
Help Me HN: Can't think of new ideas I am interested on working on - open
I've been both a business founder as well as a technical founder, so I've got strong working knowledge on both ends of the spectrum. I have solid design and marketing skills as well. I've sold my last startup so I know what I'm doing and at this point in time have the funds and skill set to pretty much pursue any idea.<p>The problem? I can't seem to think of any idea I would want to work on. I don't have any obvious or immediate itch to personally scratch and I've had several people approach me pitching their ideas, but none of them are very exciting to me. I only want to chase ideas I am genuinely passionate about or excited about. I've literally spent the past few months day after day exploring countless ideas, markets, etc... and just can't seem to get excited enough about anything. Sure ideas are a dime a dozen but many are just junk or uninteresting.<p>Within a few hours to maybe a few days, I've always found something wrong with the ideas I've thought of or come up with, or any initial excitement about an idea quickly fades. To be fair, many of the ideas probably have solid potential so its not like they're all duds. They're just not exciting to work on. I've never really had this problem before as I've always been previously excited about what I was working on and have always found it easy to stumble onto ideas or think of ideas I wanted to work on in the past. Sometimes more than I can keep up with and most ends up being ignored.<p>One reasoning (although I don't know if this is really it) that I have considered is that when I was inexperienced, not knowing what I don't know, everything seemed more exciting and I just wanted to do things for the sake of doing them. In hindsight, it seems as though experience is both good and bad in that it now leads to me find so many flaws in ideas I probably would have otherwise wanted to explore if it was the past me. By all means, I don't think I know all that much and compare to many people out there and even people on HN, I'm probably have even less figured out. But I am guessing to some extent maybe in some unconscious way, it's making me less excited about most ideas these days.<p>I find ideas like Square extremely exciting and disruptive. Unfortunately I don't have anything like that brewing in my head. Does anyone else ever feel stuck? I know there certainly are a lot of people who have more ideas than they can execute on but right now, I'm stuck on finding anything I can be passionate about.<p>TL;DR - Can't think of an idea I like enough to be motivated to do anything even though I can execute.<p>PS I know I mentioned Square above but hopefully no one suggests I join another company or even work for Square. I really like starting new projects or ideas from scratch. Square was just a random example of something I would be excited about.<p>PPS I guess I'm just wanting to have a discussion with others who feel the same way. I don't think there is anything specific anyone can help with in this case (at least directly).
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david927
Funding seed-stage startups is broken. The ratio of accredited investors to
startup is so skewed that most startups don't stand a chance of getting
funding. As the LinkedIn IPO shows, average people are extremely excited about
getting involved, but they are locked out in the US due to strong regulatory
laws.

Disruptive startups can't get funding and there are many people who would like
to fund them with small investments of, say, $50.

Here's a solution. Part One: Companies register as public companies on Malta,
which is EU, on the cheap (relatively). They aren't listed on any exchange but
can privately accept bids for shares from anyone. E.g. 10 shares for $50.

Part Two: A site which offers any company/group/idea the possibility to list
(ala Crunchbase) but then for those companies that incorporate publicly in
Malta, there's a pre-built mechanism for them to field and accepts bids for
equity. There's a very small transaction fee for this.

I've registered the domain OpenStarts.com but it's yours along with the
business plan if you want it. Just email me. A quick deck is here:
<http://c25571.r71.cf1.rackcdn.com/OpenStarts.ppsx>

~~~
patrickod
am I right in saying that this is really kickstarter with equity in place of
product ?

~~~
lachyg
I've always thought a Kickstarter for startups / websites would be such a
brilliant idea, but not feasible. This guys idea sounds fantastic, but I think
the whole registering in Malta wouldn't be too appealing.

~~~
david927
You simply can't do it in the U.S. There are very, very strict regulations
against it. Many have tried different angles but it's amazingly airtight.

Malta isn't appealing, I'm sure, to those outside of the EU. But the way I
mentioned makes at least possible what otherwise is impossible.

