I am also a huge fan of this. Even if you don't have the big hit, you have a good chance of stumbling across something decent that can sustain you while you search for the big hit. The problem with this technique is I never know where to draw the line between "wasting your time" and "staying determined".
Since freshman year of college, this is what I did too. I had tons of ideas and off the top of my head, at least 6 of them made it into the construction stage. The score: 4 busts, 1 nice acquisition, and 1 evolved into a business I'm currently working on. Aim for success, but don't be discouraged by failure if you learn from it. Also, market response to your ideas is 100% unpredictable. Users/customers vote with their attention and wallets and not with their words of encouragement/discouragement. Don't run your idea past anyone... just do it. One of my bigger failures was the one most congratulated by peers and one of my bigger successes was mocked before it became a cultural phenomenon. Good luck and have fun!
