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I like the idea of just decide on something to build and than build it. Worst case scenario you get a learning experience. And I like building things I enjoy or products I really wish I had. So I get benefit in that way. With software inputs outside of labor are low, so you won't lose out financially in most cases.
That is FAR from the worst case scenario.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
That is FAR from the worst case scenario.
In your opinion, what would be the worse case scenario?
I'm all for the silver lining of having learned something. That's good for sure. But there are almost always costs when building anything from model cars to software applications.
Customers are also a great source of project ideas. You can pick a customer, like "small business owner" or "wealth advisor," and interview them. My favorite question that leads to ideas is "tell me everything you did from when you started your day until now," and dig into all the annoying/painful things they mention.
Per your point, it's important to learn from their workflow, not ask them what they want. When you ask someone what they want, they often perform attribute substitution (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attribute_substitution) and answer a different question.
“everything in the world was created by people no smarter than you”. Is there actually any validity to that? Assuming you is a human of average intelligence...
“everything in the world was created by people no smarter than you”. Is there actually any validity to that? Assuming you is a human of average intelligence...
> Focus on the repeat offenders. The ideas that you keep coming back to. I totally buy this. Linked to it, I think the it's good to be able to entertain obviously bad ideas for a short while. You think of an idea because of some set of underlying prompts, so even if the idea as a whole doesn't have legs, there are often insights lurking somewhere in it that you'll end up coming back to.
I think what is more important is to focus on ideas for which you have a comparative advantage (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparative_advantage) which frequently, but certainly not always, will mean there's a certain amount of obsession as a side-effect.
> Focus on the repeat offenders. The ideas that you keep coming back to. I totally buy this. Linked to it, I think the it's good to be able to entertain obviously bad ideas for a short while. You think of an idea because of some set of underlying prompts, so even if the idea as a whole doesn't have legs, there are often insights lurking somewhere in it that you'll end up coming back to.
I'm worried though this statement is heavily colored by "survivorship bias"- Certainly ultra-successful people are often obsessed with their ideas, but it does not logically follow that being obsessed with an idea is a good metric to base decisions on. Just look at all the people obsessed with writing the great American novel and/or next hit song. I think what is more important is to focus on ideas for which you have…
Customers are also a great source of project ideas. You can pick a customer, like "small business owner" or "wealth advisor," and interview them. My favorite question that leads to ideas is "tell me everything you did from when you started your day until now," and dig into all the annoying/painful things they mention.
"tell me what happens between the time you type something into the address bar and when you see a result". so many opportunities to show understanding at various levels there.
“everything in the world was created by people no smarter than you”. Is there actually any validity to that? Assuming you is a human of average intelligence...
It’s certainly false though the sentiment might still be valid, basically that the lack of smarts isn’t something that’s holding up more inventions from coming into this world.