On "making something people want"... You don't always know. If its a cheaper version of something else then - yah. But if its a new category you don't know. eg Nest - turns out people did want an expensive smart thermostat. But wasn't obvious.
I think this is where starting out small and simple usually works. You normally start with an idea that somebody wants whether it's you or a friend. You want your house to warm when you wake up and when you come home. You convince some other people. You build a small prototype. You try it out on people. They either want one or they don't. We all know companies that have built products that nobody wants. They went thr…
Very much agree. Make something quickly that somebody really likes, and try and find more people who like it. Figure out what people like about it and expand in that direction. Rinse and repeat, as you expand just keep making sure more people want it.