation, every frustration, every observation about how the world works (or doesn't) turns into a mental note: "someone should build that." And then: "wait — I could build that."
How Ideas Form
The pattern is consistent across everything I've built. Ideas don't come from brainstorming sessions or trend reports. They come from lived experience:
- LockIn started because I was distracted by my own phone
- Simplifly started because I lived in Dubai, surrounded by travelers needing connectivity
- Tipp started because I saw service workers in Dubai who deserved better
- Raly started because my dad works in cross-border payments and I understood the corridors
The best ideas aren't abstract. They're personal problems or observations that I can't stop thinking about. When I catch myself saying "why doesn't this exist?" — that's the signal.
What I Gravitate Toward
Looking at my project history, there's a clear pattern in the kinds of ideas that stick:
Problems with Clear Markets
I'm drawn to ideas where the market is obvious and measurable. eSIM for travelers, remittance for migrant workers, screen time for students. These aren't speculative — the demand exists, and numbers back it up.
Infrastructure Over Features
The Simplifly pivot from B2C to B2B taught me that infrastructure businesses — the ones that power other businesses — are more interesting than consumer features. Building the pipes, not the faucet.
Dubai/GCC-Specific Opportunities
Living in the UAE means I see opportunities that Silicon Valley builders don't. Payment corridors, regulatory gaps, expat population needs, the Gulf's unique position as a global crossroads. The ideas that excite me most leverage this geographic advantage.
Things AI Makes Newly Possible
The AI revolution isn't just about building faster — it's about building things that weren't possible before. Ideas that combine AI capability with real-world problems are the most exciting category right now.
The Backlog
I keep a running mental list of things I want to build. Some are extensions of current projects — features for LockIn, new corridors for Raly, product expansions for Simplifly. Others are entirely new concepts waiting for the right moment.
The constraint isn't ideas — it's time. Between school, existing ventures, co/Build on Fridays, and AI + Frnds events, there are only so many hours. Every new idea competes with the existing ones for attention.
The Filter
Not every idea deserves to be built. The filter I've developed over two years of shipping and failing:
- Do I personally feel the pain? If not, I probably don't understand the problem well enough.
- Is the market real? Not "could this theoretically work" but "are people already spending money on worse solutions?"
- Can I build a version of this in a week? If the MVP takes months, the idea is probably too big for a solo founder.
- Does it connect to something I already know? My best projects leverage existing knowledge — payments from dad, travel from Dubai, productivity from my own struggles.
Ideas that pass all four filters go from "cool thought" to "weekend project." Ideas that pass three become notes in my head. Ideas that pass fewer than three stay as dinner-table conversation.
See Also
- Building Philosophy -- how ideas become products
- Product Thinking -- the framework behind the ideas
- The Solo Founder -- the constraint that shapes what gets built
- Early Projects -- where the idea muscle started