[wpietri]

> Every viable web startup idea that I can think of has already been done by other startups who have been there many years before.

You aren't looking hard enough. At work, about once a week we come up with another perfectly viable startup idea. We're already working on one, though, so we file those away just in case.

You're probably looking in the wrong place. You could be mainly looking at existing companies, which of course means you won't think of anything new. Or you could be paying attention mainly to the obvious parts of yourself. But since people like us make startups, the obvious things we need are already covered.

Instead, go look at other people. Really look. Be an anthropologist at the ballpark, a psychologist at the coffee shop, a sociologist at the grocery store, a short-story writer at the bar. Look at the problems people really have and ask: could I build something that would help?

If you think the answer is yes, go pick up something like "The Entrepreneur's Guide to Customer Development", or go do a Lean Startup Machine weekend. Learn how to test your ideas before you write code. When you find an idea you can't kill without building it (and find it you will) then go build it.