Topic
Idea Generation
Every resource in the archive tagged with idea generation.
33 resources
Essay7 Rejections
Brian Chesky
Jul 2015 · 1 min read
On June 26, 2008, our friend Michael Seibel introduced us to 7 prominent investors in Silicon Valley.
EssayGuide to Career Planning, Part 1: Opportunity
Marc Andreessen
Sep 2007 · 11 min read
Why planning a career is pointless — and why seizing opportunities beats following a plan.
EssayGuide to Career Planning, Part 3: Where to go and why
Marc Andreessen
Oct 2007 · 9 min read
How to pick the industry, company, and role where your opportunities will compound.
EssayStartup Advice, Briefly
Sam Altman
4 min read
Start with a project, not a company, so you can find something great to work on without premature commitment.
EssayAdvice for Ambitious 19 Year Olds
Sam Altman
4 min read
Build something real while staying around smart people, regardless of whether you choose college, a company, or a startup.
EssayBillionaires Build
Paul Graham
Dec 2020 · 15 min read
Becoming a billionaire requires building something people genuinely want, not exploiting them.
EssayStartups in 13 Sentences
Paul Graham
Feb 2009 · 6 min read
Thirteen principles for building a startup, from picking cofounders to understanding your users above all else.
EssayWhen to Do What You Love
Paul Graham
Sep 2024 · 7 min read
When to pursue work you love versus work that pays well depends on your ambitions and the actual odds of success in your chosen field.
EssayOrganic Startup Ideas
Paul Graham
Apr 2010 · 4 min read
The best startup ideas come from problems you encounter in your own life, not from trying to guess what others want.
VideoTobi Lutke explains what the VCs who passed on Shopify got wrong
Tobi Lütke
Mar 2026 · 1 min read
“What a lot of free-market thinkers don’t understand is that between the demand and eventual supply lies friction."
VideoPaul Graham on why starting with a “small, intense fire" is the key to startup growth
Paul Graham
Mar 2026 · 1 min read
"You have to know who those first users are and how you're going to get them."
VideoSam Altman explains how he decides to invest in a startup after 10 minutes
Sam Altman
Mar 2026 · 1 min read
What a 10-minute YC interview reveals about a founder's potential.
VideoJeff Bezos’s two pieces of advice for aspiring entrepreneurs
Jeff Bezos
Mar 2026 · 1 min read
Why entrepreneurs shouldn't chase the hot thing — position for the wave, then wait.
EssayAbout
Patrick Collison
1 min read
Patrick Collison's interests and involvement in economic growth, entrepreneurship, climate, housing, and progress studies.
EssayQuestions
Patrick Collison
16 min read
A collection of open-ended questions about economics, progress, institutions, and society from a founder's perspective.
EssayAdvice
Patrick Collison
3 min read
Go deep on multiple things, make internet friends, read widely, and resist pressure to follow standard paths.
EssayHow to Find Specific Knowledge
Naval Ravikant
Mar 2019 · 6 min read
Specific knowledge comes from pursuing your genuine curiosity and innate talents, not from school or following others.
EssayHard Startups
Sam Altman
2 min read
Altman's core thesis: ambition is a recruiting and gravitational advantage, not a liability.
EssayResearchers and Founders
Sam Altman
1 min read
The common traits that distinguish the best researchers and founders, from problem taste to persistence to an action bias.
EssayIdea Generation
Sam Altman
3 min read
How to get good at generating startup ideas through environment, tectonic shifts, and founder-company fit.
EssayStartup Playbook
Sam Altman
34 min read
A founder's guide to the core elements of starting a successful startup: idea, team, product, and execution.
EssayLuck and the Entrepreneur
Marc Andreessen
Aug 2007 · 8 min read
Four distinct kinds of luck shape entrepreneurial success, each requiring different personality traits and behaviors to activate.
EssayAge and the Entrepreneur
Marc Andreessen
Aug 2007 · 11 min read
Andreessen's gloss on Simonton's finding that the 'quality ratio' of hits to misses stays roughly constant throughout a creative career.
EssayGuide to Startups, Part 7: Why a startup's initial business plan matters
Marc Andreessen
Jul 2007 · 6 min read
Andreessen's punchline: the inventor of the phonograph initially filed it under 'speaking telegraph' and missed its true market for months.
EssayGuide to Startups, Part 4: The only thing that matters
Marc Andreessen
Jun 2007 · 10 min read
Rachleff's Corollary of Startup Success, as formulated by Andreessen.
EssaySuperlinear Returns
Paul Graham
Oct 2023 · 19 min read
In most fields, small differences in performance create outsized differences in results because of exponential growth and thresholds.
EssayBefore the Startup
Paul Graham
Oct 2014 · 20 min read
Why your instincts about startups will mislead you, and what to trust instead.
EssayLife Is Short
Paul Graham
Apr 2001 · 1 min read
Time is finite, so choose work and people that matter most to you.
EssayBlack Swan Farming
Paul Graham
Sep 2012 · 9 min read
Startup investing concentrates returns in a few massive winners, which look like bad ideas until they succeed.
EssayThe Anatomy of Determination
Paul Graham
Jan 2017 · 1 min read
Smart people take risks that look crazy only in hindsight; Newton's work in alchemy and theology were reasonable bets in his time.
EssaySchlep Blindness
Paul Graham
Jan 2012 · 4 min read
Great startup ideas fail because our unconscious mind avoids problems requiring tedious, difficult work.
EssayHow to Start a Startup
Paul Graham
Mar 2005 · 43 min read
Three things determine whether a startup succeeds: good people, a product customers want, and spending little money.
EssayHow to Get Startup Ideas
Paul Graham
Nov 2012 · 32 min read
The best startup ideas come from problems you have yourself, not from trying to think of startup ideas.