
How Do You Find New Problems to Solve or Ideas for Products To Work On? - sotu25
What is your thought sequence, particuarlly in a new venture that you're thinking about or have already started.  Do cool things just randomly pop in your head after whatever things you do through life?  As a follow-up, how do you actually validate whether or not you will actually move forward with it (market opportunity, personal problem, growth potential, ease/challenge of problem, customer validation)?
======
ChuckMcM
I believe it is a way of thinking. I once told someone who asked me about the
same question "How can you _not_ see new ideas here?"

I'm a problem solver, and when there is a problem from "keys locked in the
car" to "too expensive to move mass to lunar orbit" I just start speculating
solutions. Knowing that any problem is in fact a series of problems the other
problems get solution speculations on their own, and out of those hundreds or
thousands of ideas pop out things that occasionally are both implementable and
monetizable.

To give an example of how I think, one day when I was taking a shower I
recognized that I'm so busy thinking about things that I sometimes lose track
of whether or not I've done one round of shampoo or two. So that suggested a
solution where I could make a note after the first shampoo and after the
second. And then looking what I had to work with I realized that I could
algorithmically determine the issue if I left the cap open on the first go
round and if I grabbed the shampoo and the cap was open it was round 2 so just
close it. Basically transferring the 'state' of how many times I'd gone around
the loop in the state of the cap. Problem solved, no cost. Maybe a nice thank
you if I sent it in to "Helpful Hints from Heloise."

So looking around at problems they come in some common forms.

They are the result of something being too complicated thus requiring either
specialists or training time.

They are the result of not managing state (like my shampoo problem) where the
stage of the solution needs to be recoverable.

They are a result of an economic barrier, so its too expensive to do X which
causes problem Y, can you do X more cheaply?

They are the side effect of a desirable thing, so doing X is desirable but has
(or sometimes has) undesirable side effect Y. Here the solution makes X better
because you find a way to mitigate Y.

They are problems of comprehension. The human brain has a finite capacity for
maintaining state, so solutions that either abstract out chunks (and free up
the brain for more relevant state) or eliminate complexity, win in those
situations.

Then there are solutions that are not currently possible, but would be if 'X'
existed. For example, if you had unlimited energy you could easily create
liquid fuels out of the air. Sometimes its useful to think about those kinds
of things and watch for the 'unlimited energy' appearing in the news (as it
would if we suddenly mastered the fusion cycle for example). A variation on
this I was doing back in the 80's as a network programmer at Sun wondering
what sort of things would be possible when everyone had high speed network
access. Consider the more probable new capability like 'easy access to space'.
So there are folks like Virgin Galactic, SpaceX, etc who are working toward
making access to space available to non-NASA types. What problems are those
people going to have? Gucci barf bags anyone? How about the sex market for
them? We know that nearly every nerd who goes into space, if they have a wee
bit of privacy is going to be thinking how they try out sex in space. What do
they need to do that? Bigelow wants to put inflatable hotels up there, what
kind of luggage do they need?

And there are all sorts of geeky technical problems like "how do you make
white space spectrum available to everyone? ", "What sort of cash drawer thing
is useful for an NFC enabled world?", "How do I enable non-technical people to
have all their purchased video available at their TV?" (clearly the media PC
hasn't quite gotten the recipe right there).

If the market is small ask what folks with high levels of disposable income
might want.

If cars can self drive how would you build a parking structure for them?

How can I build something that would auto-plug in my Tesla and save it from
being bricked without thinking about it?

What does 3D printing mean for the toy business? Can you build a device which
parents of young kids or day care centers could use to generate a steady
stream of safe toys?

What would it take to make a solar powered device which recycles plastic
bottles or cans into something which is more easily processed into new
products? Can you build a device which powderizes these materials and then
feeds them into feed hoppers for an industrial scale 3D printer? Bottles in
one side, park benches out the other?

The thought sequence, venture wise, is always the same:

1) How many people have this problem.

2) How many other ways are there to solve it or live with it.

