YC has an excellent video on this that's out just recently (from SUS 2022): How to get and evaluate startup ideas[0] There are a lot of different ways to thin

YC has an excellent video on this that's out just recently (from SUS 2022): How to get and evaluate startup ideas[0] There are a lot of different ways to think about this -- but generally what seems to be the pattern is: - Get in a problem-finding mindset (generate value by solving problems). Problems are absolutely everywhere in society - Qualifying problems is more important than having them (is this a problem people would pay to solve? Are there enough of those people?) - Validating problems is more important than having them (is there any signal indicating people will? Has anyone actually given you money to solve this problem?) keep in mind the idea is not the most important bit. As far as doing #1 (getting you in the mindset), it really depends on what your goals are (don't let anyone tell you that "making money" is not a worthwhile goal), but in general one of the best practical things you can do is start running with an entrepreneurial crowd. If you can't find a gaggle of entrepreneurs in meatspace, try sites like MicroConf, IndieHackers (read stories of other IndieHackers) and others. Start listening to podcasts that are by/for entrepreneurs (beware of get rich quick schemes obviously). I literally write and send my ideas to people every week[1], trust me that when you start looking/thinking about startup ideas, they are everywhere. I have over 600 notes from what has to be less than 3 years of starting to write them down. Personally what works for me is to: - Go through life, witness something painful/weird/broken - Have an idea of how you could solve/streamline that or think about what might be interesting to look into as a leverage point (maybe you can't solve it, but why is X like that?) - Write it down - Review the idea at a later date when you actually want to execute on something, start fleshing it out by adding research and trying to find your customer/talk to them. [0]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Th8JoIan4dg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Th8JoIan4dg [1]: https://unvalidatedideas.com/archive https://unvalidatedideas.com/archive