By Hannah Brenner

In “How to Get Startup Ideas” the last paragraph really struck a chord with me. Even though everybody could think something is a good idea, what is important is that they need to actually use it. This will stick in my mind for a long time. When discussing my ideas with others, if they say they think something is a great idea for other people to use, I will definitely reevaluate.

I see these problems in philanthropy as well: People want to save the world but don’t know how. Instead, they should get passionate about a particular issue, probably a smaller one, and work to make positive change on that small issue. If more people did that, I believe there would be more success across the board in making positive changes in the world.

Pay attention. I agree that if you have to think too hard to get an idea, that product is probably not incredibly sought after!

I bought a pack of “litter sifting bags” the other day. It’s a layer of plastic that I lay on top of the litter bags (that I also bought) that sifts the icky stuffs out for you. All you have to do it pick it up and it does the job for you.

“Mastering the art of disruptive innovation in journalism” includes a quote that says, “Successful companies understand the jobs that arise in people’s lives and develop products that do the jobs perfectly. And if a company does this, customers will instinctively ‘pull’ the product into their lives.” This litter sifting bag does that job efficiently and cheaply. Even though it costs more than if I simply scooped all the litter myself, I valued that efficiency and thought it was worth my money.

The article also says jobs don’t change, but the products do. My family friend bought a litter box that cleans itself. While I valued not having to sift litter at $8, she valued not having to clean any litter at over $100. In this case, the products changed based on the consumer’s financial status. In both cases there was a job to be done and a means of doing it easier.