3) What would it cost to offer a solution?

4) How does the cost compare with the pain of the problem, and the cost of
other options (including 'doing nothing'!)

You can use personal experience to work out some intangibles (like how many
lines of code would it take and how long to write) and sometimes you have to
construct small experiments which help inform the outcome. The key is that if
you are ready to accept that your idea isn't feasible (productwise) to just
move on. There are lots and lots and lots of ideas out there.

------
jtheory
There are tricks to get more of _any_ kind of idea, like keeping a notebook
with you and jotting down suggestions to yourself during the day, then doing
triage and record the best ones at the end of the day. Once you get into the
habit of looking for ideas, you'll start to see them everywhere. Most will
have fatal problems (and practice also makes you better at seeing these
quickly), but some won't.

The next step is to break out of your personal routine and small circle of
problems. If you're only building ideas based of your own life, and your life
is generally pretty comfortable, you'll only be solving problems that are
relatively meaningless in the grand scheme of things. So get out of your own
neighborhood and immediate circle of friends, and learn how to talk to people
everywhere. Everyone has problems (and ideas on how they should be solved).

For validation: you definitely need to put in the time talking with the people
who you imagine most need what you're building. People have habits, and
solutions of some kind already in place for any problem -- you need to give
them a solution that better _enough_ that they'll change their habits for it.
Find out in detail what they already do before you try to "fix" it.

~~~
vyrotek
_If you're only building ideas based of your own life, and your life is
generally pretty comfortable, you'll only be solving problems that are
relatively meaningless in the grand scheme of things._

There's so much truth in this. This combined with the other idea that you
should 'scratch your own itch' can result in bit of frustration. Many (myself
included) fall into this trap and find ourselves trying to dig deep to find
problems we can solve. Sometimes we fool ourselves in thinking we have
problems that we really don't have. Then you end up with _meaningless_
solutions or even worse, solutions looking for a problem.

------
siavosh
After a handful of side projects that never got the traction I was hoping for,
I came upon Bret Victor's recent CUSEC talk on principle based inventing.

Unless you're lucky enough to stumble on an idea that has instant traction,
any path to success is going to be hard, with lots of periods of self/market-
doubt, and lots of opportunities to quit. I think the only way to get through
those times is pursuing an idea that stems from a deep principle you believe
in. This is currently what I'm looking for: identifying my humanistic
principles, and seeing what ideas are natural conclusions from it. No more
random market based ideas.

~~~
mdda
Link to CUSEC talk : <http://vimeo.com/36579366>

~~~
Chizuka
Wow. Amazing talk.

~~~
sotu25
Agreed.

------
nrmn
I keep a notebook on my night table with a pen to catalog my ideas as they
popup. My ideas usually come as the result of me reflecting on the past day
and letting my mind wander. I write everything down, even if it seems highly
unlikely to ever come to fruition. I believe this is important as further
ideas can be derived that are slightly more 'approachable'. I try my best not
to force this process and let it occur organically. The notes are written as a
stream-of-consciousness, I sketch and write to my hearts content hoping to
capture the idea envisioned in my minds eye.

Validation: I don't validate my ideas as much as I should, this is a personal
failing but its something I am working on. I do perform market research on
each product and consider the challenges of getting a MVP out to consumers. I
recently watched a talk by DHH at Startup School '08[1] which gave me a
personal epiphany, sadly this should have been painfully obvious, that you can
still do well aiming to satisfy the niche markets, chances are you will not be
making the next facebook. While it is nice to dream of being the next big
thing, I personally would be ecstatic to have a handful of people paying 5$ a
month for a product that solved their problem.

[1] <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0CDXJ6bMkMY>

------
joshp1
I mainly work as a janitor so I think all day. Ideas come into my head
constitly. The only problem was I would forget the the time I got home. So I
started emailing my facebook account everytime I get a idea. Know the problem
I have is I got alot of projects to work on. The good thing is most sound good
in my head, but when I get started on them they suck so I ether drop them or
add the good parts to other projects

------
ChrisNorstrom
They come to me every few days. Ideas for inventions, ideas for startups,
ideas for websites, ideas for designs. It's too much.

