It's still early enough that the "plus internet" strategy gets you pretty far when you're trying to come up with ideas. By "plus internet," I mean, hang out wi

It's still early enough that the "plus internet" strategy gets you pretty far when you're trying to come up with ideas. By "plus internet," I mean, hang out with people who don't have an unhealthy obsession with the internet. Lend them an empathic ear, then take their pain/talent/idea and add the internet. Let me give you an example. I met a musician the other day. He's got a kid now, and he said that most of the energy he formerly put into improvisational music now goes into improvisational storytelling; every night, he makes up a bedtime story with his kid. He said he was thinking about recording these stories for sentimental reasons. Since I DO have an unhealthy obsession with the internet, my first thought was, "hm, ok, recorded stories plus internet equals ...?" That is, what if you had LOTS of families recording these stories and you managed to get all that data into one system. It doesn't quite work with bedtime stories -- I think those tend to be a little too personal to be of general appeal -- but there are plenty of very talented storytellers out there... there are local societies and whatnot. It's a tradition that dates back to the beginning of language. Why not create a Youtube-like environment where people with a passion for storytelling can share their stories with each other and the world? This guy I was chatting with said he'd never have thought of that, but you could see the wheels turning in his head as soon as I mentioned it. So let's say you've gotten this far. At this point, if your goal is to create something cool that could change the lives of a group of people, you're all set. (I bet this story idea could turn into a cool folk-art community.) But if your goal is to turn it into a startup, there's one more step... you need to apply this filter: "ok, interesting idea, but is this a business?" Point is, a good place to start is to get outside the YC/TechCrunch echo chamber and talk to people who have good ideas and painful frustrations but don't automatically think "ok... plus internet?"