If you’ve ever daydreamed in class or on the beach and thought, “What if I just started something of my own?”, you’re in the exact headspace where many great founders began. The truth is, startups are not some mysterious club reserved for geniuses or tech wizards. Many successful startups begin in college. As Y Combinator (the folks who backed Airbnb, Dropbox, Reddit, Stripe, etc.) loves to remind us, most great startups begin as tiny, scrappy ideas solving a very real problem for a very small group of people. This first article is all about the beginning, covering why startups exist, how ideas actually form, and how you can spot one worth building.
It’s easy to assume startups exist because someone woke up with a multi-million-dollar thought. In reality? Startups exist because big companies can be slow, and the world changes fast. When new problems emerge—problems too weird or too small for big companies to notice—startups step in. They’re designed to explore new ideas quickly, build things, learn, and move forward before anyone else even realizes something interesting is happening. And that discovery usually starts with an insight.
Real Startup Ideas Don’t Come From Brainstorming Sessions
If you imagine startup founders sitting in a room brainstorming “world-changing ideas,” erase that mental picture immediately. Most great ideas come from people experiencing a problem in their own lives: Airbnb’s founders literally needed rent money and noticed hotels were full. Stripe’s founders were building websites and realized that payments were a nightmare. Facebook started because college students needed a digital social directory. This pattern repeats so often that YC basically beats it into founders: Don’t chase ideas. Notice problems. The hassles you have to go through to pay your student loans? The daily time management challenges of a busy college student? The best startup ideas come from things you’re already complaining about.
The Best Ideas Can Look Super Niche at First
This part is fun. When you tell someone your idea and they go, “Wait… really?”, you might be onto something. Airbnb, Uber, DoorDash—these all sounded ridiculous when pitched early on. Not because the founders were wrong, but because nobody else could see what they saw. Great ideas almost always look bad early because they’re not obvious. The other 100 students in your econ class who think that your financial management product is awesome? You may be onto something. Here’s YC’s famous rule: Make something 100 people LOVE, not something a million people kind of like. Small, weird ideas with passionate early users often grow into massive companies.
Your Environment Matters (More Than You Think)
One of the reasons Silicon Valley produced so many startups wasn’t luck—it was the environment. When you surround yourself with people who are building things, who talk about ideas casually, and who believe big things are possible, you start thinking differently. Some claim you no longer need to move to California, but I live in San Francisco, and I’m surrounded by other founders, startups, and investors. I love the energy here, so maybe I’m a bit biased. 🙂 If you can’t make it to SF, online communities, university clubs, Discord groups, hackathons—they can create similar energy. The main point is to find people who make ambition feel normal.
The Founder Mindset (A.K.A. How to Think Like Someone Who Builds Things That People Want)
You don’t need straight As, a technical background, or a brilliant plan. But you do need:
- Curiosity – Always ask “why?”
- Persistence – Refuse to quit (even when it sucks).
- Flexibility – Change direction based on what you learn.
- Comfort with looking weird – Because good ideas often do.
YC calls successful founders “relentlessly resourceful.” I’m also adding that sales chops (as a founder) are necessary. You’re always selling yourself and your product and are continuously fundraising.
How Do You Know If an Idea Is Worth Building?
Run through this checklist:
- You’re solving a real problem.
- It’s for people you actually know, people who feel that problem intensely.
- You can build a simple version quickly.
- You wouldn’t mind working on this for years.
If you check most of these boxes, you’re in promising territory.
The Foundation You’re Building Right Now
Before you build anything, YC wants you to understand a few truths: Great ideas start small. Real problems beat “startup ideas” every time. Environments shape ambition. (Please see the “Your Environment Matters” section above.) The right mindset beats credentials. The right insight is everything.
Use UC Irvine’s Free Resources
In college, you have access to many free resources to support your startup. Make the most of what you have available to you. For example, UC Irvine provides students access to the ANTrepreneur Center, which offers startup mentorship (I mentor/advise startups across the UC system. Feel free to connect with me on LinkedIn), Y Combinator’s Startup Class (I’m a big fan), and the Side Hustle Challenge (contact ANTrepreneur Center Director Ryan Foland Director at rfoland@uci.edu for more information). Other resources the Center provides include the Santora Pitch Lab, a podcast studio, and a 3D printing room.
Finding Your First Insight
So if you’re sitting in your dorm room, the ANTrepreneur Center, or your favorite coffee shop wondering whether you could actually build something someday, the answer is yes. Startups don’t start with a business plan; they start with curiosity. They start when you notice something broken and think, “Wait, why is it like that?”
The first step isn’t coding, pitching, or even building. It’s simply paying attention to the problems around you—the ones you see more clearly than anyone else. Because somewhere in those annoyances, inefficiencies, and frustrations is the seed of a real startup idea.
One that solves a real problem for real people. And the best part? Anyone can spot those insights if they’re willing to look closely. In the next article, you’ll learn what to do once you’ve found one: how to turn a tiny idea into something real, how to talk with users, and how to build faster than you ever thought possible. Meanwhile, let’s go!
If this article sparked something in you, there’s an easy next step. UCI offers a for-credit course built around Y Combinator’s Startup School content, combined with hands-on mentorship from the ANTrepreneur Center.
To join the class this Winter, just log into WebReg and search for the course code 87564. Spots typically fill quickly, so if you’re even a little curious about startups, take the leap and sign up.
Written by Brooke Tessman, a friend of the ANTrepreneur Center.