As soon as I start working on one, another comes to me. So it's kind of like
torture. Ideas just keep coming and I find it hard to settle down and commit
myself to one. I wish I had a whole bunch of money and just paid people to
make them all. But it doesn't work that way.

I think it's my negativity and critisism. When I see something that's already
been made, I look for its flaw. I almost always find something wrong or
imperfect with it. So then I ask myself why it feels wrong, how it can be made
better or different, and from that another idea and invention is born.
Sometimes so different from its origin that it becomes a whole new different
product or service. I mix and match different little fixes together and
eventually they create a whole new product.

Other times, idea formation is just subconscious. It happens without thinking.
It cooks in the back of your mind and when it's done it gets pushed towards
your consciousness and you realize you have a "good idea". Where it came from,
you don't know.

~~~
anujkk
_As soon as I start working on one, another comes to me. So it's kind of like
torture. Ideas just keep coming and I find it hard to settle down and commit
myself to one. I wish I had a whole bunch of money and just paid people to
make them all. But it doesn't work that way._

I can relate to that. I am having more than a dozen very good ideas(at least I
think so). They keep coming and try to take my focus away from my current
project.

~~~
AznHisoka
what are some of those ideas u can share?

------
sritch
The way I do it is two things. The first and most obvious (as most state) is
to just live your life normally, and think about the things you are doing or
observing. Why am I doing it this way? Is this the best way? X is so
boring/tedious, surely there is a better way.

The second way is to read - not just articles or HN, but novels or non-fiction
are another source for me. It functions in the same way as the first: chances
are the main character or at parts in the story you will notice things that
seem impractical. I noticed this while reading case studies at school, the
authors usually explicitly point out that "this industry was fragmented" or so
forth.

------
wisco_kid
Great question. I think the big thing is that you have to get exposed to
different things. If you don't have your own itch that could be scratched for
profit, then you need to find somebody else's. Some of the posters mentioned
learning about different domains and niches; to me that's the key. If you are
a problem solver with an entrepreneurial streak, you will find itches that
need to get scratched just from talking to people about what they do.

The key is: how do you get exposed to new domains? I'm sure most business
managers/owners could name 3 or 4 things they wish they could make better.
However starting that conversation with them is difficult.

My wife does some direct sales stuff (Pampered Chef, Lia Sophia) and the key
concept with their sales training is: get on the damn phone! Make 3 calls a
night, that's it and your business will grow.

Idea generation is the same thing. Just think if you could have 3
conversations a day (heck, even 1 conversation a day) with people about what
they do during the day. I bet you'd have multiple actionable ideas in a week.

It sounds easy and trivial, but it isn't. I know this works but I haven't done
it yet. I'm not brave enough, charismatic enough, too big of a p __*y to just
start up conversations with people, at least so far... But I think if you go
to the core of most business startups, that didn't start with a guy/girl
solving her own problem, you'll find that most of them started by putting
themselves out there.

~~~
sotu25
Great points...I especially like "I'm sure most business managers/owners could
name 3 or 4 things they wish they could make better. However starting that
conversation with them is difficult."

------
Detrus
Vision and principles is a good method. This is a great talk about that
<https://vimeo.com/36579366>

Covers the inventions at Xerox PARC, how they were motivated by removing
modes. Then how Brett Victor of Kill Math <http://worrydream.com/KillMath/>
fame comes up with his ideas. They all stem from a single unifying principle.

First world problems though and no concern with markets and customer
validation.

------
markshead
Regarding your follow-up question, here are a few things I ask myself before
moving forward with a new idea:

1\. Can I get the expertise/experience to actually create this? I may have the
technical expertise to do it, but if I don't have the domain experience I may
produce something that makes perfect sense to everyone except someone who
actually needs the product. Not having the experience myself is fine, but I
need a plan for how I'm going to get it or someone who can provide it.

2\. How would I market this? Having a good idea is one thing, but getting it
in the hands of people who would actually use it is another. For me this will
often mean partnering with someone who is already working with the customers I
want to reach.

3\. What is the probability of success and what is the potential payback? It
is easy to get so enamored with a problem that you stop to think about whether
it really makes business sense or not. A project has a 0.1% chance of making
$1,000,000, but a 99.9% of losing money is going to be less attractive (from a
financial standpoint) than project that has a 25% chance of making $100,000.

------
handzhiev
One of the ways is to go out of your niche. Out of the high tech stuff, and
see what "ordinary" people with uncool professions need. Other option is to
transfer ideas from one niche to another - it may look odd and weird at first
but then lots of ideas will pop up.

I even do get some of my ideas from TV. From the news. From seeing a problem
or someone's business model that can be transferred elsewhere.

