Recently I discovered that I need to do my own cool project. Let me share with you why I think it is essential.

Introduction

I wanted to start making money by selling a product or service on the internet. I “knew everything” that I thought was essential, I just needed to start my journey. It all starts with an idea. No perfect business idea popped into my mind. I researched how to do this part of the journey, but none of the advice I found was helpful. A few “methods” I tried: start with the problem first, just look at other existing businesses, brainstorm. I really started to get scared… “What should I do now? I can’t think of a great idea.”

Cool Projects

I stumbled upon Paul Graham’s personal website, and it changed everything. Paul Graham is a computer scientist and entrepreneur, who co-founded Y Combinator, and was involved in numerous successful startups like Airbnb and Stripe. Paul states that startup ideas need to be noticed organically. You can only notice them if you are on the leading edge, and till you make it there you have to do cool projects. These cool projects may turn into a good business, but either way, you learn things while doing them. I encourage you to read the essay fully: How to Get Startup Ideas by Paul Graham.

This solved my idea issue (for now?), I can do my kind of silly but cool projects and run idea finding in the background. I started one, and it instantly decreased my ego, because I still have crucial things to learn. I am always happy to discover and learn new things like this one.