The Startup Ideas Podcast
How I use Pinterest and Google Trends to find startup ideas
Fri, 23 Aug 2024
In this episode, we dive deep into uncovering validated startup ideas by leveraging anti-trends on Pinterest and Google Trends. I'll walk you through my workflow, showing you exactly how to use these tools to spot emerging trends, identify key problems and solutions, and find creators and websites thriving in these niches. If you're looking for a fresh approach to finding your next big startup idea, this episode is packed with actionable insights you won't want to miss!1) What are anti-trends and how to spot them• Anti-trends = opposite of what's hot right now• Example: "AI-free" products when EVERYONE is jumping on the AI bandwagon• Why it works: Creates a unique moat + appeals to overlooked market segments• How to spot anti-trends: Real-world observations, Social media chatter, Consumer studies (e.g. recent study shows AI mentions LOWER purchase intent)• Pro tip: Always be on the lookout for what's NOT being talked about2) Tool: Pinterest deep dive:• Shows monthly/weekly changes• Reveals related trends• Displays popular pins• Example: "Slow living" trend analysis gives insights into minimalism, cozy bedrooms, etc.3) Tool: Google Trends + Glimpse hack:• 5-year view of trend growth• Related trends• Social platform activity• Topic maps• Pro tip: Look for steady, sustainable growth rather than spikes4) Competitive research workflow:1. Use Claude AI to list top creators/websites in your niche2. Analyze their traffic/backlinks with Ahrefs3. Check creator growth on ViewStats5) Key questions to ask:• What products/services can I create for this anti-trend?• Where's the audience hanging out?• Any low-hanging fruit in terms of SEO?• Which geographic markets are underserved?6) Remember: Anti-trends are about serving overlooked markets• There's often less competition and more passionate audiences in these niches• Don't be afraid to go against the grain!Want more free ideas? I collect the best ideas from the pod and give them to you for free in a database. Most of them cost $0 to start (my fav)Get access: https://www.gregisenberg.com/30startupideas🚀 My FREE 5 day email course to learn how to build a business of the future using the ACP funnel:https://www.communityempire.co/free-course🎯 To build your own portfolio businesses powered by community you might enjoy my membership.You'll get my full course with all my secrets on building businesses, peer-groups to keep you accountable, business ideas every single month and more!Spots are limited.https://www.communityempire.co/📬 Join my free newsletter to get weekly startup insights for free:https://www.gregisenberg.com/70,000+ people are already subscribed.FIND ME ON SOCIALX/Twitter: https://twitter.com/gregisenbergInstagram: https://instagram.com/gregisenberg/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gisenberg/How I use Reddit and AI to find winning startup ideas: https://youtu.be/8vXoI7lUroQEpisode Timestamps: 00:00 Intro00:59 What are anti-trends and how to spot them03:12 Tool 1: Pinterest07:40 Tool 2: Google Trends 08:52 Tool 3: Glimpse13:07 Tool 4: Claude AI finding top creators/websites15:23 Tool 5: Ahrefs for analyzing traffic/backlinks 17:28 Tool 6: ViewStats checking creator growth
Full Episode
What's up, everyone? Good to have you back. Today, I really want to talk about something that's been on my brain for a long, long time. It's this idea of anti-trends. You know, we talk a lot about trends and building startups for those trends, but I don't think enough is talked about about anti-trends.
And today I'm going to talk about how you can come up with startup ideas based on those anti-trends, how to identify anti-trends, some of the tools I use, and just kind of bring you in inside my workflow, because why not? So let's talk about why I care about anti-trends in the beginning. So in software, in startups, it's a very competitive place and everyone goes for those trends.
And what I've noticed, it's actually quite easier to go to those anti-trends. Now, what am I talking about? What is an anti-trend? If everyone is talking about AI, AI-free AI, might be a great way to position your startup. There might be so much demand for AI-free that, yes, there's billions of dollars going into building startups that are AI.
And you see every agency website saying AI and every SaaS website saying AI. What if you didn't? What if you said AI-free? And these are the little things. When you identify an anti-trend like that and you're first, it's a really good moat. So the question is, how do you come up with anti-trends? Well, number one, you go out there in the real world and it comes to you. You just see it.
Now, in the example of the AI-free thing, I actually saw, I'm going to share my screen. Sorry, folks who are audio only. I actually saw and I tweeted this I saw that there was this study that said AI is a turnoff for consumers.
So a new study suggests artificial intelligence and product descriptions lowers purchase intent with implications not only for brands integrating AI, but of the wider category challenges of the technology faces, it has become widespread. Point is, if you don't use AI on your website, especially in, I think, B2C, I think good things might happen for you. So how do we identify?
Let's talk about some of the tools that I use when I want to identify a trend or an anti-trend. And some of these, by the way, are so underrated. So listen or watch to the end so you understand all of them. One is Pinterest. Here I'm on Pinterest. This is actually Pinterest Canada.
One of the things I definitely, just because I signed up when I was in Canada, one of the things that you see here is a bunch of trends. So these are some trends in Canada, fall outfits, weekly change of 30%, monthly change of 400%. Back to school, obviously, dress to impress, home gardening, color book nails. Okay, interesting. Main character mode has a 10,000 plus monthly change.
Sun-soaked spaces, 10,000 plus. When you start seeing these 10,000 plus, these are things that are getting real big. So one way to come up with ideas for anti-trends is just to look at what is trending on platforms like Pinterest. And... do the opposite of it. And I see that BRAT is trending a little bit here. But even BRAT, they talk about BRAT summer and now it's demure fall.
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