Idea Sex
Cross two things you know and mate them into a brand-new idea.
- Difficulty
- Easy
- Time to result
- ~days to results
- Steps
- 3
- Confidence
- 93%
Idea Sex (also called purpose sex) is the practice of taking two things you know or care about and exploring their intersection to create something new. Altucher notes you don't have to be the best at either input; being competent at both and combining them often lands you in an uncontested space you can own. He uses Apple as the canonical example of repeatedly mating existing concepts into new industries. The technique turns two ordinary interests into a differentiated niche where competition is thin.
Origin
Altucher developed the concept in his book 'Skip the Line' and illustrates it with Apple's product history and with Joe Pompliano, a bond trader who combined sports and business into the 'Huddle Up' newsletter during COVID.
Core principles
- 01New industries are born at the intersection of two existing concepts.
- 02You don't need to be best at either input — just competent at both.
- 03The intersection is often uncontested, so you can dominate a niche quickly.
- 04Any two concepts can be combined to produce something creative, even if some combos are bad.
How to run it
- 1
Name two inputs
Pick two areas you're interested in or know a lot about — they don't need to be things you're the best at, just familiar with.
Pro tip Sports and business, guitars and history, computers and radio all work.
- 2
Find the intersection
Ask explicitly: what lives at the overlap of these two things? Force a concept that requires both.
Watch out Some intersections will be bad ideas (a sushi-burrito); that's fine — generate first, judge later.
- 3
Check who else is there
Look at how crowded the intersection is. The power of idea sex comes from occupying a space almost no one else is in.
Pro tip If nobody else is at the intersection, you can become the best in the world in that niche fast.
In the wild
Apple, a computer company for 30 years, combined a radio with a computer to make the iPod, combined the iPod with a phone to make the iPhone, and combined a computer with a flat glass surface to make the iPad.
→ Each combination created entirely new product categories and industries.
A bond trader at a big bank started a newsletter during COVID at the intersection of sports and business — explaining, for example, how the Super Bowl makes money — a space nobody else occupied.
→ The newsletter reached hundreds of thousands of subscribers and he quit his job, making more money than ever before.
Common mistakes
Competing on the crowded single-domain path
Trying to be the best at sports alone or business alone pits you against millions; the intersection is where competition thins out.
Waiting for a 'perfect' combination
Many combinations are bad, but you must generate freely — refusing to explore imperfect pairings kills the creative process.
Is it for you?
Best for
Entrepreneurs and creators hunting for an uncontested niche to own.
Not ideal for
Situations demanding deep single-domain specialization rather than cross-domain novelty.
From the transcript
“you want to come up with two things that you're either interested in or know about explore what the intersection of those things are”
“he wasn't the best in the world at sports he wasn't the best in the world at business but nobody else was in this intersection…”
From the episode
James Altucher: Debunking the 10,000-Hour Myth, How to Master Any Skill
James Altucher