All my ideas and the inspiration for patents come from my own experiences and observing real problems that needed to be solved or modernized.
Capture Your Real Experiences
As I said in the New York Times, “Innovation doesn’t just happen at your desk. It happens in the weirdest places and times. You get ideas through watching the world, and through relationships.” Each time you get frustrated or see inefficiency, jot down:
- What happened?
- Why it was annoying or costly?
- Who else might face it?
Identify Patterns
Over time, review your notes and look for repeated pain points or common themes. These are signs of high-value problems.
Ask yourself:
- Do multiple problems revolve around the same area (e.g. communication, money, health, productivity)?
- Are they frequent, costly, or emotionally painful?
- Rank them by how painful and common they are. High pain + high frequency = strong opportunity.
Validate the Problem (Not the Solution Yet)
Before thinking about what to build, confirm the problem is real for others.
You can:
- Ask 5–10 people who fit your target group:
- “Do you ever experience this?”
- “How do you currently deal with it?”
- Look for people or groups complaining about the same issue.
- Make sure you’re solving something people care deeply about, not just something you personally notice – its ok to solve a problem for others, even if won’t impact you.
Sketch Simple Solutions
For each idea, ask:
- Would this make the user’s life clearly better?
- Can I build or test it quickly (a “minimum viable version”)?
- How would people discover it?
Even a landing page, short demo, or prototype can be enough to test interest.
Test Small, Learn Fast
Share your idea with a few potential users.
- Watch their reactions — do their eyes light up or seem polite?
- Track real behavior more than compliments.
- Each test gives you data to refine or pivot early — before wasting time or money.
Double Down or Discard
If the idea resonates strongly — go deeper:
- Build a clearer version.
- Measure engagement, feedback, and results – its paramount.
If it doesn’t — let it go quickly. Pass on weak ideas fast is how you find great ones faster.
