Find winning startup ideas from AI and data

Today, I'm going to share how you can find your next startup idea with AI, data. These ideas are already validated, already profitable, and hiding in plain sight.

Most people think finding startup ideas is like mining for gold. They dig through their imagination, hoping to strike something valuable. But the best ideas aren't buried underground waiting to be discovered. They're sitting on the surface, scattered everywhere, waiting for someone to pick them up.

Let me show you what I mean:

1. Ask AI directly. Prompt ChatGPT: “Give me 10 tedious workflows a [job title] does that AI could automate.” Rinse and niche down. Manus also really helpful here too.

2. Use ChatGPT history as product research. Scroll your own ChatGPT conversations. If you’re repeating the same type of prompt weekly, that’s a product hiding in plain sight.

3. Audit your browser behavior. Check where you’re copy/pasting between tools. That friction is a startup idea.

4. Run this Google search: site:reddit.com “is there a tool that” + your niche. You’ll find users begging for tools that don’t exist yet.

5. Read comment sections on AI tool YouTube reviews. People literally write what they wish the tool did. That’s your roadmap.

6. Search Product Hunt or Gumroad for AI tools that are getting traction but have clunky UX. Rebuild with better UX and positioning. People will switch.

7. Join industry-specific Discords and Slack groups. Look for where people say “does anyone have a tool for…” or are manually stitching workflows.

8. Study your calendar. Recurring meetings, prep time, repetitive agendas = software opportunity. Especially if you’re copying templates or documents each time.

9. Steal validated startup ideas from Ideabrowser.com. I built Ideabrowser.com for myself, because it works, it scans FB groups, subreddits and Google Trends to give you ideas that have the highest likelihood of success. And ideas on positioning/marketing.

10. Go to Fiverr and Upwork. Look for services like “I’ll use ChatGPT to write your product descriptions.” Those are manual, AI-powered workflows waiting to be turned into apps.

11. Watch what small businesses manage in spreadsheets. Go talk to your local dentist, boutique agency, or gym owner. If they’re updating something daily in Excel, there’s an AI agent to be built.

12. Reverse engineer legacy tools. Browse G2 or Capterra. Look for top-rated tools in old-school categories (inventory, fleet, scheduling). If there’s no AI built in, build the layer.

13. Ask solo/small agency owners what clients beg them for repeatedly. If the request is repetitive, annoying, and not worth their time, it’s worth turning into software. Can even just pay them for their time if they aren't responding.

14. Track YouTube AI tool videos with 60k+ views. Read comments. Identify where users hit friction or ask how to apply it to their niche.

15. Watch for multi-step tutorials. If someone posts “How to automate your podcast workflow using 8 tools,” build the one-click version.

16. Scan LinkedIn job titles in growing industries. Then ask: “What would make this person 10x faster at their job using AI?” There’s your B2B wedge.

17. Use LinkedIn’s job title search to spot emerging roles. Look for new or exploding job titles (e.g. “AI operations lead”) and ask what workflows they’re likely stuck doing manually.

18. Search for 2-star Shopify or WordPress plugins. Read the reviews. Low stars AND high usage usually is a signal that people care but the experience isn't very good. Time for you to build something for them.

19. Join niche Facebook groups with active discussions. Search things like “Notion for teachers” or “real estate automation.” Look for posts where people are hacking workflows in comments, then build the tool.

20. Browse Upwork job boards weekly. Look for repeated gigs that involve AI + grunt work (e.g. summarizing Zoom calls, writing cold emails). If multiple clients want it done manually, it’s ripe for productization.

Note: I write posts like this every week, packed with free startup ideas, insights on business building, and strategies for succeeding in the online world. It’s called Greg’s letter.

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