How to brainstorm great business ideas
- tags
- Business
- author
- Courtland Allen
Executing the ideas require being strong in four main components:
- The problem (aka the market)
- The distribution channel to reach customers
- The monetization model
- The solution to the problem (aka the product or service)
What makes a good problem?
- A good problem is one that many people have. A good number to aim for is at least hundred thousand.
- It is ideal if a group of people face the same problem (e.g. “developers”)
- Problem is growing: more people will face it in time to come
- It’s a good problem that people will pay money to solve
Always first search for a good problem. It may help to look at what people are allready paying money for.
Avoid Common Mistakes
- Don’t start with a solution in mind
- Don’t rule out already solved problems
- Don’t rule out high-value problems
- Have a customer in mind
Don’t Skip Distribution
Knowing how to reach customers is important. There aren’t many channels to investigate, so go through them all. Some examples of channels are:
- SEO
- press
- content marketing
- social media
- sales
- partnerships
- ads
Thinking about solutions
- Solve problems in the opposite way of competitors
- Solutions should be built on first principles
- Product-market fit
- Stripe focus heavily on API design and documentation, because its market is developers
- Product-distribution fit