Ideas for Startups

Paul Graham’s essay Ideas for Startups challenges the assumption that generating startup ideas is inherently hard.

The Misconception

People often haven’t actually tried to think of ideas. They assume ideas arrive like miracles rather than through deliberate effort.

Ideas Are Not Million-Dollar Assets

Startup ideas themselves have minimal market value. “The fact that there’s no market for startup ideas suggests there’s no demand.” Most successful startups evolve dramatically from their initial concept.

Reframe Ideas as Questions

Rather than asserting “I will build X,” treat concepts as exploratory questions: “Could we build X?” This removes psychological barriers and allows flexibility.

The Role of Environment

Generating ideas requires exposure to new technologies and collaboration with sharp minds. Universities excel at this because they combine cutting-edge research with creative peers.

The Shower Principle

Ideas emerge during relaxed mental states through unconscious pattern-matching. Graham compares this to “doodling with ideas”—combining habits of mind from different fields.

The Accidental Startup Path

Many famous companies (Apple, Yahoo, Lotus) began accidentally—hackers building things for themselves and friends, not consciously pursuing startups. This organic approach often proves most successful.

How do you generate ideas? I’d love to hear at persdre@gmail.com.