Monday Seven No. 016
Generating Ideas💡💪🏽
Hey Friends 👋🏼
Last week’s email on relationships, well-being, and self-doubt had a 54% open rate. The top two links were 100 Couples Share Their Secrets to a Successful Relationship and You Will Marry the Wrong Person.
I love talking about ideas. My version of a great weekend is being in a remote cabin with a bunch of smart people untethered from the world discussing our big ideas.
A founder friend and I were chatting about startup ideas over dinner when he told me that the curse of the entrepreneur is that we have a shitty idea every 5-minutes. That is true. If you’ve spent any amount of time around me you’ve definitely heard a few of mine (Uber for ballon delivery?). Turns out you need a lot of bad ideas in order to get a few good ones. Generating ideas is a learned skill and I believe anyone can become an idea-generating machine. This week’s post is all about how to find those startup ideas.
If starting a company or side project isn’t really your thing, jump straight to #6 to hear what I’m listening to. You won’t be disappointed.
Let’s get right into it…
No. 016 — Generating Ideas💡💪🏽
1️⃣ Reading List — One classic and two new articles on idea generation:
I) How to Generate Startup Ideas by Paul Graham (@paulg)
II) Idea Generation by Sam Altman (sama)
III) How to Brainstorm Great Business Ideas by Courtland Allen (@csallen).
2️⃣ Subscribe — Two newsletters with tons of great ideas:
I) Trends.vc by Dru Riley (@DruRly) to discover new markets and ideas. Dru provides 5-minute reports in an easy to digest format. The reports analyze problems, solutions, and existing players. It offers predictions and opportunities in the market along with tons of great links to dive deeper.
II) RFS100 From the site: Requests For Startup compiles 100 great business ideas from leading investors, founders, and operators. Then we send out an email with ten a week because the best ideas shouldn't be a secret. Each week’s community-generated ideas are curated and sent out by Aashay Sanghvi (@aashaysanghvi_) and Mario Gabriele (@mario_gabriele_). I’m particularly excited about 3 ideas from RFS100 and think they have the potential to be billion-dollar companies: 1) Teaching from home. Alternative homeschool options for households with two working parents; 2) Zoom for Millennial Evangelicals. Faith-based video streaming; 3) Stripe Atlas for Individuals. Infrastructure for solopreneurs.
3️⃣ Listen — The Guide on Generation Startup Ideas on My First Million, a podcast from Shaan Puri and Sam Parr of the Hustle (Spotify, Apple Podcasts). My First Million is a great podcast show to find new business ideas and I highly recommend subscribing. In this episode, Shann and Sam breakdown a few frameworks for sourcing startup ideas in addition to tossing around a few new business ideas.
4️⃣ Moonlight — How to Come Up with Side Project Ideas by Ryan Hoover (@rrhoover). The article is perfect if you’re thinking about a side project. It’s from 2016 but still relevant today once you apply the new emerging platforms. I’d consider Ryan an authority on side projects. His company Product Hunt started as a side project and sold just 3 years later for a cool $20 million.
5️⃣ Watch — The Surprising Habits of Original Thinkers by Adam Grant (@adammgrant). In his TED talk from 2016, Adam talks about the virtue of procrastination for creativity. Procrastination can be a tool for expanding on ideas while thinking in the background. That’s when we process many of our best ideas without active thought. Shower thoughts outside the proverbial shower.
6️⃣ Music I’m listening to — Silence at Nómade Hotel in Tulúm, México. The DJ set by Gastón Silberman will put you in a flow state for generating ideas. The Argentinian entrepreneur DJs under the name Silence and releases one hour of music on Spotify each week. I suggest subscribing to the weekly releases. They are very different from the DJ set but Gastón has impeccable taste across genres. It’s a place to discover new music with an international flair and spark creativity.
7️⃣ Quote I can relate to —
I arise in the morning torn between a desire to improve the world and a desire to enjoy the world. — E.B. White
Last Words
Thanks for reading. As always, I’d love to hear what you think of this week’s post. This newsletter is free, but a lot goes into researching and writing it each week. If you found the content valuable, I’d be grateful if you forward it to that one friend who always tells you they’d start a company if only they had good ideas.
If you’re new here you can read previous editions and subscribe here.
Until next week,
Yashar