In issue 88 of One Daily Nugget, we featured Paul Graham’s advice on angel investing. In today’s nugget, Graham explores a related, but different topic: How to choose a problem that’s worth solving in the first place?

“If you're going to spend years working on something, you'd think it might be wise to spend at least a couple days considering different ideas, instead of going with the first that comes into your head,” Graham writes. “You'd think. But people don't.”

Read on to find out what went wrong at Graham’s failed first startup, Artix, how these same mistakes keep getting repeated by other founders, and what you can do to avoid them!

Note that, while Graham’s essay is targeted primarily at a startup audience, his insights are highly relevant for anyone who plans to tackle new projects that rely on creativity and innovation.