Questions to ask yourself when doing your first startup?

I'm 20 years old and have always wanted to start a company of my own. What questions do entrepreneurs who have already had exits ask themselves to make sure the idea they're focusing on is the right one?

I don't want to end up spending several years of my life only to realize I started with the wrong idea.

I have read Lean Startup and many other books to try and avoid as many pitfalls as possible along the way. Why reinvent the wheel... or trip over the wheel to be precise.

There are lots of good questions to ask yourself. I'll add just one.

Is this an idea that I'm over-the-top passionate about?

When you're building a startup, you're going to be spending years of your time (perhaps the rest of your life) working on the idea. You want to find one that makes you excited so that you'll be able to tolerate thinking about it 24-7.

Your "normal" employees three layers down can afford to not want to come in to work in the morning (especially Mondays) but you and your cofounders, and also your early employees need to be so excited about what you're building that you're bouncing out of bed in the morning, excited to jump back into it. (At least, most of the time.)

People working on things they aren't particularly passionate about don't break the mold. Being passionate about it doesn't guarantee you'll win the startup lottery, but it is a prerequisite.

I ask myself three things before starting any new venture. It'll allow you avoid a majority of the initial pitfalls and dig deeper into your forthcoming journey:

1. Am I solving a real problem?
2. Will people pay me to solve this problem?
3. Can I acquire customers cost effectively?

If you answer no to any of these questions, re-evaluate the concept.