~~~
pitchups
We originally wanted to do something similar to what you are proposing. Since
crowd-sourced investment was out in the US, we decided to just set up the site
pitchups.com to allow people to get feedback/comments on their startup idea
and connect with others, and just develop it as a community. There may be some
value and synergies in combining what we are doing at pitchups with your site
- maybe it can serve as a funnel for great ideas to get to the crowd-sourced
funding stage. Let me know if this is something that would be of interest to
you, by emailing admin@pitchups.com

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Vivtek
If you ask me (and I think you did!) this is kind of a mini-burnout. Take a
vacation - a real one. Don't think about anything, just take a month in Sicily
or something. Meet some new friends who aren't in the startup scene. Go hang
out with your dad, or some cousins.

Disengage.

Then come back. I'll bet you'll find you're more excited.

~~~
open
Thanks Vivtek, I honestly don't think it's being burnt out. After my last
startup, I did take a leave and traveled for a bit. I think it's really more
of, the ideas I'm coming up with or encountering are just not very interesting
to me personally.

~~~
Vivtek
It's probably projection on my part, then. Ha.

I've gone through this type of phase in the past. It's usually stress or lack
of sleep, when it happens to me. In times when I'm happy and well-rested, I
_always_ have a background idea I dearly want to pursue.

Maybe you need to engage in creative procrastination. Find something boring
you need to do for a while, then sneak time to have and work on your ideas!

Then, too, if I don't have a flagship project (so to speak, by which I mean a
specific project I want to achieve) then I usually work on support structures
that it would have been nice to have the last time around. Kind of a
sharpening of my tools for the next job, I guess.

------
Tycho
Do you find the idea of dashboards for businesses interesting? That's what I'd
work on if i had lots of time to research, lots of know-how, and lots of
business experience. It's exciting because

a) building these things makes the world more productive, businesses more
agile,

b) you can take inspiration from a wide range of sources (science fiction,
journals, movies, video games, old inventions),

c) there's very exciting stuff coming to market right now. Microsoft's Kinect,
Nintendo Wii (and whatever their new console will be), lots of interest in 3D
displays, while stuff like voice-recognition and natural language interfaces
and data visualization is finally getting really good

So many combinations of the above to be discovered, and so many industries to
benefit.

~~~
open
Sorry, not really into the dashboard for businesses thing at the moment

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petervandijck
Here's an idea. You'll quickly find many challenges/problems with it, but if
you can fix those (that's called innovation) you'll have something.

Many immigrants to the US go back to their home country for surgery and
similar health services. It's cheaper and often better. Why can't non-first-
generation-immigrants take advantage of the same services easily? Ie. why
can't you easily go to countryX and cheaply get your teeth fixed?

~~~
zorked
AirBNB for offshore medical services. That could be a billion-dollar business
in fact.

~~~
joelhaasnoot
Once people find a doctor they like (and a foreign hospital), they stick with
them, and would be going behind your back to get follow-up/repeat treatment.
Not to mention all the redtape

~~~
petervandijck
Right. And you're saying you could not figure out ways to fix these problems?
Innovate!

------
ThomPete
Why don't you join <http://www.weekendhacker.net> There might be some projects
you would like to join.

~~~
open
Thanks, will check it out

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biturd
I thought I would give this thread some time to mellow out. I can't see your
email address in your profile. I am in the Bay Area, as I believe you are.
Currently not working and have a good deal of spare time.

Would you mind having a quick email to perhaps see if we can colab on
something?

I am sure you got a lot of comments and thought that at one time your email
was listed, and now it is unlisted. I won't take up much of your time, but I
too am bored with where I am at, and want to do something that is not driven
by money as the sole reason to do it.

I have a few ideas that are not unique in any way. The ideas themselves may
not even be all that fun or challenging aside from the technical aspects of
scale. Most would need to scale as large as many of the largest trafficked
sites popular today.

What I think would be fun is the challenge of entering a market that is owned
by only one player. Being the #2 is not always a bad thing, and shooting to
make your #2 the new #1 sounds really fun. To me, it becomes about execution
of the idea, which is the fun part.

Any idea will eventually become boring, you will complete it, and the
challenge of starting will be over. Growing and executing your idea different
from how it ever has been done is what motivates me.

If you at all would not mind having a short email or two, maybe there is
something we can work out.

