Paul Graham Wisdom

Apply these principles when exploring ideas, validating opportunities, or making decisions.

The Idea Evaluation Framework

Is This a Real Problem?

1. Live in the future, then build what’s missing – The best ideas emerge from being at the edge of a field and noticing gaps
2. Look for problems, not ideas – Start with genuine pain points you experience, not abstract brainstorming
3. The schlep test – If you unconsciously avoid an idea because it involves tedious work, that’s often where the opportunity lies. Ask: “What problem do I wish someone else would solve?”
4. Depth over breadth – Acute needs for a small group beat mild needs for many. Microsoft started with just a couple thousand Altair owners who desperately needed software
5. The “toy” signal – If critics dismiss something as a “toy,” it may have everything except scale. Microcomputers, search engines, and Facebook were all called toys

Is This Worth Pursuing?

1. The Bus Ticket Theory – Great work requires disinterested obsession with a topic that matters. Pursue what you’d pursue even without external rewards
2. The spare time test – Would you work on this during free time while supporting yourself another way?
3. What doesn’t seem like work? – Your genuine interests reveal what you should pursue
4. Curiosity as compass – Pursue what you’re excessively curious about. Curiosity is the ultimate guide

Am I the Right Person?

1. Three ingredients – Natural ability + determination + obsessive interest in the topic
2. The intersection advantage – Combining expertise across different fields reveals problems one domain hasn’t solved
3. Become the expert – Know your domain thoroughly. Surface-level knowledge gets exposed immediately
4. Youth advantages – Fresh eyes, freedom from conventional assumptions, understanding of emerging behaviors

The Thinking Framework

How to Think Independently

1. Fastidiousness about truth – Carefully calibrate your degree of belief rather than rushing to extremes
2. Resistance to being told what to think – A positive force, not merely immunity to convention
3. Curiosity – The primary source of novel ideas. Indulging it increases rather than satisfies it
4. Keep your identity small – The fewer labels you claim, the better your reasoning. Identity impairs clear thinking
5. Question the status quo – Challenge what you take for granted. Ask “Is that true?” about every claim

Avoiding Mental Traps

1. The top idea in your mind – Your shower thoughts reveal what actually occupies you. Guard what becomes your dominant idea
2. Disputes are toxic – Controversies crowd out substantive work. Avoid them
3. Don’t hack tests – Optimize for genuine quality, not proxies. The lesson to unlearn from school
4. Schlep blindness – Your unconscious filters out ideas involving difficult work before you consciously evaluate them
5. The unsexy filter – Similar to schlep blindness, but for problems you find distasteful

Productive Thinking Practices

1. Good procrastination – Postpone small stuff to focus on work with obituary potential. Let delight pull you forward
2. Maker’s schedule – Creative work requires half-day minimum blocks. A single meeting can destroy an afternoon
3. Write to think – There is a kind of thinking that only happens through writing
4. Carry unanswered questions – They seed future discoveries through background processing

The Execution Framework

Getting Started

1. Begin with the simplest thing that could possibly work – Start small and evolve through successive versions
2. Do things that don’t scale – Manually recruit users, provide extreme customer attention, solve problems by hand
3. Early work looks unimpressive – Great projects pass through an embarrassing phase. Push through
4. Being a noob is good – The discomfort of inexperience correlates with learning novel things

Building and Iterating

1. Growth as compass – Measure weekly growth rates. 5-7% weekly is a good benchmark
2. Get initial versions to audiences quickly – Users are the only real proof you’ve created value
3. Iterate relentlessly – When nothing works, tweak and try again. Every viable market has winning permutations
4. Compound advantage – Small daily progress compounds exponentially. Consistency matters more than volume

The Work Ethic

1. Determination over intelligence – The strongest predictor of success. Willfulness + discipline + ambition
2. Relentlessly resourceful – Actively shape outcomes rather than accepting them. Adapt mid-play like a running back
3. Balance effort types – Focused work blocks + undirected thinking (walking, showering, resting)
4. Protect morale – The basis of everything on ambitious projects. Physical health enables thinking

The Quality Framework

Standards for Excellence

1. Be aggressively willing to admit you’re mistaken – Intellectual honesty enables better work
2. Aim for 100-year value – Create work people will value in a century
3. Formidable is justifiably confident – Not fake swagger, but conviction from genuine understanding
4. Earnestness – Do things for the right reasons while trying as hard as possible

Communication Standards

1. Write like you talk – Would you say this to a friend? Use that as your filter
2. Write simply – Simple language makes mistakes obvious and respects readers’ time
3. Correctness with precision – Make claims as strong as possible without becoming false
4. Explain to convince yourself first – If you can’t explain it concisely, you don’t understand it

The People Framework

Who to Work With

1. Seek the best colleagues – Quality trumps quantity dramatically. They make the difference between great work and none
2. Formidable founders – Investors decide within minutes. Conviction from genuine understanding
3. Mean people fail – Meanness makes you stupid, repels talent, and focuses you on fighting instead of creating
4. Work with people who energize you – Avoid those who deplete you

Team Dynamics

1. Small groups enable measurement – Individual contributions become visible
2. 2-4 founders ideal – Quick decisions without factions
3. Technical founders essential – For technology ventures, you need builders

The Environment Framework

Where You Work

1. Cities send messages – Different cities value different types of ambition. Place yourself where your goals are valued
2. Discouragement outweighs encouragement – Few can keep working on something no one around them cares about
3. Geographic clustering drives innovation – Proximity to peers and shared ambition accelerates achievement

How to Structure Time

1. Eliminate distractions – Don’t pursue side projects when building something important
2. Protect uninterrupted blocks – Knowledge of upcoming meetings depresses morale
3. Stay default alive – Spend as little as possible to extend runway

The Superlinear Returns Principle

Returns on performance are not linear. In fields with superlinear returns:

1. A few big winners outperform everyone else – This includes science, investing, art, startups
2. Success enables further success – More knowledge helps you learn faster
3. Independent-mindedness required – Your ideas must be correct AND novel
4. Starting is hard – Initial efforts yield small visible returns. Push through to where the curve steepens

Quick Reference: Key Questions

When exploring any idea, ask:

• Problem: Is this a real problem I’ve experienced, or am I making up a solution?
• Obsession: Would I work on this even without external rewards?
• Schlep: Am I avoiding this because it’s hard, or because it’s wrong?
• Identity: Am I defending this idea because it’s good, or because it’s “mine”?
• Depth: Does this solve an acute need for someone, or a mild need for everyone?
• Scale path: Is there a clear expansion from initial users to a larger market?
• Conviction: Can I explain why this works to a skeptical expert?
• Energy: Does working on this energize me or drain me?
• 100-year test: Would this still matter in a century?

Source Essays

For deeper exploration, key essays include:

• “How to Do Great Work” – Comprehensive framework for excellence
• “How to Get Startup Ideas” – Problem-finding methodology
• “Do Things that Don’t Scale” – Early-stage execution
• “Schlep Blindness” – Uncovering hidden opportunities
• “How to Think for Yourself” – Independent-mindedness
• “The Bus Ticket Theory of Genius” – On obsessive interest
• “Superlinear Returns” – Why inequality in outcomes
• “Keep Your Identity Small” – Clear thinking
• “Maker’s Schedule, Manager’s Schedule” – Time management
• “Relentlessly Resourceful” – Founder mindset

All essays available at paulgraham.com/articles.html