Looking For Good Ideas

I'm working on being more ruthless and discerning with ideas, trying to parse "what's good and unique here," against "what is blatantly obvious and well-known to be true."

In his essay on How To Get Startup Ideas, Paul Graham says, “The way to get startup ideas is not to try to think of startup ideas. It’s to look for problems, preferably problems you have yourself.”

I typically start and end with excitement about solving my own problems. But what I'm learning is that any idea has to have a component of the unknown. This is the thing the Founder knows that is unique and differentiated - the kernel of truth that will give the idea an advantage.

I'm particularly biased towards finding ideas in my passion and hobby areas, which happen to be pretty crowded consumer markets like food and wellness.

Now, as I think through ideas I'm more often considering what is contrarian.

In that same essay, Graham goes on to say:

“The very best startup ideas tend to have three things in common: they’re something the founders themselves want, that they can build, and that few others realize are worth doing. Microsoft, Apple, Yahoo, Google, and Facebook all began this way.”

I'm keenly focused on finding ideas where others don't think they are worth doing - it's why I'm excited about things like The Soho House for Athletics and The Stripe Dashboard For Health.