Who. What. Where. When. Why. How.
Your last chance to prove your hypothesis wrong.
Answering another layer of questions narrows your focus. This is your last chance to prove the hypothesis wrong before the ball really starts rolling. The more real you are with yourself, the more headache, time, and money you save later.
Lecture 03 of 08 · Taught by Ali Sina
"DOMINATE SMALL FIRST AND GROW FROM THERE."
WHAT: Describe the problem in one sentence. WHY: How does this relate to you? Better if it affects you personally. WHO: Verify others have it too. Go talk to people.
WHERE: Start with a small subset. Avoid the temptation to go big. Pick a small but rapidly growing market with little or no competition (hobbyists). Big competitors won't swallow you. Customers tolerate imperfect products. Margin for error is bigger.
WHEN: Why is now the right time? Why not 2 years ago, and why is 2 years from now too late? HOW: Become an industry expert. Identify customer segments. Talk to targeted users.
Take these to heart.
- Answering WHY is the most important. How does this problem relate to YOU?
- Try to pick a small but rapidly growing market with little or no competition (hobbyists are gold).
- Become an expert in your industry so people trust you when you build the product.
Your homework.
- Watch Simon Sinek's Ted talk on 'Start with Why' — why the Why is imperative.
Insolar — 5-for-5 on Problem
WHAT: Going solar in America is confusing, time-consuming, and expensive because there's no online solution. WHY: The solar game bleeds cash — like running 5 businesses simultaneously. The biggest solar companies were (and still are) bleeding cash. WHO: Everyone we talked to hated shopping for solar. We secret-shopped 5 companies and were shocked at the price ranges. WHERE: California first (mandatory-solar law 2020). WHEN: Tesla was closing stores and trying to sell solar online but their model was rudimentary. The biggest solar company in the world wants to do what we're already doing — perfect timing.