How WorkOS Found Product-Market Fit by Pursuing a 'Bad' Idea

WorkOS founder Michael Grinich shares his unconventional approach to identifying startup opportunities by deliberately seeking ideas that appear bad to others but have hidden potential. He developed a five-criteria framework for evaluating ideas—market transition, personal experience, market size, contrarian positioning, and timing—that led him to build a developer platform for enterprise features. The article explores how Grinich spent 18 months validating the idea before launch, emphasizing that the best startup ideas often seem unattractive initially.