[jolmg]

It's not about them being novel. ux4's point is that businesses don't get their worth for doing things nobody thought of before. They get their worth for properly executing ideas nobody properly executed before.

> Most startups, including those asking you to sign a NDA, are ideas I've had before.

Ideas you've had before, but haven't taken the steps those startups have in implementing them.

> Usually, I'll think of a problem, imagine the solution, and only then find out if it exists and how it's called.

That's just the global market being big. It's probably very common. There's a lot of cool stuff out there most people have no clue about.