I feel like the abstract problem here is that too many people decide first they want to be an entrepreneur, and then search around for ideas and projects to work on. Most of the great tech companies started with a project that suddenly, almost unexpectedly, started to get a lot of traction before the founders were even working on it full-time. Google, Yahoo and Facebook were all dorm room projects. AirBNB was founded because Chesky and Gebbia needed help paying the bills, so they rented out their living room. Steve Wozniak built the Apple I while still an employee at HP.
This approach to startup work is probably better than the "jump in and go" approach, because it means the founders are never desperate. If your dorm room project doesn't take off, you can just go back and finish your degree. If you're working part time as a consultant and part time as an entrepreneur, you have an infinite runway because your consulting work pays the bills.
For reference, I know people who are professional entrepreneurs in the sense of doing it the other way around than you say, but they are not in a software/startup kind of business. They usually do things like open hot dog stands and similar easy fast food, open small bars, start a drywall business because even a non-professional manager can judge the quality of the work (horizontal? vertical? right angle? then it is OK) and search for similar ideas. I think it is partly about having skills like negotiation and organization so basically their profits can b...
Entrepreneurial ideas come and go. Some I don't give a second thought to. Others I commence market research for, examine the competitive landscape and explore the feasibility for development. This can be time consuming, and has yet to have produced any tangible, commercialized product.
I figure it's about time I devote the time I would spend to exploiting my existing repertoire of knowledge to develop an idea, to exploring parsimonious, efficient techniques for assessing viability.
In my search I found [Autopsy.io], a startup graveyard. Founders describe why their startups failed, concisely. It made me think about my past startup ideas and why they haven't flied.
I'm going to work that out, put it in a spreadsheet and regress to whatever problem keeps popping up - then, I'll work on improving my subject matter knowledge in that domain - for example, if its the feasibility of implementing with existing technology - I might learn more about the current technological landscape in general. Or, more about existing services for investors, if my product is a service for investors, like my last startup idea, which I have autopsied in detail here
I just thought I'd share my general strategy for anyone who'd want to copy this procedure for startup autopsy. Please use this space to suggest other appropriate diagnostic methods.