~~~
BryanB55
I did this and I can see how "getting out of your niche" works but be careful
that you know who your customers will be. I went into working with the real
estate industry, particularly realtors. I now find myself really wanting to
get into high tech because my personality clashes with a lot of my customers.
For one, they are incredibly un-tech savy and 80% of them use some outdated
windows computer with Internet Explorer 6 or something prehistoric.

I had to spend 30 minutes the other day explaining to someone how to download
a picture and where it gets saved on her computer.

They also like to have meetings and conference calls on things that can be
resolved with a 2 sentence email. There are also some things I'd like to be
able to do like build relationships with my customers through social media and
although many of them do use it, it's just not the same as interacting with a
younger or more tech savy demographic.

So in the end, for my next business, I'm going to look towards finding a
market where my customers are better suited with my personality and skills. I
think it will not only be more enjoyable for me but also allow me to fully
utilize what I am good at.

~~~
greenyoda
On the other hand, if you invest some effort to get more comfortable working
with people like these, you could have access to a market that may have fewer
competitors, since many tech-oriented people might have the same obstacles you
did. And real estate agents may have real money to spend on a product that
would make it easier for them to earn their commissions -- you could get a lot
more money on a single sale than you could from selling iPhone apps to random
people for $4.99 a piece.

~~~
BryanB55
Less competitors... Yes, quite possibly. Do real estate agents have real money
to spend on product to make their life easier? Sure. Of course they do, but so
do other people. Your point about $4.99 iphone apps, I'm not sure what that
has to do with anything...

I also never said I wasn't comfortable working with people like this it's just
that I wouldn't if I had a choice and knew what I know now. I do not agree
with a lot of their work principles and I appreciate different things than
they do.

For me, I'm still young and have the time to experiment in different
industries it's not about jumping into the first market that has the least
competitors, its about finding something I enjoy doing and am passionate
about. I notice that is when I tend to do my best work.

I think finding a job or industry is like dating. You have a relationship with
your customers and if they are 2 or 3 times your age and share no common
interests, it can make for a not so great relationship.

------
wslh
I wrote a brief article about a way to select an idea from an idea pool
assuming that you produced enough ideas. It's at
<http://blog.databigbang.com/ideas-and-execution-magic-chart/>

Now, how do you find new problems? The first rule is (obviously) there are not
rules. But you can improve your heuristics like using serendipity or strong
market analysis.

Problems are everywhere, so this are the kind of questions I ask myself
searching for opportunities:

\- Integration: Does technology X connects with technology Y in a seamless
way? What can I do achieve integration. A subset of the (X,Y) is {('.net',
'java'), ('web', 'desktop'), ('e-mail', 'crm'), ('e-mail attachments',
'dropbox'), ('google analytics', 'excel'), ('gdata', 'odata'), ('mobile',
'desktop'), ('thunderbird', 'outlook'), ('mobile phone', 'asterisk')} You can
add a relation R, like how can I R=migrate from 'thunderbird' to 'outlook' ?

\- Extending Features: Can I open different gmail/twitter/etc accounts in
different browser tabs? Does Salesforce has all the features needed? Does
Kindle export notes?

