How to evaluate startup idea
(Investor) Should not try to poke a hole in the startup idea, but figure out how to possible win (the not obvious stuff).
When you listen to a startup idea, think about (1) Problem, (2) Solution, (3) Insight.
How to define a problem that we like, and if your idea can fit a few of them:
- Good problem is populate
- Good problem is growing
- Good problem is urgent
- Good problem is expensive – so that we can make money
- Good problem is mandatory – people feel they have to solve it.
- Good problem is frequent
The component that make people change behavior:
Start with problem first, rather than the technology 🙂
Solution In Search of a Problem
Try to avoid of thinking technology first, and find out how to fit them into a problem.
Quick Test:
Problem: Jewelry company finds hard to track to market trend and sales performance, which cannot guide the upstream jewelry design and manufacture.
Solution: digitize the full life cycle, provide an efficient tool to help jewelry company to manage the information flow.
Product: New mechanism of jewelry supply chain + BI tool.
How to talk to users
[The Mom Test] Three caveats during the user interview:
- Talk about their life, not your idea
- Talk specifics, not hypothetical
- Listen, talk less -> bring true factor of users/problem
The 5 questions to ask a user:
- What’s the hardest thing about [doing this thing]?
- Tell me about the last time you encountered that problem…
- Why was that hard?
- What, if anything, have you done to try to solve the problem?
- What don’t you love about the solutions you’ve tried
