This seems to be a follow on to http://news.ycombinator.com/comments?id=13177. http://news.ycombinator.com/comments?id=13177. After reading this essay several

This seems to be a follow on to http://news.ycombinator.com/comments?id=13177. http://news.ycombinator.com/comments?id=13177. After reading this essay several years ago, I started asking all visiting professors, "What are the important problems in your field?" (I'm a PhD student in Astrophysics.) I realized something. Contrary to the article, most great scientists don't really care what the answer to that question is. Most great scientists love a topic, and through the greatness of their research, make the topic important. The universe is wonderful in that way. You can study something as lowly as a comet, and it can help you understand how the universe began. Scientists who can tie these subjects together are great scientists. To tie this thread into startups. Ideas are a dime a dozen. It's implementation that matters.