Finding an “idea” is a mistake that most startups make. Ideas alone are worthless. The phrase you’re looking for is “finding a need”, preferably the kind you can address and charge a lot of money for solving. This is the hard part that most startups fail spectacularly at.
throwaway84742, you are correct. That is why I said, "thing that customers wanted" and not "idea." Even having the kernel of the idea was insufficient.
