

Ask HN: what do you do with ideas you have no way of implementing yourself? - Timothee

Most likely, you have a lot of ideas all the time. Some are simple and you do something over a week-end, some are more complicated and you gather a couple of people, make a prototype and start a company, but some are just completely outside your reach.<p>It could be lack of time before an opportunity is closing, lack of capital (hard R&#38;D necessary), lack of expertise… (though it all goes back to the same thing: time and money) but what do you do with these ideas that are too far out?<p>Find the right people? Put the idea out there and hope it gets picked up? Patent it and become a troll?<p>Also, do you have examples of things that you didn't know anything about but still pushed through to success?<p>Of course, one of the reasons I'm asking is that I've had a couple of ideas that I'd like to see come to life but don't quite have the means: one is a small hack for which the opportunity is likely to close before I could get to something by myself, and the other is a pretty big R&#38;D thing that involves chemistry, optics and many other things that I know nothing about and can't just do from my couch. :)<p>So I'm curious about <i>you</i> do in these cases…
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aristus
Just keep an ear out for someone who can do something about it. A lot of good
projects happen when a few people come together with similar ideas in their
back pockets.

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triviatise
I keep my eye out for people who are interested in starting a company and
offer to fund them. It is interesting how rare it is to find anyone who really
wants to start a company. A lot of people say they want to but when given the
chance, wont take the leap.

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Mz
I tend to do one of two things: Keep it alive on some back burner forever and
ever and ever while feeling like some loser who never accomplishes anything or
do a quick google, discover someone else is already doing it and has put way
more into it than I ever would and ditch it as a likely time-waster.

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wmboy
Just because someone else is doing it shouldn't be a reason to ditch it. In
fact, it could validate your idea as it proves there is a market and if your
idea is better and your vision greater you could have a success on your hands
(just look at Wufoo for a recent example).

On the other hand if your enthusiasm for the idea isn't high enough then you
should go ahead and ditch it.

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Mz
<flake>

Yeah, well, the most recent thing I dreamed up as some possible money-maker
was a numerology app to do the math part for you since I get annoyed by having
to do it by hand, only it turns out there are already numerology apps and they
have interpretation and stuff. Then I decided I probably didn't really _want_
to do a numerology app, I just had fantasies of making a quick buck because my
finances have been very stressful of late. What I really want to do is what I
have been working on all along only the "getting well part" that my personal
expertise is rooted in is still taking too much effin time/money/effort and
continues to delay the "make some cool simulation to teach folks what I did/my
mental model so they have some shot at replicating it" part. The actual
"getting well" part is critical to doing this because it is what my knowledge
is rooted in and it's unique knowledge but, hey, it's really annoying to be
sick for 45 years as a means to have a unique product. Bleh.

Then after that I plan on getting rich with a comic.

<everyone laughs>

</flake>

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coryl
You're not stupid for creating something that already exists. I've "copied"
sites before and have made decent money from them, even if the market was
crowded or the idea was unoriginal. At the very least, its a learning
experience.

The truth is your not going to come up with a brilliant idea and get rich, so
STFU and start building something.

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Mz
I think you have misunderstood me. I was poking fun at my belief in
numerology, not suggesting I'm stupid or unoriginal. Most folks on boards like
this one roll their eyes at things like numerology.

And I am working on stuff, though I am not at the "building something" (as in
"writing code") stage. There is other groundwork that is being laid.

Take care.

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coryl
Oh alright then, not sure I saw the self-deprecation as humor, but to each his
own! Carry on good sir.

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bzupnick
well, i think that a main aspect is definitely dedication. if you have to
handle a full time job while doing this project, so be it it, you gotta live.
but then every other second should be on this project. if that doesnt happen,
then the project wont happen. another aspect, i think, is an awesome partner.
going with PGs' philosophy of you almost always need a partner to succeed. but
good luck =)

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vipivip
Never give up, keep on trying, your aha moment will come.

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cjkundin
I agree. Don't give up and try and bring anyone and everyone along for the
ride. This doesn't mean make them a partner, but share your experience and
don't be afraid to ask others for help. This will give you a network of other
people with similar interests and yourself a reputation that will help down
the lines. It will also give you a perspective on if you want to work with
these people in the future or on your next project.

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vipivip
What's the best way to gain traction for new startup?

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cjkundin
I think it really depends on your startup (SEO, advertising, bloggers, etc)

I saw this the other day: <http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2461271>

Also here is another great resource! [http://blog.traindom.com/places-where-
to-submit-your-startup...](http://blog.traindom.com/places-where-to-submit-
your-startup-for-coverage/)