~~~
open
It wasn't in there. Your email is missing as well. I just updated.

Personally I'm not big on ideas that absolutely require scale to succeed. As
for market, it really depends on the market and idea as a whole. I prefer
consumer facing companies that are not vertical specific.

------
jtheory
It could help to switch gears entirely for a while; study a trade that
involves physical craftsmanship (vs. mental) and/or gets you outside or using
your body. Do it with focus, for long enough to gain real skill. You may come
back to coding, or you may not.

Another thought -- there's a special kind of burnout when you realize that the
"problems" most new products/services solve not really problems -- they are
just about moving money around more easily or in different ways, or convincing
people more effectively to buy more things they don't need.

How do you define a good idea? "One that makes money" is pretty weak. Some
people can motivate themselves purely on the money something will make; the
rest of us need to dig a bit deeper when looking for worthwhile projects. One
that solves a particular problem you have, for other people, is also pretty
weak if your personal problems are all trivialities. "I travel a lot, and it's
hard to find shoes that are still comfortable at the end of a long flight."

~~~
open
I'm currently burning time learning new programming languages and looking to
learn hardware development.

------
jk4930
Enroll at one of these: <http://singularityu.org/programs/executive-programs/>
Or get ideas from those: <http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/> Or come to
Berlin for a coffee and some inspirations.

------
pitchups
Take a look at many of the startup ideas on our website, pitchups.com, where
anyone can submit their startup idea or pitch and get feedback and comments
from others. Some of these ideas may be of interest to you. And I am sure many
of these startups would welcome an experienced entrepreneur to collaborate
with and help them take their ideas to the next level. Our vision is to make
pitchups into a community and ecosystem to foster startups - and allow anyone
with a great idea to find others willing to collaborate. In fact, we ourselves
are looking for experienced partners to collaborate with us on pitchups.com -
and would love your inputs, if this is of interest to you.

~~~
open
Thanks, will do

------
petervandijck
Try developing an idea. When you find something wrong with it, then dive into
how you could fix that. And then find something else wrong, and see if you can
fix that.

Undeveloped ideas are not interesting, developed ideas are.

------
rjrodger
Second album syndrome eh? :)

Read everything James Altucher has written: <http://www.jamesaltucher.com/>

He's been around the block a few times, but wears his heart on his sleeve.

~~~
open
Not second but yeah, it's probably something along those lines. I've read many
articles he's posted so far. Probably thought HN =]

------
maxdemarzi
"I don't have any obvious or immediate itch to personally scratch"

Put yourself into the shoes of someone else and fix their biggest problem.
Can't think of one?

Go to a non-nerd party and ask around, "What's your biggest problem?".

~~~
open
I've tried this but not very many people know what bugs them and the ones that
do (albeit few) are things I probably don't want to do. But I greatly
appreciate the brainstorming.

------
rvkennedy
I'm sure you know this already, but I think the best ideas and the ones that
you will be strongly motivated to work on are those that solve a problem for a
lot of people, but principally for _you_. Something in your business life or
elsewhere that you have found frustrating or lacking, but that has no good
tech solution. But I'm sure I read it elsewhere and it made sense that it's
easier to find solutions than problems. Don't look for a solution, look for a
problem, a tough one, then cast about for ways to solve it.

------
turbojerry
"Can't think of new ideas I am interested on working on"

That is a huge itch to scratch, perhaps if you created a product / service
that would help people like you think of new ideas and filter them quickly
that would be of value? For example I just used the "Apply To Self" idea from
neuro linguistic programing to take your problem and create a solution see-

[http://www.hypnosis101.com/wordpress/nlp/sleight-of-
mouth/ap...](http://www.hypnosis101.com/wordpress/nlp/sleight-of-mouth/apply-
to-self/)

------
mattblalock
I like ideas and have several brewing. However I don't really think this is
the way it works... my ideas come from an evolution of other ideas that come
together to form something bigger than I could have imagined.

I encourage you to take your time, to think about problems that you see
discussed here or on Reddit, and find the problems those problems create, then
you're headed in the right direction.

