
Ask HN: How do you store and organize your startup ideas? - dennybritz
A text file? Google doc? Spreadsheet? What questions do you ask when you write down a new idea?<p>Edit: Thanks guys, I didn&#x27;t expect to get that many responses. Some interesting approaches in here :) Personally I put them into regular text documents. For each of my ideas I try to answer the six product-focused YC application questions as a sanity check.
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gkoberger
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
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-m...](http://www.jamesaltucher.com/2012/10/how-to-become-an-idea-
machine/)

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bhousel
I buy a domain and then sit on it forever. So, namecheap.

~~~
wickedchap
It's a very expensive to-do app. I know, I do the same.

~~~
brothe2000
I do this too. Is this common or are we weird?

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nlh
Workflowy.

A few others have mentioned it, but I thought I'd provide some more details
about why I like it:

\-- Super simple. Clean UI, can organize a TON of info in a small space.

\-- Multi-device. I use the web version when I'm on my laptop, iPhone version
when on the go, iPad version when I'm sitting in a coffee shop reading.

\-- Easier than other methods. Lots of ideas here work, but I've found this is
the easiest. Google Docs lacks the organization. Evernote is just a mess
(sorry, I know it's super popular). Gmail can work too but also lacks the
organization.

Note: Not affiliated in any way, just a fan.

~~~
logicallee
yeah. Though for real company information it should seriously start offering
client-side encryption or something. (via javascript).

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conductr
Paper. Usually graphing paper. I write down a quick sentence of what it does
and who it does it for. Then I drawn a database scheme - this functions as a
short hand of how I want the logic/features/relationships to work. Sometimes I
skip this and just write out a description of actions/features that would be
cool. If I start to build it, I usually narrow those down required features.

I like this because I can map out an pretty complex app in just a few minutes.
I can easily add thoughts, and I don't lose them. I like my brainstorming to
accumulate. You generally lose that in a soft form, because you edit out the
"bad" thoughts. I like to remember them later when I revisit the idea. Also,
if I have any design ideas I can quickly sketch it out. I can't draw but I
draw in a pseudo-wireframe way.

Downside is the organization and portability. I have a stack of papers I've
accumulated over the years in my home office. If I start to work on in code.
The paper stays on my desk and I usually end up with 2-3 sheets before I'm
done building. If I never build it, it gets filed. I will return to it if I've
given it more thought or figured out a solution to a problem I foresaw. I keep
post it notes handy for when I get an idea and am away from my workspaces.
Post it's get added to the file later.

~~~
lesterbuck
A while ago, Derek Sivers had a blog post about how with most of his ideas,
the first thing he does is sketch out the database schema. That seems to help
him think it through in the same way. His blog has been redesigned since then,
but here is a link to the details he used to have online, including database
schema and Rails RESTful routes:

[http://web.archive.org/web/20100926194455/http://thoughts.pr...](http://web.archive.org/web/20100926194455/http://thoughts.pro/muckwork/)

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brm
Gmail Label: Ideas

Mail to yourself. Email subject is the main idea. Each new idea gets its own
email thread. Reply to email thread when you have things to add or docs/imgs
to attach to the original idea

The whole thing is tagable, sortable by date, and searchable. You can even
hide the label from the inbox if you prefer that.

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namenotrequired
Paper. I carry two _very_ small notebooks with me, one named Agenda and the
other Ideas (all kinds of ideas, some make sense as startup ideas but many
don't). They're small enough to fit into one pocket together and go with me
wherever I go, unlike my laptop.

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basicallydan
I really need to consolidate my ideas.

At the moment I use Trello, Evernote, Google Docs, and sometimes I guess Skype
for when I've come up with an idea during a conversation.

Different ideas go into different places depending on the convenience of each
one and the length at which I want to describe it. For example, Google Docs
works well for a big-ass description for an idea I come up with when I'm at a
PC or Mac, because it's better than Evernote on the web, and sometimes
Evernote native isn't available.

But Evernote on mobile is good for this too, and Trello is good if I just need
to go "QUICK GET THIS ONE LINER DOWN SOMEWHERE".

That doesn't mean I need an app to solve this problem, though, in case anybody
gets any ideas.

