I Used to Chase Sexy Ideas. Now I Build Boring Software

I used to think the only startup worth building was a “disruptive” one. You know the dream. A mainstage keynote, a TechCrunch headline, a product so slick it makes designers weep. For years, I chased that high, convinced that the only path to success was a revolutionary idea that would change the world.

Then I realized something: I was playing a game rigged against me.

The real money, the real stability, the real businesses that last? They’re not sexy. They’re mind-numbingly, wonderfully boring.

The Problem with "Disruption"

Most startup advice reads like a recipe for a Hollywood movie. “Find your 10x idea,” “Build a category-defining product,” “Become the next Figma.” It’s no wonder founders burn through millions in VC money trying to build something that, most of the time, nobody actually needs.

The issue isn’t that sexy ideas are bad—it’s that they live in a brutal, winner-take-all arena. For every Stripe, a thousand other payment startups died a quiet death. We only see the survivor, and we trick ourselves into thinking we can be them.

What actually works is ignoring the arena entirely.

The Startup Map: Where Ideas Go to Live or Die

After seeing this play out over and over, I started sketching a simple map. It puts every idea into one of four buckets based on two simple questions:

Is the problem it solves Sexy or Boring?
Is the solution Mission-Critical or just Nice-to-Have?

This isn’t some fancy framework. It’s just a way to see where you’re placing your bet. And most founders bet on the wrong square.

1. The Hype Graveyard (Sexy & Nice-to-Have)

This is where 90% of startups die. It’s the land of AI-powered logo makers, social media tools for the latest trendy platform, and gamified productivity apps. They’re fun. They demo well. They get a lot of buzz on social media.

The problem? They’re vitamins, not painkillers. When budgets get tight, they’re the first thing to be cut. You can’t build a lasting business on something people can live without.

2. The Rocketship Lottery (Sexy & Mission-Critical)

This is where companies like Stripe and Figma live. They solved a crucial problem (payments, design) and made it beautiful. The prize is a billion-dollar company.

The ticket price? You’re fighting Big Tech, incumbents, and an army of founders with war chests full of cash. It requires genius, perfect timing, and a ridiculous amount of luck. It’s a lottery ticket, not a strategy.

3. The Hobby Shop (Boring & Nice-to-Have)

These are the small utilities that solve a minor annoyance. A slightly better color picker tool. A free file converter. They can be nice little side projects, but they don’t solve a painful enough problem for people to pay much (or be very loyal).

Which leaves the one corner of the map everyone overlooks.

The Goldmine: Boring & Mission-Critical

This is where the magic happens. The Goldmine is home to the invisible plumbing of the internet. The unglamorous, indispensable software that businesses rely on every single day.

Think about it. No one gets excited about their transactional email provider. But if password reset emails stop sending, the entire company grinds to a halt. No one brags about their data backup service. But if they get hit with ransomware, it’s the most important tool they own.

This is the world of Goldmine SaaS.

Software that ensures your invoices get paid. If it breaks, you stop making money.
Tools that keep your website online. If it breaks, you become invisible.
Compliance software that files reports with the government. If it breaks, you get audited and fined.

The key: Customers don’t buy these products because they’re delightful. They buy them as insurance against a catastrophe. They pay you so they can sleep at night.

Why Boring Is Your Best Defense

In the sexy startup world, your advantage is hype and capital. In the boring startup world, your advantage is something much stickier: trust.

Customers Are Terrified to Leave Once a business plugs your boring, critical tool into its workflow, the cost of switching is massive. Not the financial cost—the risk. Why would a CTO rip out the perfectly functional plumbing of their company just to save a few bucks a month with a new, unproven competitor? They wouldn't. Churn is practically zero because the pain of staying is nothing compared to the potential chaos of leaving.
You’re a Line Item That Never Gets Cut When a recession hits, the "fun" software gets axed. The "insurance" software? That's essential. You’re not a "cost," you're "risk mitigation." This means you can charge premium prices and build an incredibly stable, predictable business.
You Don't Need Venture Capital Here’s the best part: VCs aren't interested in this stuff. They need 100x rocketships. A super-profitable company growing at a steady 40% year-over-year is often a "pass" for them. This is great news. It means less competition and you get to build a real, sustainable business funded by customers, not hype. You answer to them, not a board.

What This Actually Looks Like

So how do you sell something boring? Forget growth hacks. You can't. The playbook is different. It’s a slow grind built on one thing: credibility.

Here’s what works:

Give Legendary Support: Your first customers aren't buying a product; they're buying you. Give them your cell number. Become an extension of their team. Their glowing testimonials are the only marketing that matters.
Use Case Studies as Your Sales Team: Don’t talk about features. Talk about results. "Acme Corp reduced server downtime by 98% and saved 250 engineering hours." Numbers and proof are your currency.
Promise Uptime (and Put Your Money On It): Offer a Service Level Agreement (SLA). If your service goes down, you pay them back. This shows you’re so confident in your boringly reliable tool that you’re willing to bet on it.
Teach Everything You Know: Your blog shouldn't be about your product. It should be the best resource on the internet for the painful problem you solve. You build trust by being the expert, not by being the loudest.

This takes time. Months, not days. But every customer you win is another brick in a fortress that no competitor can easily tear down.

Getting Started (Without the Frameworks)

Ready to start digging for boring gold? Forget the business plan and the pitch deck for now. Do this instead.

Find one person you know who works a non-sexy job: an accountant, a logistics manager, a compliance officer, an HR admin.
Get on a 30-minute call with them.
Ask this one simple question: "What's the most annoying, repetitive, or scary part of your job that you wish a computer could just do for you?"
Then shut up and listen.

Listen for the sighs. Listen for the frustration in their voice when they talk about "that stupid spreadsheet" or the "manual report" they have to run every month.

That’s it. That’s the sound of a real business waiting to be built.

The Bottom Line

Chasing sexy, disruptive ideas is a gamble. Building a boring, mission-critical business is a choice. It’s a quieter, calmer, and more certain path to building something that lasts.

The best SaaS businesses don't feel like a revolution. They feel like a utility you can't live without.

And that’s not something you can hack—it’s just being genuinely useful.