One of the greatest desires of developers is to be with a startup from the beginning so they can get in on the next cool thing. But with hundreds, if not thousands, of startups out there, finding the one is close to impossible. What to do? Start one yourself, suggests Rafe Needleman, formerly a reporter and columnist for CNET and now a Platform Advocate for Evernote. I spoke with Needleman at the TechCrunch Disrupt. “The money, at least for now, is there,” he said.

Where's the Idea?

So where do you start? Needleman says ask your self this: “Does it solve a problem that people have? Is there a business behind it? What’s the competitive landscape? And most importantly, are you so committed it that you can give up your health, your sleep and all the money that you have until it comes out.”

Building Your Application on Top of Others

The trend in app development today is to utilize the platform of other applications and tools through their APIs. Two days before TechCrunch Disrupt, TechCrunch held a hackathon, with companies from Ford to Evernote offering up their APIs for hackers to build applications on. Most of them were offering up cash prizes for the most impressive application that used their API. Evernote’s mission is to help you remember anything that you store with it. If your application generates data, you can use Evernote to work with your app's storage and search functions. “You don’t have to start from scratch anymore,” observes Needleman. “Incredible barriers have been lowered for you to get your own business out there.” Still, remember the hazards. “Starting a business now, even with the incredible leverage and opportunities that entrepreneurs have with money that’s available, the technology that’s available – it’s an all consuming job,” Needleman says. “It is not a part-time gig starting a new business.”