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logicallee
In order: I find a cofounder [EDIT: who is as on board with the idea as I am],
set up an agreement with them, incorporate the idea into a company, find
product-market fit, launch, and grow the company.

Pretty much you should think of each idea in these terms.

If you don't even have a cofounder, you don't really have much of an idea.
[EDIT: Clarification, the following refers to OP's complete, detailed list of
many ideas:] Anyone could list enough things to do in a paragraph for it to
take all the resources you'll ever come into possession of. Ummm...great.
Until you have a cofounder on board with an execution on at least one of them,
you don't have shit.

~~~
jasallen
So, it's infinite work for one person, but infinity / 2 is manageable?

~~~
logicallee
I meant that in reference to the fact that the OP has a "list" of ideas. I
might (or might not) have a "list" of ideas and if the list, in addition to
easy or more difficult web startup ideas, so much as hinted at asteroid mining
(whatever the idea is) or something like the HyperLoop (again no matter what
the idea is) - then the overall list is now more resources than I would ever
come into contact with through any path.

But if instead, I only have a list of cofounders who are on board with
specific plans, then I would only have manageable ideas. That is to say,
perhaps it is possible to cofound a private space company. But actually doing
so is a helluvalot different from putting it in a bulletted list. And I
probably wouldn't do so under any circumstances, even if I _did_ have an idea
in that space.

~~~
jasallen
So I agree, some ideas are more manageable than others. But the only thing I'm
getting out of your description is that a co-founder validates ideas, because
you don't trust yourself to know that Hyperloop is harder than a Reddit clone?

Also not sure if you could be fooled into thinking Hyperloop was easy, why you
wouldn't be able to find an equally optimistic co-founder.

~~~
logicallee
Your last sentence gets at the heart of my point. If you wanted me to come on
board with your idea that builds on hyperloop, I wouldn't be "agreeing that
that's a pretty cool idea and should be on your list." I'd be agreeing to
actually build it somehow.

So the standard for cofounding something is a million times higher than the
standard for putting it into some list of ideas.

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crucialfelix
I've built my own app which I've used for many years. its like evernote
integrated with areas/projects/tasks.

for specific projects I sometimes use folders of markdown files. that doesn't
scale well, but its fast to edit.

we've used this for our company: [http://podio.com](http://podio.com)

and I'm surprised it doesn't get more attention. its great for internal
company communication and chat. you can add apps and workspaces for funding,
ideas, bugs, projects, sprints, competitors, user tests.

you can easily create your own "app" for something like "market"

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Matetricks
I use Elevatr. Right now it's only available as an iOS app. It's specifically
tailored to entrepreneurs as you have to input a few key aspects every idea
should have, namely market fit, product features, pain, value proposition,
etc. They recently introduced an interesting feature where you can "Make
Moves" on your startup - I clicked the button, and a few days later they
reached out to me to discuss my startup and how they could help connect me to
app developers in New York City.

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icefox
Every few months when something that seems good enought comes along I post it
on a blog
[http://ideasfrommydreams.blogspot.com/](http://ideasfrommydreams.blogspot.com/)
Then I get to share all my silly ideas with my 138 rss subscribers. And I can
go back and add notes as I find new information. And if I never work on them
at least I got to write down something. And once in a blue moon I get a
comment.

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jaredstenquist
Trello. I organize them in lists and revisit weekly. I'm an idea guy that
needs to focus on execution, so I revisit the list weekly.

* Needs Validating (basic market research, customer exploration)

* Hot list (validated. would like to spend more time on it)

* Dead pool (didn't pass validation, or interests/resources/priorities shifted)

My deadpool list will be turned into an interesting book one day. Most likely
one of those funny single page story books that are bought for bathroom
reading.

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heliodor
I find Workflowy best for this kind of thing.

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sosha
Workflowy does it for me

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true_religion
Evernote. I used to use text files for everything, but I'm a recent evernote
convertee, due to their webnotes feature. Its so much easier to have an idea,
then attatch web clips of all the images/sites that are associated with it for
later on than to describe that in a text file.

