This is Paul Graham.

So when you look at something like Reddit and think "I wish I could

think of an idea like that," remember: ideas like that are all

around you. But you ignore them because they look wrong

One way to discover broken models is to be stricter than other people. Broken models of the world leave a trail of clues where they bash against reality

The way to get startup ideas is not to try to think of startup ideas. It's to look for problems, preferably problems you have yourself.

What should you do if you're young and ambitious but don't know what to work on? What you should not do is drift along passively, assuming the problem will solve itself. You need to take action. But there is no systematic procedure you can follow. When you read biographies of people who've done great work, it's remarkable how much luck is involved.... See more

the most important of the new principles business has to learn is that people work a lot harder on stuff they like

VCs are

like car salesmen or bureaucrats: the nature of their work

turns them into jerks.

There are two different ways people judge you. Sometimes judging you correctly is the end goal. But there's a second much more common type of judgement where it isn't. We tend to regard all judgements of us as the first type. We'd probably be happier if we realized which are and which aren't.

One of the biggest things holding people back from doing great work is the fear of making something lame. And this fear is not an irrational one.