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I don't. I used to have a Google Doc with dozens of ideas, but I recently deleted it. It's just idea-porn. The good ideas -- the ones worth doing -- keep comin

I don't. I used to have a Google Doc with dozens of ideas, but I recently deleted it. It's just idea-porn. The good ideas -- the ones worth doing -- keep coming back to you, gnawing at you until you can't put them off any longer. It's a real problem you continually run into, and it's something you care about. So much more valuable than a list of half-baked ideas you had randomly on the bus.

workhorse 13y ago
This is an extremely dangerous response. The fact that it is at the top is disheartening, especially for this site. The real problem is treating startup ideas differently than ideas. Ideas are like experiences. They build off of each other and the sum is greater than the parts. Not always in a literal sense either. The fact of the matter is, the way we arrive at things isn't truly understood. But there are people who propose methodologies that may or may not work for the OP. A good start would be James Altucher's idea machine: http://www.jamesaltucher.com/2012/10/how-to-become-an-idea-machine/ http://www.jamesaltucher.com/2012/10/how-to-become-an-idea-m...
nlh 13y ago
That's the equivalent of saying that a painter shouldn't sketch or doodle. That he/she will just "know" when the subject is right and start painting the right picture. I humbly disagree. Not saying you should -pursue- every idea you have, but there's little harm in taking notes. In fact, I'd argue it's more beneficial than not. Take notes. Read them. Edit them. Add to them. Throw some away. Ignore others. But your idea list is your sketch pad, and sketching is good exercise for the mind. And maybe you'll find yourself sketching the same thing over and over. And you'll keep coming back to that one theme. And THEN, you've got something...
Geee 13y ago
Not quite true. I keep my half-baked ideas in a very very long text files and I often find myself running into same set of problems, but from different angles. That's when I just add more bullet points to the ideas and develop them further. It's also very clear that my thinking changes over time and I'm able to get closer to the best solutions by combining my past and current thinking.
projectramo 13y ago
I think this response -- and its popularity -- is an indication of frustration people feel with their ideas piling up and the sense that they aren't "doing" anything with them. The ideas we do work on happen to be the ones the rest of our lives push in front of us. This may or may not be the optimal strategy for developing ideas.

workhorse 13y ago

This is an extremely dangerous response. The fact that it is at the top is disheartening, especially for this site. The real problem is treating startup ideas differently than ideas. Ideas are like experiences. They build off of each other and the sum is greater than the parts. Not always in a literal sense either. The fact of the matter is, the way we arrive at things isn't truly understood. But there are people who propose methodologies that may or may not work for the OP. A good start would be James Altucher's idea machine: http://www.jamesaltucher.com/2012/10/how-to-become-an-idea-machine/ http://www.jamesaltucher.com/2012/10/how-to-become-an-idea-m...

nlh 13y ago

That's the equivalent of saying that a painter shouldn't sketch or doodle. That he/she will just "know" when the subject is right and start painting the right picture. I humbly disagree. Not saying you should -pursue- every idea you have, but there's little harm in taking notes. In fact, I'd argue it's more beneficial than not. Take notes. Read them. Edit them. Add to them. Throw some away. Ignore others. But your idea list is your sketch pad, and sketching is good exercise for the mind. And maybe you'll find yourself sketching the same thing over and over. And you'll keep coming back to that one theme. And THEN, you've got something...

Geee 13y ago

Not quite true. I keep my half-baked ideas in a very very long text files and I often find myself running into same set of problems, but from different angles. That's when I just add more bullet points to the ideas and develop them further. It's also very clear that my thinking changes over time and I'm able to get closer to the best solutions by combining my past and current thinking.

projectramo 13y ago

I think this response -- and its popularity -- is an indication of frustration people feel with their ideas piling up and the sense that they aren't "doing" anything with them. The ideas we do work on happen to be the ones the rest of our lives push in front of us. This may or may not be the optimal strategy for developing ideas.