

Ask HN: How do you recognise a good idea? - helen842000

I'm interested to find out if anyone has any specific ways they pick their next project to work on.<p>I've got a handful of ideas and I tend to do a bit, get disheartened when I hit a roadblock, move on to a different idea and generally spin my wheels. I make SOME progress on all of them but lack focus to ship an idea properly. I feel like I put a lot of effort in but it is spread across many things which dilutes it.<p>I've decided I'm going start becoming more selective, cutting the list down, then sticking on one until I ship it.<p>What criteria do your ideas have to have before you feel it's worth starting?
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iambrakes
Are any of your ideas based around anything that you have a personal passion
about? Are they based on hobbys are something you studied in school?

You are going to have your best chance at making it if you have a personal
interest in it beyond just being a good idea for a business.

The startup I'm working on is based around musical instruments because that's
the number one thing that I find interesting.

I'd suggest taking a good look at your list and seeing which of your ideas is
most interesting to you outside of probable success in a general sense and see
if you can move that forward. Or look for a totally new idea that is in your
personal interest space. Cooking, reading, complex math equations, whatever
that is.

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helen842000
Thanks for your reply. I have started to think that following your passion
leads to never making a profit.

I have made & shipped some very popular things - they were my passions but not
built to make money. Perhaps I should look at ways to monetize these things.

I'm pleased with their success as they have helped a lot of people, however it
was all set up out of my own pocket and I'm still paying to keep them running.

I'm just worried that if I follow my passions again, it'll just be another
expense that I pay for.

I'm at a point where my next idea really does need to at least sustain itself.
If I built something that could be my full time income - if it's providing
value, no matter the industry it's in, that would become my passion.

~~~
iambrakes
Fair point. Passion and business don't often go hand in hand. But you will
have at least a better chance of sticking with it if you care about it.

Not every idea is a good one, but at least parse through the ones you have and
look for a personal angle that you can get excited about.

The other angle is not so much building on your passion, but building on your
pain. If there is a pain point in something you do that is really a problem
for you, then maybe you can solve it and stay energized because you are
solving your own problem.

