I’m often in touch with early-stage founders. What I find is that when you spend time in those circles, it’s useful to develop an eye for solid teams in contrast to those who will almost certainly not make it.

I have a couple of cues. Naturally, the idea itself is a factor. And when it comes to ideas, I have a confession to make: I’ve reached the point in my life, where these Silicon Valley -style pitches make me sick. I’m talking like physically uncomfortable. Please spare me from another data-driven AI-powered something… I feel I’ve heard it all, and I really don’t see the value in hearing another one.

Look, I get it. It is what it is. There is sales and there is marketing, and it’s rather tough out there if you are zealous about never dropping a single buzzword. And that’s not my point. I don’t intend to rant about hype talk. What I’m trying to talk about is the core — the very heart of the whole thing, and the matter that remains when you undo all the fancy wrapping. When we get to that gist of the whole thing, I’m highly opinionated.

I love boring business ideas. There are simple reasons. To me, work is about making a living. If you are having fun, awesome. If you want to cure cancer and get us to Mars, good for you. If you are trying to scale quickly, and conquer the world, I wish you the best. It’s just not something I’m personally looking for, or wish to be involved in. I’ve been in that mindset. And having been there, the number one lesson for me is that nothing beats a solid foundation. Stability is amazing.

Usually this translates to a predictable revenue stream. And you know what’s really good for a stable predictable revenue stream? The boring stuff. More boring the better. Nothing pays like the boring stuff, and nothing makes me happier at work than knowing that the financials are solid. It’s great to have passion, yes, but, to me, knowing that you are making a living is even better. The implications are huge, many of them not boring at all. These kinds of things have huge impact on your career, and the careers of those who you decided to lure and work with you.

And you know what? Guess what is the best aspect of all of this? It doesn’t rule out making it big. None of this does. On the contrary. I feel it significantly improves the odds, when the whole operation does not hinge on a stroke of luck to satisfy unrealistic short-term expectations. When you’re stable, you have options. You don’t need funding, unless you want to pick up pace for some reason. You can bootstrap. You can even decide that enough is enough, and you are happy to live on what you have built so far without any big medium/long term plans.

Life is pretty cool when you stop chasing exciting ideas. And you know what? You can be sure that boring idea of yours becomes much less boring, when it gets some traction.