In the essay Why Smart People Have Bad Ideas, PG states<p>"Reading the Wall Street Journal for a week should give anyone ideas for two or three new startups. The articles are full of descriptions of problems that need to be solved."<p>This statement gave me an idea for YCnews. What if every Sunday (usually a slow news day) PG posts an article from the Wall Street Journal or any other publication, but instead of people just giving their opinions they gave their solutions to the problems presented in the article? People could then up-vote the solutions they liked the best. This would get everyone's thoughts flowing in the right direction, which is forward towards creation and innovation.
I love it. No development, just come up with a name that makes sense and post the link for the article. People can leave their ideas for a business that solves the problem in the comments. The top vote getter wins ice cream.
This is a good way of identifying problems, but unless it is for a problem hackers can identify with, we may not be the best people to suggest solutions. Ask the people that are most frustrated with that problem, that need to deal with it most frequently about how important it is, and potential solutions you are thinking about.<p>