Why Smart People Have Bad Ideas

Paul Graham’s essay Why Smart People Have Bad Ideas identifies why intelligent founders often pursue weak startup concepts.

The Core Problem

During Y Combinator’s Summer Founders Program, many applicants fell into this category: “promising people with unpromising ideas.”

Three Main Causes

1. The Still Life Effect

Founders choose their first idea and become emotionally invested before evaluating alternatives. “The biggest cause of bad ideas is the still life effect: you come up with a random idea, plunge into it” and feel committed due to sunk time.

2. Choosing “Cool” Over Profitable

Founders prioritize interesting work rather than revenue-generating work. “Unpleasant work pays” because pleasant work attracts volunteers.

3. Fear-Based Timidity

Smart people underestimate their abilities in unfamiliar domains. Graham’s team feared competing in e-commerce but later discovered “VC-backed startups are not that fearsome.”

The Solution

Learn to identify customer needs. “Hackers are perfectly capable” of understanding customers without business people. The key insight: “Make something people want.”

Training’s Role

Education trains people to solve predetermined problems rather than identify valuable ones.

What bad ideas have you had to abandon? I’d love to hear at persdre@gmail.com.