Having New Ideas to Work On

Having new ideas to work on is essential for creating value. Ideas are the starting point, but not all ideas are equal. Some emerge from deep understanding of problems, while others remain surface-level concepts that never materialize into something valuable.

The challenge isn't generating more ideas. It's generating better ideas, and more importantly, identifying which ideas are worth pursuing given your constraints and conditions.

Approaches to Generating Ideas and Creating Value

There are several approaches to generating ideas and creating value, each with different strengths and applications:

Solve your own problems. Start by identifying problems you face personally. These are problems you understand deeply because you experience them directly. Solving your own problems ensures you're building something you genuinely need, and if you need it, others likely do too.

Solve problems for others. Build something people want or address a problem people have. This doesn't require solving problems for millions of people. Even solving a problem for a small group can create significant value. The key is identifying real problems that people actively experience, not hypothetical ones they might encounter.

Create what society doesn't know it wants. Sometimes people don't know what they want until they see it. This approach requires understanding human needs at a deeper level than surface-level requests. It involves anticipating needs before they're fully articulated and creating solutions that feel obvious once they exist.

Stay at the frontier. As Paul Graham suggests in his essays, observe or position yourself at the frontier of a particular domain. The frontier is where new possibilities emerge, where established approaches meet unexplored territory. Being at the frontier means you're among the first to see new opportunities and problems.

Work at the intersection of fields. Some of the best ideas emerge at the intersection of two or more domains. When different fields converge, they create new possibilities that don't exist within any single field. This approach leverages knowledge from multiple areas to create something novel that wouldn't emerge from focusing on one domain alone.

Each approach has its place. The most effective strategy often combines multiple approaches, using constraints to focus while remaining open to opportunities that emerge from different directions.

Problem Discovery Over Idea Generation

Start with problem discovery, not idea generation. Here's a concrete approach:

Personal friction log (1 week). Keep a note open. Every time you get annoyed, waste time, or think "this should be easier," write it down. Don't filter. Raw frustrations are data.

Talk to people (ongoing). Pick 2-3 communities you're already part of (professional, hobby, whatever). Ask: "What's the most annoying part of [thing they do]?" Listen for patterns, not solutions.

Evaluating Ideas Against Constraints

Not every idea deserves your time. Once you have ideas, evaluate them against your constraints and conditions:

Time feasibility. Can you realistically pursue this idea given your available time? Some ideas require full-time commitment. Others can start small and grow. Be honest about what's possible within your constraints.

Resource alignment. Does this idea align with your skills, learning goals, and available resources? Ideas that require skills you want to develop can be valuable, but ideas that require resources you don't have and can't acquire might not be feasible.

Scalability potential. Does this idea have a path toward creating meaningful value? Not every idea needs to scale to millions of users, but it should have some path toward sustainability or growth that aligns with your goals.

Problem validation. Is this solving a real problem that people experience? Ideas based on assumptions about what people want often fail. Ideas based on observed problems people actively experience have better odds.

Personal interest and motivation. Will you maintain interest in this idea long enough to see it through? Ideas that align with your interests and values are more likely to sustain your motivation over time.

Building an Idea Pipeline

Don't rely on inspiration striking at random moments. Build systems for capturing and developing ideas:

Capture everything. When an idea appears, write it down immediately. Don't trust your memory. Use whatever system works for you: notes app, notebook, voice memo. The key is capturing before the idea disappears.

Many people face the challenge of having too many ideas and not enough time to pursue them all. As Jaclyn Konzelmann notes:

Too many ideas. Not enough time. I want an app I can just send ideas to and have it collect resources/inputs over time (because I'm constantly being inspired). That way, when I do have a few spare moments, I have a nicely organized collection of "ideas and context" to start from. It could also start planning some of them, and evolve the plan as I send it more things.

This captures a common need: a system that not only captures ideas but also gathers context over time, organizes them, and even begins planning automatically. While such tools may not exist yet, the principle remains: build systems that work for you, even if they start simple.

Regular review. Set aside time weekly or monthly to review captured ideas. Some will seem less interesting with distance. Others will reveal connections you didn't see initially. Regular review helps you identify which ideas have staying power.

Develop systematically. When an idea shows promise, develop it systematically. Research the problem space. Talk to potential users. Sketch out approaches. Don't jump straight to building. Understanding comes before execution.

Feed ideas with quality information. There's a sense that something can unlock other perspectives and other points of view. Quality information is important for unlocking them. It's like a set of puzzle pieces that unlock the next level. You need the raw material, the input, correct and quality information, and time to fit them together in the right way. Gradually, it becomes like a huge puzzle, and more and more you see other areas and other angles. Something that was hidden from you and from most people.

Let ideas evolve. Ideas change as you learn more. Don't hold too tightly to initial concepts. The best ideas often transform significantly between initial capture and final execution. Allow space for evolution.

The Role of Constraints in Idea Selection

Constraints aren't limitations on your ideas. They're filters that help you identify which ideas are worth pursuing. An idea that doesn't fit your constraints might be interesting, but it's not actionable for you right now.

This doesn't mean you should never pursue ambitious ideas. It means you should be realistic about what's possible given your current situation. Some ideas might be worth pursuing later when constraints change. Others might need to be adapted to fit your constraints.

The goal isn't to limit your thinking. It's to focus your execution on ideas that have the best chance of creating value within your specific context.

Vorrei costruire un approccio, strategia, e anche magari una piattaforma che posso vendere come servizio che aiuta ad analizzare trend, problemi che le persone hanno, prodotti che vorrebbero avere, cosntentezza, sentiment, ecc per avere idee di prodotti, o problemi su cui lavorare, maagari anche difficili da risolvere, ma che hanno un alto potenziale di valore.

Seggeriscimi risorse (40 libri e 20 articoli) per espandere tutte queste tematiche discusse in questo articolo, e fammi ulteriori domande per capire come approcciare

Cruise founder Kyle Vogt's framework for choosing a startup idea

After cofounding Twitch and selling the company to Amazon for $1 billion in 2014, Kyle was trying to figure out what to do next:

Twitch was and is today pretty successful but the result was entertainment mostly… That was a good thing. It felt good to entertain people, but… I realized I wanted something that scratched more of an existential itch and so something that truly matters.

Twitch took eight years to become successful, so one of Kyle's core requirements for his next idea was that he had to be willing to commit at least 10 years to it. As he explains:

When you think about things from that perspective, you certainly raise the bar for what you choose to work on.

Ultimately Kyle came up with three requirements for his next company:

1. Interesting technology. "It had to be something where the technology itself determines the success of the product. Like hard, really juicy technology problems, because that's what motivates me."
2. Impactful. "It had to have a direct and positive impact on society in some way. So an example would be healthcare or self-driving cars because they save lives… There's a clear connection to somehow improving other people's lives."
3. Large scale. "It had to be a big business because for the positive impact to matter, it's got to be a large scale."

After thinking on it more and experimenting with various side projects, he ultimately decided self driving cars was what he wanted to work on:

I just took the plunge right then and there and said, this is something I know I can commit 10 years to. It's probably the greatest applied AI problem of our generation. And if it works, it's going to be both a huge business and probably the most positive impact I can possibly have on the world.

General Motors acquired Cruise for more than $1 billion two years later, but Kyle continued to work on self-driving as CEO of Cruise through November 2023. So his 10-year forecast actually proved quite accurate.

Sam Altman gives similar advice in his blog post "Startup Advice":

In general, don't start a startup you're not willing to work on for ten years.

Video source: @lexfridman (2019)