Guide to Overhyped Startup Ideas: What to Rethink and Why

Introduction Ah, the glorious world of startup ideas. It's like a buffet of dreams where everyone thinks their dish is the next big hit. But guess what? It's mostly leftovers and overpriced salads. Take 'Eggs for Chickens', yes, someone actually pitched that. Scoring a pathetic 1/100, it's a classic example of solving a non-existent problem. But don’t scoff just yet; there's a whole nest of these clucker-filled concepts out there, with 50% of them sharing this same fatal flaw.

The 'Nice-to-Have' Trap If your idea is just a nice-to-have, it's time for a reality check. Take Private Ethereum Wallet. With a roast score of 18/100, it's a classic feature, not a company. Unless you're bringing groundbreaking privacy tech to the table, you're just another benchwarmer in the overcrowded crypto game.

And then there's Shisha Bar in Split. Scoring a mere 23/100, it’s a lifestyle business, masquerading as a startup idea. The only 'innovation' here is serving up hubbly bubbly to tourists who've never seen a shisha bar.

Perhaps you're dreaming of building Airbnb in Ethiopia, a glorious 28/100 concept. Without a hyper-local edge, it's just a clone. You might as well be trying to sell sand in the desert.

The Fix Framework The Metric to Watch: Keep an eye on customer acquisition cost (CAC). If it's soaring above $50 per user, it's time to rethink.

The Feature to Cut: Ditch the generic features, no one needs another wallet with a different logo.

The One Thing to Build: Develop a hyper-specific feature that caters to an underserved niche. Think high-stakes privacy or localized service where it truly matters.

Deep Dive Case Study: Eggs for Chickens Oh, Eggs for Chickens, where do we even begin? This startup idea is a punchline with a roast score of 1/100. It's like pitching 'Water for Fish', the first mistake is not recognizing that chickens are already pretty good at producing eggs without our help. Unless you're proposing a radical poultry existential crisis, this one's a clunker.

There’s zero originality, zero market, and a million reasons why this is a non-starter. If you were aiming for irony, you nailed it. And if not, do a quick Google search on 'chicken reproduction' before your next pitch, your audience will thank you.

The Fix Framework The Metric to Watch: If engagement metrics are non-existent, it's time to pivot, this one's not flying the coop.

The Feature to Cut: Clearly, any feature that doesn't add value. In an idea like this, the whole thing needs cutting.

The One Thing to Build: Focus on an automated health monitoring system for poultry farms, a real need with actual buyers.

Pattern Analysis: What Doomed Ideas Have in Common Analyzing these doomed ideas, we find a few glaringly obvious patterns. Most founders mistake a feature for a solution. They fail to hone in on a real problem, pursuing dreams like they're flavor of the month, not sustainable ventures. Ethical Brand Scoring and AI Poker Cheaters are telling examples.

Why? Because many ideas are pitched with lofty visions but lack the viability to carry them through. In trying to create a category or a market, they're missing the foundational need, a glaring lack of buyer interest or actual pain point. AI Poker Cheaters scored a mere 1/100 because, frankly, it's illegal and unethical.

Conclusion: The Harsh Reality Let's not mince words: 2025 doesn’t need more 'AI-powered' fluff or bland rehashes of successful models. It demands solutions to real, expensive problems. If you're not saving someone $10k or 10 hours, your idea isn’t worth building. Don’t let it join the graveyard of dreams.

Written by David Arnoux. Connect with them on LinkedIn: Check LinkedIn Profile