\- Development libraries: There are easy to use libraries to do X in the
technology Y?

\- Changing industries: Does industry X have a problem that was already solved
in industry Y?

\- Futurism: What we will need in one year? and in ten years? For example, do
I need a voice based web browsing to use while I am doing other things? (like
Siri does with e-mail). How I can integrate the information from a lot of
sources (G+, Twitter, Facebook, CRMs, etc). Will the torrent protocol will be
the future for streaming? in that case how can I add dynamic advertisement to
torrent streaming? new games for toddlers (like the AI toy), and Turing test
for toddlers?

------
AlexCoventry
I'm still trying to figure out the answers to these questions. I get ideas
about anything I pay enough attention to. Mostly this has happened in an
academic context, so far. I had an idea that I intend to pursue in a startup-
ish way, based on a way to modify to the bitcoin protocol to, roughly
speaking, allow people to purchase time on the computational resources devoted
to the blockchain lottery[1]. I got the idea when reading a thread on
bitcointalk.org about a blockchain dedicated to cracking RSA keys. I went and
had a shower shortly afterwards, and at some point during that suddenly it was
clear to me how you could arrange such a blockchain in a secure way. It took a
few months more thinking in my spare time to make the idea flexible enough to
be useful, which sounds laborious, but was actually tremendous fun.

I'm still trying to figure out ways to assess the marketability of the idea.
While asking people about the technical feasibility of the idea, I got some
useful feedback on how it needs to be improved[2], but I'm still don't have a
clear idea about how to reach potential customers[3]. My current plan is to
survey people using GPUs for approximately embarassingly parallel Monte Carlo
inference and optimization, because the computational constraints in my
framework bear some resemblance to those of GPU programs, and I think GPU
developers could migrate fairly easily.

[1] [https://docs.googlye.com/open?id=0B3qaT-
ZL6aeKMWFhNmIwOGYtNW...](https://docs.googlye.com/open?id=0B3qaT-
ZL6aeKMWFhNmIwOGYtNWM2Yi00ZTU0LTkxZjMtZGYzNjUwNWJhZTBm)

[2] E.g.,
[https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=64421.msg757930#msg7...](https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=64421.msg757930#msg757930)

