Want to Find A Great Startup Idea? Try Keeping a Startup Idea Journal
Every startup originates from an idea. Bestselling author Peter James believes that “most of us have one big idea at some point in our lives. That Eureka! Moment. It comes to us all in different ways, often by chance of serendipity.”
The word Eureka!, which means “I found it”, was coined by the ancient Greek scholar Archimedes, who reportedly ran through the streets naked crying “Eureka! Eureka!” after discovering the property of buoyancy while stepping into a bath.
For some entrepreneurs, their idea may come in a “Eureka” moment- those flashes of insight where everything just makes sense. For many however, it isn’t so easy.
Tim Berners Lee doesn’t “believe in the sort of eureka moment idea.” He says, “I think it’s a myth. I’m very suspicious that actually Archimedes had been thinking about that problem for a long time. And it wasn’t that suddenly it came to him.”
While Eureka! might be useful to describe the moment of understanding —that moment of invention or discovery— the underlying ideas likely began to materialize and unfold long before. Some entrepreneurs spend weeks, months, or even years thinking about and developing their ideas until they find an attractive new venture idea.
One way you can begin developing and cultivating your ideas, and maybe even having a Eureka! moment of your own, is by capturing your ideas in a startup idea journal. In fact, getting your ideas down in writing may be just as important to finding your next great startup idea as having the idea itself.
A startup idea journal is a place where you can capture and explore your ideas for startups and new ventures (or really any ideas for new projects, new processes, new products, or new services). Idea journals can help you can capture your project ideas, key features, observations, improvements, and goals. Or you can make lists of what you need to learn or do next. You can also jot down advice, motivational quotes, or just random thoughts.
Whether you carry around an actual notebook and pen— which I recommend— or you log your ideas digitally (via audio/voice notes, Google Docs or Microsoft Word), the important thing is to capture, explore, and collect your ideas so that you can spend some time focusing on them and/or come back to them later.
Just remember, if you have your Eureka! moment, please don’t follow the example of Archimedes and forget to get dressed before running out to proclaim your discovery.
Want to know how keeping a startup idea journal could help you find your next great startup idea? Check out our article on 9 Reasons to Keep a Startup Idea Journal , which discusses how keeping a startup idea journal of your own can help you explore and develop your next great startup idea.