How To Find Good Business Ideas
Wednesday, October 7, 2026, 6:00 PM PDT – 7:00 PM PDT
Virtual event
Hosted by Startup Weekend San Diego
Pre-event 1 of 4. See Pre-Events - Startup Weekend San Diego for the others. Find the ideas worth testing before you spend months building them. This is a practical virtual session on how to discover, compare, and test business opportunities using customer demand, market potential, business model, founder fit, risk, and uncertainty. With Michael Norton — entrepreneur, consultant, innovation leader, and 80+ Techstars Startup Weekend organizer. What you'll learn By the end of the session, you'll have a clearer way to: Discover opportunities Recognize problems, customer needs, and situations that can lead to promising business ideas. Evaluate demand Separate an interesting idea from a problem customers actually care about. Assess the opportunity Look at market potential, competition, business models, and other factors that influence an idea's potential. Evaluate founder fit Consider whether an opportunity matches your experience, capabilities, interests, resources, and goals. Identify risk and uncertainty Understand what you don't know, and which assumptions matter most. Choose your next experiment Turn an idea into a small, focused test before making a major commitment. Meet Michael Michael Norton brings a rare mix of startup, corporate innovation, consulting, and entrepreneurial education experience. His experience includes: Personal entrepreneurial experience Startup life Fortune 100 innovation Small-business consulting Leading 80+ Techstars Startup Weekends This session is for you if... You have a business idea but aren't sure whether it's worth pursuing. You're considering starting a business and don't know where to begin. You have several ideas and need a way to compare them. You're an entrepreneur looking for your next opportunity. You want to validate an idea before investing heavily in it. You're interested in startups, innovation, or small business. You don't need a finished business plan to participate. Event Details Virtual • Free Don't fall in love with an idea. Learn how to test it. Join Michael Norton for a practical session on finding, evaluating, and testing better business opportunities.