[3] <http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3609991>

------
ifewalter
To be honest. The best ideas come when you are not even trying hard at it.
Like walking down the street, overhearing an argument, or my personal
favourite - in the shower. But no matter what just keep a notebook.if that is
too big, use the note pad on your phone. so that when even the smallest idea
pops in your head (which you think is cool) write it down. It is not enough to
just write it down either, don't stop mulling over it, for about an hour or
so. (Because from a zen advice, if you go chasing your thoughts, you get too
obsessed and lose opportunity for new and greater ones.) Consider a few things
like possibility, implementation, improvement etc. After a while (say a day or
two) read over your notes, if you still like the ideas, you just might have
yourself a viable project.

~~~
hiphophippo
True story, I have a whiteboard in my shower ha.

------
anujkk
These are the keywords - See, Observe, Understand, Analyze. Finding news ideas
or problems to solve is a way of thinking that anyone can learn. For me, it is
now a part of my nature. I always try to be curious to know about things
around me - much like a child. This world is not perfect and it will never be.
There will always be room for improvement. I always make a conscious effort to
think about what's missing and how can I improve anything.

Also, keep sharpening your axe by learning new skills whether it is
technology, art, science, management, marketing or anything else. The more you
know, more you will be able to find and notice brilliant ideas that will pass
through you.

------
paraschopra
I wrote about this in my blog:

* How to find ideas that make money: [http://paraschopra.com/blog/entrepreneurship/how-to-find-sta...](http://paraschopra.com/blog/entrepreneurship/how-to-find-startup-ideas-that-make-money.htm)

* How to validate your startup idea: [http://paraschopra.com/blog/entrepreneurship/validate-startu...](http://paraschopra.com/blog/entrepreneurship/validate-startup-idea.htm)

I am a big believer of market-based approach of doing startups. So, instead of
trying to come up with a startup idea out of the blue, why don't you identify
a market or an opportunity and then see what problems can be solved.

------
hiphophippo
Trying to force yourself to think of a solution to a problem your having
almost always ends up disastrous, from my personal experience. The ideas might
be good but I've never personally found a brilliant solution taking these
methods. When an idea is sporadic and completely natural it encompasses the
idea of simplicity and originality and these two ideas are an excellent
platform to build products or solutions off of. I have had so many forced
ideas that I regret moving forward with a few months down the road because the
original idea wasn't a strong enough base to start from.

------
Uglyfruit
1) The starting point is always the observation of anomalies in an existing
system or pattern. 2) You reason on those anomalies in your head, alone. 3)
You come up with a possible response, alone. 4) You visualize in your head how
this response would actually works. This should be practiced until you see it
working smoothly from beginning to end. You do this alone. 5) Finally you set
to work in order to bring this response into our physical world. Either alone
or in a group-work

------
jseliger
Awareness, which may be one step above "Schlep Blindness:"
<http://paulgraham.com/schlep.html> . Cultivate it.

In addition, read some and try to become aware of what others need and what
others are working on.

Finally, when you become aware of problems or ideas, write them down. I'm a
fan of small notebooks; other people use phones or computers or whatever. Look
over whatever notes you've taken once a month, and once a year; look for
patterns in those.

------
egypturnash
I'm an artist. Most of my methods have clear analogs in what's already been
mentioned. But here's something I've done that nobody else has mentioned:

I constructed an imaginary goddess and offered my skills to her.

A couple weeks later, I found myself drawing a Tarot deck completely out of
the blue, spent a year on it, and was able to find a publisher for it who's
distributed it internationally. I basically consider it my masterpiece (in the
old sense of "this is the piece of work during which my skill went from
'journeywoman' to 'master'", not the modern sense of "a totally awesome
pinnacle of the art that will survive for the ages").

Another artist friend of mine did a comic that was in part an offering to
Ganesh - a statue of that diety figures prominently in the plot. It helped her
work get noticed, an agent just sort of appeared in her life and now she's
amidst a multi-book publishing deal with a major publishing house.

So, yeah, I know this is kind of wild for the technical atheistic crowd here.
But... pray. Maybe to a well-known diety. Maybe one you made up yourself. It
doesn't matter who as long as you can whole-heartedly believe in
him/her/it/them for the duration of the ritual where you offer yourself and
your skills up to Do Whatever. (I would however advise putting some care into
your choice as this may result in a long-term working relationship.)

Then pretty much forget about it, just go about your business. You'll find a
major project manifesting itself shortly. Consider it carefully as you do the
initial doodles; ask yourself "do I want to spend the next year on this?" And
if the answer is yes, then DO IT. You will no doubt gain a level in your
primary skill and pick up some secondary ones as well.

(I don't know what happens if you turn down the first idea - I didn't.)

NOTE: This is NOT, IMHO, a route for the total novice. You HAVE to have pro-
quality in at least one arena, because you need to be able to just crank on
the core work of whatever the project is. Success is not guaranteed but it
will be _really interesting_.

\---

Less esoterically, I will just repeat what others are saying: keep notebooks
where you record every halfway-interesting idea you have, broaden your input
to include fiction (how much of the modern age is inspired by sci-fi?) and
technical work outside your field (like an artist reading HN!), help out on
brainstorming other people's projects.

------
stuartcw
1) Work with a large company for a few weeks. You'll see hundreds of areas
where there are inefficiency and problems to be solved.

2) ...

3) Profit.

~~~
groaner
Step 2, unfortunately, is more likely to be "axe these useless dead-weight
middle managers who waste resources on turf wars and lie out of their teeth to
screw over everyone else" than some neat technology.

------
quadlock
Learn about a domain. Talk to lots of people in the domain. Ask about pain
points, then imagine solutions. Do you have a friend that is an expert in any
industry? Often domain experts will have ideas about things that would help
their industry.

