How to Get Better Ideas

The secret to come up with better ideas is to stop trying to come up with good ideas.

This year I’ve started feeling the itch to build a side project (some software tool) but put off starting until I had the “monster” idea.

I’ve wanted to build something that would be fun to work on and have a chance at being profitable.

I've listened to a talk from Paul Graham twice now where he talks about how to come up with good startup ideas.

What he said was that many of the biggest companies today were side projects that someone started for fun, and to solve their own problem.

In most cases, this wasn’t their first project, or even their tenth.

To come up with good ideas, you have to explore your interests and not try to pick out the best ones.

Good ideas come from unique experiences.

Earlier this year I wanted to wait until I found a “viable” idea and then dedicate my time to it.

What I’ve done instead is start working on anything I find interesting, with no care as to if or when it will make me money.

My only two concerns are to learn, and have fun.

You only get good at the thing by doing it often and for a long time.

The Vault

I recently set up a page on my website called the “Vault”, where I share links to valuable resources and tools I come across. This was inspired by emilkowalski_ who build a similar page for his web animations course that I’ve been going through.

I’ve also built a web app version for myself where I can keep track of articles, videos and sites that I want to go back to later. I’ve had a messy system for this on Notion, but this custom solution will make things a lot easier.

For now it’s very simple, but it’s already been something I’ve used several times throughout the day. I can paste a link, give it a title and add some notes. Later I’ll integrate with Claude or ChatGPT to summarize and send myself emails that curate similar content I’ve put there.

iPhone 16 Pro Max in Black Titanium

I missed my delivery on Friday so my impressions video is a bit delayed, but I’m excited to start testing out this phone. This will be my first max phone because of how much I’ve liked the size of the S24 Ultra (which is now only a .1” difference).

Things I’ve found interesting

links to valuable stuff I thought was worth sharing

Lecture 3 - Before the Startup (Paul Graham) - The Paul Graham lecture I listened to. I can highly recommend watching all of YC's Stanford lectures in this series.

My “Vault” - The page on my website if you’re interested in checking it out. Theres only a few links there now but I plan to add more and add filtering. I’ll probably sync it up with my app at some point.

Nobody tells this to beginners - A quote on taste I came across. This is one I’ll go back to.

Animations on the web - The animations course I’m currently going through. The theory taught in the first section was gold.

Have a great week.

Cole

P.S. If you found this letter helpful, please consider sharing it with a friend :)