love it... probably not intended but i found it fascinating how the description of finding new ideas and approaches in mathematics (or any field for that matter) is similar to that in startups. this part in particular resonated
"If you keep asking yourself such questions when
reading a paper or listening to a lecture, then sooner or
later a glimmer of an answer will emerge—some possible route to investigate. When this happens to me I
always take time out to pursue the idea to see where
it leads or whether it will stand up to scrutiny. Nine
times out of ten it turns out to be a blind alley, but
occasionally one strikes gold. The difficulty is in knowing when an idea that is initially promising is in fact
going nowhere. At this stage one has to cut one’s losses
and return to the main road. Often the decision is not
clear-cut, and in fact I frequently return to a previously
discarded idea and give it another try"
"If you keep asking yourself such questions when reading a paper or listening to a lecture, then sooner or later a glimmer of an answer will emerge—some possible route to investigate. When this happens to me I always take time out to pursue the idea to see where it leads or whether it will stand up to scrutiny. Nine times out of ten it turns out to be a blind alley, but occasionally one strikes gold. The difficulty is in knowing when an idea that is initially promising is in fact going nowhere. At this stage one has to cut one’s losses and return to the main road. Often the decision is not clear-cut, and in fact I frequently return to a previously discarded idea and give it another try"