------
pacifi30
I have done the same things that many people have noted in this thread. Dont
try to get an idea, just get in a habit of looking at things and analyze if
there is a better way to do it and if there are people willing to use your
solution to the idea.

I was in tokyo last month on their bullet trains and suddenly this thing came
to my mind that why dont I have a bullet train in States. My iphone is my note
book, I keep writing stuff in it whenever I have an idea and in the end it
goes to my blog from where I choose the best one I think and start developing
it. Some of the ideas are here <http://nsingh.posterous.com/steal-these-ideas>
and if you look they are mostly random things that we come across but still
ignore them.

But personally I still think that you have to go out of your comfort zone to
get different ideas to work on.

------
SuperChihuahua
<http://www.ideaoverload.com/> \- Everything About Ideas In One Place To Make
It Easier For Everyone To Find New Ideas (including finished business ideas)

------
rabidsnail
Whenever I find myself doing something annoying, or tedious, or slow I ask the
question: "Why am I doing this?". The solution to the problem usually stems
from the answer to that question.

------
mindcrime
_What is your thought sequence, particuarlly in a new venture that you're
thinking about or have already started._

OK, in a venture that I've already started, I go back to our mission
statement[1], and decide if the new idea fits the mission. If it does, I think
about whether or not it would be a feature of a project we're already working
on, or would become a whole new product. In either case, it has to be
prioritized relative to the existing work. In some cases, it's easy enough to
say "this isn't important enough to work on right now, so it goes in the
backlog." In other case, it's not so clear, so you might want to get out and
talk to people. I like to bounce ideas off a select handful of people I know
and trust initially, and then - depending on the feedback - I might start
talking it up to a wider audience, and/or blog/tweet/g+/etc. the idea to
solicit discussion.

 _Do cool things just randomly pop in your head after whatever things you do
through life?_

Sometimes, but I find that most of the cool ideas I have (well, the ones that
I think are cool anyway) occur in response to reading or studying something
new, or something that shifts my perspective. I'm a rabid reader anyway, and I
try to stretch my boundaries by reading books that span a lot of territory.
Even in terms of technical books... I mean, I'm a software guy by trade, but
one of the last books I read was _Beyond Boundaries_ [2] by Miguel Nicolelis,
which deals with neuroscience and brain/machine interfaces. And lying around
here somewhere are some books on nanotechnology, philosophy of mind,
artificial life, economics, etc., etc. I often find inspiration from reading
something seemingly fairly unrelated to my day to day work.

I also find that talking to interesting people, doing interesting stuff, with
other cool ideas, can spark a new idea. As such, I hang out at the local
hackerspace[3] quite often, and just listen in, talk to people, swap ideas,
etc. Going to user group meetings around new technologies and talking to
people there can also spark ideas.

Another neat thing to do, is to follow the "incubator"[4] discussion list at
the Apache Software Foundation. Just following what new and interesting
projects are being submitted there can potentially spark some cool and
creative ideas.

 _As a follow-up, how do you actually validate whether or not you will
actually move forward with it (market opportunity, personal problem, growth
potential, ease/challenge of problem, customer validation)?_

See above, but if something makes it as far as being seriously considered for
a product / product feature, I'm a big fan of @sgblank's "Customer
Development" approach. See his book _The Four Steps to the Epiphany_ [5] for
details.

[1]: Previous HN discussion on missions:
<http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3631611>

[2]: Author Website:
<http://www.beyondboundariesnicolelis.net/~beyond/wordpress/>

[3]: <http://www.splatspace.org>

[4]: <http://incubator.apache.org>

[5]: [http://www.amazon.com/Four-Steps-Epiphany-Successful-
Strateg...](http://www.amazon.com/Four-Steps-Epiphany-Successful-
Strategies/dp/0976470705)

------
mkramlich
good rough process:

1\. what is something that sucks?

2\. how would you improve it?

3\. bonus: how can you monetize that?

