With ideas it's almost like with electromagnetic waves. We're surrounded by them, but if we're not tuning into them (e.g. by using a radio) or even block them purposefully, we're not receiving them.

While it may sound silly to block ideas if you're looking for business ideas, this really happens all the time. Here are four far too common filters:

• The unsexy filter. An extremely common mistake is to discard all ideas that are neither flashy nor sexy to tell others about. Unsexy ideas are great because there is a lot less competition. Other people just won't do it. (Have a look, for example, at what Lumi is doing.)
• The schlep filter. "Schlep" means a tedious, unpleasant task and many aspiring founders (consciously or unconsciously) avoid ideas that involve a lot of tedious, unpleasant work. For example, the problem solved by Stripe was obvious for many years but no one tried to build a solution because it requires a lot of unpleasant work like talking to banks and lawyers.
• The originality filter. You'll miss the best ideas if you're fixated on ideas that are truly original. Most truly original ideas are extremely stupid and the best ideas have been considered by many people before you. In fact, most everything has been considered by someone, at some point and ideas simply do not originate in a vacuum. Almost everything is a remix of some sorts. But more importantl, while many founders discover the entrance to a given idea maze, the way you navigate it will almost certainly be unique. This is what really matters while searching for the entrance to an idea maze no one else has discovered so far is probably a futile endeavor.
• The obvious filter. Everybody’s ideas seem obvious to them.. Hence you shouldn't discard any idea because it seems too obvious.

Good artists copy, great artists steal." - Pablo Picasso

What's next?

Focus on Painful Problems Over Ideas