A simple heuristic from the founder of Y Combinator: ask yourself - "what would happen in a sci-fi novel about your startup?" It turns out this works not only for finding product ideas but even for choosing a company name. Today, Graham found a new name for a startup just by asking how it would be called in a science fiction book.
Why does this work? When we think within the framework of a "business plan," the brain automatically limits itself to patterns. The format of fiction removes these limitations and allows for broader thinking. Essentially, it's a way to trick the internal censor that usually kills the most interesting ideas before they are born.
This exercise, by the way, works great not only in your own head but also as a prompt for LLMs. Language models are generally excellent at merging different directions and styles with each other - ask ChatGPT or Claude to rethink your idea through the lens of sci-fi, and the result might surprise you. Applying an "external style" is one of the most underrated techniques for working with chatbots.