Edit: Thanks guys, I didn't expect to get that many responses. Some interesting approaches in here :) Personally I put them into regular text documents. For each of my ideas I try to answer the six product-focused YC application questions as a sanity check.
The good ideas -- the ones worth doing -- keep coming back to you, gnawing at you until you can't put them off any longer. It's a real problem you continually run into, and it's something you care about. So much more valuable than a list of half-baked ideas you had randomly on the bus.
The real problem is treating startup ideas differently than ideas. Ideas are like experiences. They build off of each other and the sum is greater than the parts. Not always in a literal sense either.
The fact of the matter is, the way we arrive at things isn't truly understood. But there are people who propose methodologies that may or may not work for the OP.
A good start would be James Altucher's idea machine: http://www.jamesaltucher.com/2012/10/how-to-become-an-idea-m...
I humbly disagree. Not saying you should -pursue- every idea you have, but there's little harm in taking notes. In fact, I'd argue it's more beneficial than not.
Take notes. Read them. Edit them. Add to them. Throw some away. Ignore others.
But your idea list is your sketch pad, and sketching is good exercise for the mind. And maybe you'll find yourself sketching the same thing over and over. And you'll keep coming back to that one theme. And THEN, you've got something...
A few others have mentioned it, but I thought I'd provide some more details about why I like it:
-- Super simple. Clean UI, can organize a TON of info in a small space.
-- Multi-device. I use the web version when I'm on my laptop, iPhone version when on the go, iPad version when I'm sitting in a coffee shop reading.
-- Easier than other methods. Lots of ideas here work, but I've found this is the easiest. Google Docs lacks the organization. Evernote is just a mess (sorry, I know it's super popular). Gmail can work too but also lacks the organization.
Note: Not affiliated in any way, just a fan.
I like this because I can map out an pretty complex app in just a few minutes. I can easily add thoughts, and I don't lose them. I like my brainstorming to accumulate. You generally lose that in a soft form, because you edit out the "bad" thoughts. I like to remember them later when I revisit the idea. Also, if I have any design ideas I can quickly sketch it out. I can't draw but I draw in a pseudo-wireframe way.
Downside is the organization and portability. I have a stack of papers I've accumulated over the years in my home office. If I start to work on in code. The paper stays on my desk and I usually end up with 2-3 sheets before I'm done building. If I never build it, it gets filed. I will return to it if I've given it more thought or figured out a solution to a problem I foresaw. I keep post it notes handy for when I get an idea and am away from my workspaces. Post it's get added to the file later.
http://web.archive.org/web/20100926194455/http://thoughts.pr...
Mail to yourself. Email subject is the main idea. Each new idea gets its own email thread. Reply to email thread when you have things to add or docs/imgs to attach to the original idea
The whole thing is tagable, sortable by date, and searchable. You can even hide the label from the inbox if you prefer that.
At the moment I use Trello, Evernote, Google Docs, and sometimes I guess Skype for when I've come up with an idea during a conversation.
Different ideas go into different places depending on the convenience of each one and the length at which I want to describe it. For example, Google Docs works well for a big-ass description for an idea I come up with when I'm at a PC or Mac, because it's better than Evernote on the web, and sometimes Evernote native isn't available.
But Evernote on mobile is good for this too, and Trello is good if I just need to go "QUICK GET THIS ONE LINER DOWN SOMEWHERE".
That doesn't mean I need an app to solve this problem, though, in case anybody gets any ideas.
Pretty much you should think of each idea in these terms.
If you don't even have a cofounder, you don't really have much of an idea. [EDIT: Clarification, the following refers to OP's complete, detailed list of many ideas:] Anyone could list enough things to do in a paragraph for it to take all the resources you'll ever come into possession of. Ummm...great. Until you have a cofounder on board with an execution on at least one of them, you don't have shit.
But if instead, I only have a list of cofounders who are on board with specific plans, then I would only have manageable ideas. That is to say, perhaps it is possible to cofound a private space company. But actually doing so is a helluvalot different from putting it in a bulletted list. And I probably wouldn't do so under any circumstances, even if I did have an idea in that space.
Also not sure if you could be fooled into thinking Hyperloop was easy, why you wouldn't be able to find an equally optimistic co-founder.
So the standard for cofounding something is a million times higher than the standard for putting it into some list of ideas.
for specific projects I sometimes use folders of markdown files. that doesn't scale well, but its fast to edit.
we've used this for our company: http://podio.com
and I'm surprised it doesn't get more attention. its great for internal company communication and chat. you can add apps and workspaces for funding, ideas, bugs, projects, sprints, competitors, user tests.
you can easily create your own "app" for something like "market"
* Needs Validating (basic market research, customer exploration)
* Hot list (validated. would like to spend more time on it)
* Dead pool (didn't pass validation, or interests/resources/priorities shifted)
My deadpool list will be turned into an interesting book one day. Most likely one of those funny single page story books that are bought for bathroom reading.
Maybe I should create a startup for an app that helps organize startups! ;)
Obviously automatically backed up.
What questions do I ask? I usually ask potential customers whether it's something they'd find useful in their day to day lives, and what their pains are.
- Description - Why? - Already existing solutions - Features - Links
So i can add more details as notes, add things i need to do to execute this idea as subtasks and tick the ideas off as i execute, or delete them
i google around to see who else is doing something like it, and how they are making money. generally i only look at SaaS and B2B ideas.
Evernote is fantastic for things in text form.
Trello is great for structured brainstorming.
Summary:
Inspiration:
Description:
Trello was another place I considered storing my ideas, but Google Docs was just easier.