# Avoiding Tarpit ideas {% embed url="" %} Avoid These Tempting Startup Ideas | YCombinator {% endembed %} Its common for founders looking for problems to solve to end up trying to solve a problem they see in their daily lives. This is great if you are a domain expert, and hence find a niche problem that an outside would otherwise never been able to spot. For students, this is a nightmare as they often land on problems that have been tried to death. > An app to find common time between friends to hang out > > An app for ideas on what to do with friends > > An app to plan travelling itenary There are so many students every year, and these are problems that have been around for decades. There is very likely a good reason why they are still unsolved. Generally speaking, if the problem seems to be popular, been around for a long time, and the proposed solution sounds simple to implement, it stinks of a Tarpit Idea. These ideas are executable but a lot harder. Spend extra time looking into why they are not done ebfore commiting to it. --- # Agent Instructions: Querying This Documentation If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question. Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter: ``` GET https://sic.gitbook.io/startup-playbook/avoiding-tarpit-ideas.md?ask= ``` The question should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language. The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation. Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.