[patio11]

Okay, your accountant example has made it clear that there is really no obvious way of finding business problems by just merely looking from the outside.

I don't think that was the takeaway I was going for. An accountant, told "Tell me where the money goes in a taco truck", would be able to do do a napkin sketch of that in under a minute. "Describe at least one business problem amenable to a software solution that a taco truck has" does not strike me as being terribly difficult. (Actually selling it to them in a scalable fashion? Much more difficult, but that's largely because they're a taco truck.)

What is your opinion on the effectiveness of speaking to people and asking them directly about their problems?

I find that listen to people is often an effective strategy for learning from them. I feel I have to add the disclaimer "That is my sincere attempt to answer that question" to that sentence. Often, not-software-people do not have a great handle on what software could actually do for them, so asking them "What software do you wish existed?" doesn't work all that well, but asking them for top-of-mind business problems is not that difficult.

Or am I better off reading industry magazines/blogs/forums and kind of examining them in their natural habitat?

These two activities don't compete with each other. Either or both are more effective than neither. Don't do neither. If you're currently doing neither, start doing either or both.

[summerlunch]

Wow okay, to be honest with you, I could not answer that question about the taco truck. But I will try to understand businesses more better. Thank you so much for your helpful answers. My head is now filled with a million more questions. Do you mind if I email you sometime?

[hiddenfeatures]

He probably doesn't. patrick@[any domain he owns] Also see http://www.kalzumeus.com/standing-invitation/

[GFischer]

Patrick is amazing, I hope we're not imposing on him too much. He helped me a lot when I did an Ask HN in the past (and he was right too :) )