I had a teacher in high school who gave us some great advice for picking a career, and it applies to this question, too. Make a list of your top 5 things that

I had a teacher in high school who gave us some great advice for picking a career, and it applies to this question, too. Make a list of your top 5 things that you'd really love to do, that would excite you and be fun. Then pick the one that makes the most money, and chase it relentlessly. If you don't have a list of 5 yet, dabble until you do. If you try to look for your one magic idea that's going to make you happy and rich, you'll never find it. Happiness is fuzzy -- any of those top 5 ideas will probably do. So pick the one that makes the most money, because that's the one that's sustainable. -- Earning potential vs effort? Not quite. You'll spend 100% of your effort on it, or maybe a little more. The goal is to maximize the earning potential of the effort that you have to spend. An easy execution with a low earning potential is a great hobby, but not a business. An idea which earns nothing unless you spend double the effort that you have is doomed to failure. Friends' reactions to the idea are worse than useless. Your friends' are incented to make you feel good; but what you need is a dose of pessimism about the challenges you'll face. Strangers would be better, since they don't care about you. Pursuing interesting technology is a fine hobby. But it's not a business. Good ideas really are a dime a dozen. Don't wait for your One Original Idea. Pick a niche you can win, and win it. Winning adds to fun and enthusiasm. If you really can't decide, you can always go work for someone else.