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franze
I.M.B.S. - in memory brain storage (if it's a good idea, it sticks until it
becomes a project)

~~~
hartator
Is it PRISM safe? :)

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sandebert
I use a private DokuWiki installation where I've created a template with a
number of pre-defined questions that are related to the startup idea. Each
idea has it's own page, and I add things to the page as I think of them. Works
great for me.

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JimmaDaRustla
Thought this was sarcasm at first.

Maybe I should create a startup for an app that helps organize startups! ;)

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uniclaude
Text (actually markdown) files: ~/docs/idea-someDescriptiveName

Obviously automatically backed up.

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danielnordh
A moleskin or Trello, but neither were good at keeping the fragments that make
up or develop an idea (websites, images as well as text or files). So I built
my own tool that is good for people like me who think visually, curator.co

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focusaurus
WorkFlowy. Super die-hard fanboy all the way elevenzes. Totally perfect
combination of primary hierarchy plus tags and notes and the instantly-
responding UI and search that make it pure gold. Good keyboard shortcuts as
well.

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AznHisoka
I don't usually have a ton of ideas so I just keep them in my brain.

What questions do I ask? I usually ask potential customers whether it's
something they'd find useful in their day to day lives, and what their pains
are.

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leostatic
Workflowy Its nested and collapsible text methodology is perfect for how I
like to keep the idea. Each idea roughly has the following top level headings:

\- Description \- Why? \- Already existing solutions \- Features \- Links

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gremlinsinc
Google Spreadsheet -- always at a click away via Drive app on android. I am
constantly adding new ideas, and I organize them from time to time w/
favorites at top - and whimsical ones at bottom.

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davewasthere
A shared google doc with a mate. We combine our ideas for world domination.
He's the only one executing though. I seem to be completely busy with client
work in the short term...

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austinstorm
A Composition Book (the black and white marbled cover notebooks). I go back
occasionally and put stars in the margins for ideas that don't seem stupid
with a little distance.

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licnep
I use mind42.com, it's an online mind mapping tool (and it's free, I find it
pretty useful). Then i regularly download my mindmap and keep it in a git repo
just in case.

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amerkhalid
Google Spreadsheet with difficulty scores and other parameters.

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bradleyjoyce
I haven't used it much yet but found Elevatr to be an interesting tool
[http://home.elevatr.com/](http://home.elevatr.com/)

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Felix21
I have a folder in wunderlist.

So i can add more details as notes, add things i need to do to execute this
idea as subtasks and tick the ideas off as i execute, or delete them

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codesink
~/Dropbox/ideas.txt adding new entries at the top of the file. I wonder how
many thousand ideas.txt files are on Dropbox servers :)

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edmack
I'm a big fan of Trello for a visual way to lay them out and share them. It's
a nice balance of feature rich but visually simple.

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icedchai
i use a text file.

i google around to see who else is doing something like it, and how they are
making money. generally i only look at SaaS and B2B ideas.

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patatino
notepad list of ideas. labels in gmail for each idea. I like to send myself
emails with informations (research etc.) and label it.

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projectramo
Evernote. (I tried Workflowy and its great when you start but the most you put
in there, the more unwieldy it becomes)

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acjohnson55
Another vote for Evernote and Trello here.

Evernote is fantastic for things in text form.

Trello is great for structured brainstorming.

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conroy
Trello for me. I have an ideas board with lists for blog posts, apps,
startups, and video games.

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sharmanaetor
I maintain a Google Document of the format

Summary:

Inspiration:

Description:

Trello was another place I considered storing my ideas, but Google Docs was
just easier.

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Aarvay
Evernote. Trello. Google Docs. Three top tools I use / have used for this
purpose.

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Tichy
Google Keep atm, but it's not perfect.

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asselinpaul
Evernote, Simplenote and Trello :)

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uqimu
Trello and Evernote work for me

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kylelibra
Evernote / Trello

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kawera
Notational Velocity

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jes5199
Notational Velocity

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roelb
Google Keep

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AgLiAn
G Docs

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modoc
Evernote.

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Kiro
Gingko

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tobydownton
Asana

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keithwbacon
Evernote

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jw_
emacs org-mode + dropbox.

