Help! my ideas list has more lines in it than my codebase :/

Those are good questions to ask. I also like Intercom's three questions from their Starting Up. Don't recall the exact wording, but they are:

*Is this a problem that people genuinely have?
*Do I have insider knowledge about the problem area?
*Can software be used to make a magically better experience?

I have them taped to my wall and they help me stay focused. Particularly, the second question keeps me focused on projects where I have expertise.

I found this post to be very useful. The meat grinder approach ...

https://tylertringas.com/business-ideas-meat-grinder/

Also:

• Would I Like to talk to the customer for 1-2 hours if I met one at a party?
• Do I like the actual problem I am solving or do I just like the idea of my solution (cool technology, etc.)
• ...

Not that I can prove it's any good, but I've built a spreadsheet with projects and commitments (including work) with scores for various different properties assigned to them.
The most interesting column is entitled "score" to the right.

It's a very simple and dumb heuristic, but has been helpful as a guide for me in doing a quick sanity check.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1Fw2VSMsoLZp6PhYaiHdr0DvLH-5EyvIwBjbvhRkiHT8/edit?usp=sharing

The columns are entirely arbitrary.
Key:

• Will It Keep? - How "timeless" is the idea
• Required Effort
• Interest
• Income Potential

You probably won't know which ideas would succeed (can you predict Twitter?), and you probably choose the idea which you prefer to work on.

I usually work on idea where I am the intended user. If I am not the intended user, I should find a passionate user who are willing to spend time with me to build and beta test the product. This is my number 1 criteria before starting work.

• can you see yourself work on the problem/idea/product for years?
• would you like to deal with the potential customers?
• is there a clear revenue model. For SaaS at least $19/pm?
• is something similar been done before? Yay, if so.

I'm guessing there's one in there that you look longingly at more than the rest. The one you keep coming back to. That's the one to do. It might not work out as a business but you'll have enjoyed the time spent on it and you'll have properly taken it out of the running, letting you move on.

The title sounds like the start of an Indie Hackers version of a doctor joke ;)

Having lines is not a bad thing. And it helps to analyse and filter ideas to make sure you're not wasting time. I'd say if you're going to build this out on your own, filter all the ideas that you think you could build an MVP of within 2 days. Say you have 10. Build the first idae, spend 5 days testing it, reaching out to customers, getting feedback and learning.

After a total of 7 days, review and move onto the next idea. You'll learn fast how to build only the core features and the time pressure will force you to validate the idea as quickly as possible. The faster you can build and test, the more you'll learn and the more progress you'll make. Soon enough, one of them will work out :D

My suggestion would be to come over and hear the pitches for each over a beer or two :)

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