that's not a unicorn startup, this is a real, sustainable business that's realer than most startups. It's also a great way to get to know the company, since you'll get to witness the whole process, from idea to launch. They get a chance to do a lot of customer outreach and educate others about their idea, and you get an inside look at a real business and not just another startup. (This is what an entrepreneur thinks about an incubator: http://www.ycombinator.com/faq.html ) So if you want to start a business, but don't want to quit your day job yet and you want to do something with a team of professionals that has a real business and you like the idea of being involved in a company that's real, then do it, but be warned: It's like a long term relationship with a bunch of drama sometimes. Just like with any relationship, don't do it unless you're sure you can handle it. If you want to start a startup but don't know where to start or have the guts to do it on your own, then start attending some meetups. If you're really motivated, then see if there's a group in your area that you can join. You can look at different meetup groups' sites (like TechStars in NYC) or read Meetup (http://www.meetup.com/), then go for it! There's a long list of startup groups on www.techcofounder.com as well. Then try and get more out of the meetup than just networking. Try and meet some local entrepreneurs and start talking to them about your problem or idea, or if you know enough about startups, and want to start a business by yourself, try and convince some of the established people to start a company with you. This is what the early stages of a startup is, and it's what the meetups are for. Good luck and don't let the noise get to you, if you're smart, you can still run a startup and not give up your day job. ~~~ david927 In our case we found a really great group of people and now we have a business that's making money. They even took care of taxes and set it all up for us so we could be in business the day we got the keys to the office. So we don't pay rent, we pay our mortgage. We are all having a blast and building something real. And we're not even in the same city as they are. That was the key, to be in a place where we were close enough for them to have access to us. But we're too far away for them to make regular trips to see us. Which is good because everyone comes with so much experience. The CEO has been doing this for 15 years; she knows it all. It's like when you get a dog. The dog is your life's partner, the one you travel with, the one you go to see on weekends, but they are not always there. ------ pg They're all in one place? ~~~ rms No they aren't. At best they're in maybe one in 5 of the cities in this list (my own city doesn't have one). ------ babul I can’t see any mention in the article of the most fundamental of tasks, getting business done? Also, for all you hackers out there, take note of the fact that the list includes several small towns in the uk with a population of no more than 10,000 people. ------ babul _The best business ideas should be simple and cheap._ The best business ideas and processes are simple and cheap. But there is a huge issue with this sentence and it is not the author’s fault, is it? A more accurate way of saying this is: _The best business ideas and processes are simple and cheap. However, there is a huge issue with this statement, and the main reason I wrote this article. That issue is this: They are not easy to find._ ------ zkinion Yeah, sounds like something out of a movie or an idealistic comic book. I think the issue is that most of us are just too afraid to go through with it. It's not that tough, it just takes some discipline and a lot of effort. Some of us are just lazy and want something without all that hard work. That's the problem with a lot of people; they either want instant gratification or instant results. We're just not there yet in the startup scene for that to happen, and it will likely never be the case. ------ gscott Startup incubators are full of ideas but few ever succeed. One of the biggest problem with them is the failure of getting things off the ground, all the people working on it are not necessarily working on the thing that will get them off the ground. Also, if you have funding, the incubator will take the majority of it. The idea is great but if you are trying to get a product or idea to market you can't get anything off the ground from it unless you are a very rich guy. Another issue with incubators is that it is almost impossible to take your idea with you when you leave. One guy that I know quit his job and went down to San Jose, CA from Canada and got a job with a startup incubator. He took this startup as his own business and that basically became his life for over a year until it was clear that the startup wasn't doing well. There is always a ton of stress with this and you are basically always on call. The other problem with incubators is that they keep ideas so secret, that you usually can't tell who owns the idea and they often don't own the source code or do the final product in house, all the work is outsourced. If you want to get things started it is really hard without being backed by a major company, you have to be able to get people on board before even having code written. If your going to give equity, you have to be prepared for people to run off with the idea. The other big thing is that once you leave the incubator the startup is over and all the work you did is now someone else's burden to deal with. There are many ways to do it but at this stage most incubators just screw you over and don't want to give you anything. I see why they want to keep their name secret from potential competitors, the startup just don't have a chance, because of all the above reasons, people just don't want to go through all that stuff. ------ mynameishere I find a lot of people who start start-ups make the same mistakes. It's one good move after another. ~~~ mattmaroon The best move is being a good student. I think it's really hard to get a good startup idea. ~~~ mynameishere The idea isn't the hard part. The hard part is actually selling it, and if you're not prepared for the fact that your "best startup idea" is not actually the best, then you're going to end up getting screwed. ------ gills Where's the startup scene for hardware, especially electronic hardware? My startup ideas generally revolve around digital systems and hardware to run them on (in short: embedded software/hardware). So I'm curious if