Still looking for your startup idea?

Great ideas are of three main types - easy and obvious, hard and obvious, and hard and non-obvious. In the startup world people are coming up with easy and obvious ideas all the time. Ever thought why? That’s because the most common way of thinking is by analogy. Reasoning by analogy saves time. However, where innovation matters, thinking by analogy doesn’t help.

Obvious and hard – These are the ideas that are worth it, but seem too hard to reach for most. They are tantalizing, but are considered fir only for mad scientists. These include cancer vaccine, solar cars, nuclear fission rockets. These could take a lifetime to build. However, even a limited success in any of these fields is worth spending a lifetime on.

Non-obvious and hard – These are the ones that are born of obvious problems the solutions to which are not obvious. Imagine Paypal for instance. Back in 2002 sending money to people was difficult. With Paypal it’s not.

So, why are people ‘blind’ to the non-obvious? These ideas sound a bit risky and weird, and that’s why you should do it.

Image credit: Funders and Founders