How I Decide Which Ideas Are Worth Building

I do not think ideas are judged well by how exciting they sound on paper. They are judged by whether they survive contact with actual users.

The first thing I look for is pain. If the problem is soft, the product usually stays soft.

The second thing is urgency. A problem that can wait forever is not a product opportunity. It is a hobby.

The third thing is leverage. If a product makes one person noticeably more effective, that is a better sign than a vague promise of value.

I also ask whether the idea still matters after the novelty disappears. A lot of concepts look brilliant for one week and then die because they were built on attention rather than need.

The best ideas are usually not the flashiest. They are the ones that keep looking useful after you have thought about them too many times.