Brendan Coady

Paul Graham has written and talked about how to have great startup ideas.

His profound advice is not to go looking for great startup ideas, but rather, to become the kind of person who “comes up with great ideas for startups unconsciously, in fact, so unconsciously, that you don’t even notice they are startup ideas”. Put differently, become the kind of person who attracts startup ideas to them.

Marc Andreessen has written about the 4 kinds of luck. This would be the 4th kind, the kind where you are so good at your field, or embody a particular ethos, that good things are attracted towards you.

An example I read elsewhere gives that of a world-class treasure diver. If someone stumbles upon a wreck that has treasure, and they need someone to help them get it, they call you because you’re a world-class diver and experienced in removing treasure from the ocean floor. They’ll even give you a portion of it for your efforts.

You didn’t need to get lucky and stumble across the wreck to have a part in it. You simply attracted that luck based on who you are and your experience.

I think this is the same point Paul Graham is getting at with startup ideas.

If you can become the kind of person who simply notices interesting things in the world, who has a unique viewpoint and set of skills, who is capable of turning ideas into reality, then good ideas are more likely to be attracted to you. Perhaps more specifically, you are more primed to notice good ideas when you have them.

Elizabeth Gilbert has talked about ideas being these free-form, elusive, sentient things that are looking for a host to work through. They want to exist in the world, they seek to find someone to exist through, and when they find the right person they can work through that person to work into our existence. I’m not sure I believe that - it sounds a little to hand-wavy to me - but I like the sentiment of becoming the kind of person that good ideas want to work through.

Rather than trying to come up with a killer idea for a book, become the kind of person who knows how to take a great book idea and make it a reality, either as an author or a book publisher or whatever role best fits your skill set.

Paul talks further about how great startup ideas exist on the fringes, and how to find truly ground-breaking, world-changing ideas, you need to learn to work at the edges. He makes a point that great startup ideas, at first glance, feel stupid, and “your conscious mind would reject them”. Wait, you want me to get into a stranger’s car, and they are going to take me to the airport? Sounds crazy. Now Uber is a $40B company.

Paul gives further advice here, on how to turn your mind into the kind that great startup ideas:

1. Learn a lot about things that matter

2. Work on problems that interest you

3. With people you like and respect

I agree with all these points, but I think the profound insight here is to invert the problem.

Don’t try to think of great startup ideas, become the kind of person who great startup ideas want to flow through.

Don’t try to think of an idea for the next great book, become the kind of person who writes great books.

Don’t try to find a workout that will help you lose weight, become the kind of person who exercises daily.

James Clear talks about this in detail in Atomic Habits, and it has changed my thinking significantly on how to get better in a variety of areas.

Rather than trying to be excellent at something, become the kind of person who exudes excellence, whether that is at work, at home, in the gym, in the kitchen, or with friends.

James tweeted the following:

I did not agree with him at first, but I think his point is that entrepreneurship pushes you to become the kind of person who can run a bus

So the best way to have a great thing happen to you, is to become the kind of person who is worthy of that thing.