If you want to chat about ideas or creativity, my eMail is in my profile.
Don't be shy!

------
cmer
Woah! Did you just copy/paste my mind or what? I am _exactly_ in the same
situation and feel exactly the same way as you! Every word and sentence you
wrote describe me perfectly. I also sold a few startups, I'm both business and
technical, can't get excited again, love Square, etc. We should hang out ;-)

I showed your post to my wife and she really thought I wrote it.

Please reach out to me and we'll talk. You can find my email on my about page.
Cheers!

~~~
open
Will make a note to reach out to you later =]

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mike_esspe
If you like Square, then try to build a bitcoin billing? :) The bitcoin market
is relatively small now, but it's growing very fast.

~~~
cmer
Betting on such a small and unproven platform doesn't give you very good odds
in my opinion. People who've been around the block a few times are usually
looking for a bit more certainty than that. Not that anything is certain in
the startup world, but this seems beyond risky/crapshot. My 2 cents...

~~~
mike_esspe
Surely it's more risky, than usual startup (because you bet on both your
abilities and bitcoin growth), but it's the one in a lifetime chance :)

------
measure2xcut1x
Read this transcript. Maybe it will inspire you. It inspired me.
[http://www.princeofwales.gov.uk/speechesandarticles/a_speech...](http://www.princeofwales.gov.uk/speechesandarticles/a_speech_by_hrh_the_prince_of_wales_to_the_future_for_food_c_848967946.html)

~~~
open
Will do.

------
orky56
I got an idea that's more disruptive than incremental. Shoot me an
email/message if you're interested in chatting about that or just getting over
the creative hump. I'm in Silicon Valley.

~~~
open
Your email is not listed in your profile.

------
ulisesroche
This usually just means that your taste has grown more refined and you no
longer find the culling upsetting. Just keep doing what you're doing until you
hook the big one.

------
keeptrying
Travel to a 3rd world country - Africa, Remote rural parts of india.

With all your resources - what can you do for these people.

You seem to have enough money - you need something with deeper meaning.

------
endian
If you're interested in open source Bitcoin projects, shoot me an email.
There's plenty of world-changing high-quality FOSS components to create!

------
petervandijck
"I've always found something wrong with the ideas I've thought of" -> figure
out how to fix those problems, that's called innovation :)

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kpbernard
We have the opposite problem. Lets have a chat if you're STILL stuck in you
effort to find exciting, fresh ideas.

I have a few I think you'd be excited about.

Contact me.

~~~
open
Don't see your email. The email field in your account settings is not public.
You would need to add it to the public profile box (about)

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kpbernard
If you're, truly, interested in getting in on a great idea from the ground
floor...I think we should chat.

Just send me a message.

------
pknerd
I have reverse problem. I have lots of things in mind but fail to decide which
to select first.

------
xtac
I've been in the same position for nearly 2 years. Contact me at
xtac@ymail.com

------
len
patience.

the process of finding things you like takes time. be aware of your state
through the process and learn from it.

solve the problem correctly once, and you wont ever have the problem again.

------
jizo
maybe you need to take a fishing trip or a place you odd to be but never been.
Prefobly with human

------
cheez
What motivated you the last go around? Was it $$$ or the idea?

~~~
open
Neither. It was originally developed as a solution to solve my own problem.
The intention was never to create a startup out of it. It wasn't until a few
months later that someone pointed out that I should run with it as a startup.
The rest is as they say, history...

~~~
cheez
Ok, but what kept you going? Was it the thrill of getting customers or the
thrill of solving that particular problem or...?

I'd love to work with someone who has done it before so if I can motivate you,
that would be awesome :D

~~~
open
There were multiple reasons but ultimately it was an interesting problem we
were solving among various other factors. Your email is not in your profile
but if you want to connect, I'm pretty open.

~~~
cheez
Oops, check it now :)

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klbarry
If you're in NYC send me an email at kevinlordbarry@gmail.com. I have an idea
kicking around I'll be happy to share with you.

~~~
open
Hi Kevin,

I'm located in the SF Bay Area but I'd still love to connect. Will shoot you
an email later.

