SISP - Solution In Search of a Problem
We chose to create a company around a hot technology. We were really excited about the tech. We eventually raised funds because there were enough investors that were excited about it, too. But not, looking back, I think we had it backwards. We were the classic Silicon Valley startup in search of a problem.
Instead, I think it should be like: we found that many people or businesses are frustrated about this thing, so we created a sustainable solution for it.
Have an Opinion
Founders with no particular opinion about what a market should be or what their customers are 100% will get failed.
≠ School
Startups are not like school. In school, you are not rewarded by having an opinion, you rewarded for accomplishing certain tasks or doing things what other smart students are doing.
What to do
A lot of people get told to Follow you passion… But it should not be like that.
- There are people that face problems on everyday basis. And they are passionate about this real problem and it is seen in their MVPs as the problem is being solved. This is a real startup.
- Those people who don’t have problems in theirs lives seek more global problems that they were told that they should solve but they don’t really encounter it in day to day. This is a false startup.
Passion?
They define passion as whether or not you will work on it even if it will not make money Example: Microsoft. They were soldering stuff because they thought that it was cool.
No approval [from authority]
I’m gonna be fulfilled if I solve this problem even if no one else gives a shit
Motivators
What would be the motivation for you to grind it for years?
What gives you passion?
That damn thing working. Success. Money. Metrics.
Traction
Twitch: Even if company was doing great, millions of people were watching live. Once you had something going was motivation in of it itself.
New passions
Working with friends feels like a winning, compared than working on Google. Having consequences on your actions feels like winning.
Game yourself
Intentionally set up psychological motivators around you. Set yourself up with no opinions, customers or revenue. You cannot create shittier and do not know whether the shit happens or not. OR, you better should be to get revenue, which is one of the important metrics. It is a number and you can look at the number every day and if it goes up you can work harder.
[IMPORTANT] Extrinsic vs Intrinsic motivators
Startups should not be motivated on approval of peers. It may be a not cool startup, who are not enjoying their time with friends, who are willing even if they won’t work or make them famous, even if they won’t get rich. Those people are seeking for intrinsic goals. And they counterintuitively win in the long run.