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Start with a Problem, Not an Idea

blog.startupprofessionals.com

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Re: Start with a Problem, Not an Idea

#11

Post by wlievens »

patio11 wrote: post #6

Take a luxury and make it a commodity. It works the other way, too. Water is a commodity -- a commodity which is, essentially, free at the margin -- that is also a multi-billion dollar business in the US. Much the same could be said about food. (I am about to step on some toes. Turn away if you're easily offended.) There are entire industries which are designed around the proposition "You are too good to consume X. P…

Excellent example is the "Mexican Cola" story: coke with real sugar that costs way more than coke with corn syrup.

Or iPods, really.

Re: Start with a Problem, Not an Idea

#12

Post by wlievens »

tomjen wrote: post #10
patio11 wrote: post #6

Take a luxury and make it a commodity. It works the other way, too. Water is a commodity -- a commodity which is, essentially, free at the margin -- that is also a multi-billion dollar business in the US. Much the same could be said about food. (I am about to step on some toes. Turn away if you're easily offended.) There are entire industries which are designed around the proposition "You are too good to consume X. P…

People often come up with water as an example, but it fails on many levels: In many cities the "native" water is full of chlorine If you travel to a foreign country, you may not be able to drink the native water at all If you are not at home, getting water may not be possible unless you by it in bottles. Bottles enable you to carry around water, which is useful for car trips, etc.

For home use, one would use a filter can, at a fraction of the price of bottled water.

Re: Start with a Problem, Not an Idea

#13

Post by wlievens »

s3graham wrote: post #5

This is part of the perverse reason I can't get behind the advice to start a startup immediately after university. Suffering at a large company for a while isn't self-flagellation, it hands you hundreds of things needing solutions.

I'm not sure if working at a large company is the most efficient way to get inspired.

Re: Start with a Problem, Not an Idea

#14

Post by patio11 »

tomjen wrote: post #10
patio11 wrote: post #6

Take a luxury and make it a commodity. It works the other way, too. Water is a commodity -- a commodity which is, essentially, free at the margin -- that is also a multi-billion dollar business in the US. Much the same could be said about food. (I am about to step on some toes. Turn away if you're easily offended.) There are entire industries which are designed around the proposition "You are too good to consume X. P…

People often come up with water as an example, but it fails on many levels: In many cities the "native" water is full of chlorine If you travel to a foreign country, you may not be able to drink the native water at all If you are not at home, getting water may not be possible unless you by it in bottles. Bottles enable you to carry around water, which is useful for car trips, etc.

On the contrary, if smart people can be convinced to ignore the practically inexhaustible and freely available supply of water in every building in most first world countries, then I think the de-commoditization of water was an astounding success.

(I mention this because it is intellectually interesting to me, not because I hold contempt in my heart for people who buy bottled water, by the way.)

Incidentally: HN doesn't support unordered lists very well, particularly if you like starting them with asterixes. The best alternative I have for you is starting them with + signs and putting two linebreaks between points.

Re: Start with a Problem, Not an Idea

#16

Post by hachiya »

wlievens wrote: post #13
s3graham wrote: post #5

This is part of the perverse reason I can't get behind the advice to start a startup immediately after university. Suffering at a large company for a while isn't self-flagellation, it hands you hundreds of things needing solutions.

I'm not sure if working at a large company is the most efficient way to get inspired.

Perhaps not the work alone, but the networking a standard job provides can give valuable insights into marketable ideas, through discussions on the job or at lunch.

Re: Start with a Problem, Not an Idea

#17

Post by drawkbox »

s3graham wrote: post #5

This is part of the perverse reason I can't get behind the advice to start a startup immediately after university. Suffering at a large company for a while isn't self-flagellation, it hands you hundreds of things needing solutions.

There might be something to this. Work at a big company or any company really in an industry to find the anti-patterns or problems that you never knew.

I have worked on systems for Healthcare communication, strategic marketing, online promotions and game development.

Almost everything I am working now it based on problems or immense walls built up at companies in those industries that I wouldn't have had the insight to understand had I not taken the apprenticeship through anti-patterns via horrible political walled situations at other companies first.

Also, every company has good patterns and anti-patterns that can be applied and work in many other situations. Maybe something can come from all the pain.

Re: Start with a Problem, Not an Idea

#18

Post by axod »

wlievens wrote: post #11
patio11 wrote: post #6

Take a luxury and make it a commodity. It works the other way, too. Water is a commodity -- a commodity which is, essentially, free at the margin -- that is also a multi-billion dollar business in the US. Much the same could be said about food. (I am about to step on some toes. Turn away if you're easily offended.) There are entire industries which are designed around the proposition "You are too good to consume X. P…

Excellent example is the "Mexican Cola" story: coke with real sugar that costs way more than coke with corn syrup. Or iPods, really.

I don't see why this is a good example.

Coke with corn syrup is far cheaper to produce, but tastes really bad.

Coke with real sugar costs more to produce, and tastes better.

Care to enlighten?

Re: Start with a Problem, Not an Idea

#19

Post by knuton »

I agree. Consider twitter on the other hand.

I would argue that while it may have been introduced to solve a certain “problem” (communication hub for friends/local groups, “I want to have a dispatch service that connects us on our phones using text.”), its success comes from accidentally satisfying different needs.

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