Where's the big idea?

Just recently I read a great piece by Paul Graham of Y Combinator about startups. It's a long piece (for those of us who have been affected by the attention deficit provoked by the Internet) but worth the read.

What stroke me the most, since I have been struggling myself to find an idea to work on, is that usually, when we want to create the next powerful new thing, we begin by looking in all the wrong places.

My first (and only) company was conceived out of an opportunity that came from the place where I was working at the time. The thing is I was trying to replicate someones else's business model, and needless to say, I failed miserably.

In a very basic sense, the first place to start should be in your own needs. What do you want? What would make your life easier? What troubles you and how can you fix it? This approach will give you something worth working on, instead of just looking for the next big social network or dating app.

There's definitely something that can improve your life that you can make.

The other source is solving someone else's problem. Taking something someone else is wishing for that you can provide or build.

Nothing guarantees success, that's the only thing certain, but you have to start building something if you want to succeed. So go look for your idea.