3 ms·

This, to me, boils down to "triangulate, differentiate, execute better, and compete", in fewer words. Or even more concisely, "be realistic". I don't think thi

by koko775 16y ago

This, to me, boils down to "triangulate, differentiate, execute better, and compete", in fewer words. Or even more concisely, "be realistic". I don't think this is invalid, but at the same time, it seems like it's suggesting that, rather than searching for a need you want solved and framing it in terms of a realistic goal and whittling it down to a compelling product, you should be identifying someone else's need and building that product. A fun idea without a plan may need some serious thought and modifications to make it a compelling product, but I think that perhaps a compelling idea with no fun is pretty difficult to make fun. Perhaps my core philosophical objection can be summarized in contrast to this: > Any sufficiently big market will give you tons of interesting ideas. Why do you need to come up one of your own? I don't think this is a market-driven approach, in the sense that the market is merely setting the context, and it's still interest-driven, and you're still searching (and hopefully coming up with) ideas you find interesting. Just identifying exploitable needs isn't necessarily going to expose something you're going to enjoy.

deleted 16y ago
[deleted]
paraschopra 16y ago
Why not? In my opinion and experience, market can be source of interesting, fun and money making ideas. I had no experience of A/B testing, it started as purely from an exploitative point of view but now I am still enjoying more than anything else in the world. Am I an outlier? I don't think so. If industry that I had picked were about document management or software backup, I would have still enjoyed it. The path to excellence is fun, no matter which road you pick.
barefoot 16y ago
This is a very subtle distinction. You say "...it's suggesting that rather than searching for a need you want solved and framing it in terms of a realistic goal and whittling it down to a compelling product, you should be identifying someone else's need and building that product." But "framing it in terms of a realistic goal" and "whittling it down to a compelling product" both sound like code to me for "making something that other people want / need". One key part of customer development is that creating a new market (for something that you exclusively need) is extremely expensive. You have to educate your customers on why they need your product and push against a massive amount of resistance. I think it's pragmatic then to accept that working with an existing market in some shape or form is inevitable. So, why not embrace it? I think that's the market-driven approach. You can still come up with novel and fun ideas that you own, but ground them in an existing market that you've researched.

by koko775 16y ago

deleted 16y ago

[deleted]

paraschopra 16y ago

Why not? In my opinion and experience, market can be source of interesting, fun and money making ideas. I had no experience of A/B testing, it started as purely from an exploitative point of view but now I am still enjoying more than anything else in the world. Am I an outlier? I don't think so. If industry that I had picked were about document management or software backup, I would have still enjoyed it. The path to excellence is fun, no matter which road you pick.

barefoot 16y ago

This is a very subtle distinction. You say "...it's suggesting that rather than searching for a need you want solved and framing it in terms of a realistic goal and whittling it down to a compelling product, you should be identifying someone else's need and building that product." But "framing it in terms of a realistic goal" and "whittling it down to a compelling product" both sound like code to me for "making something that other people want / need". One key part of customer development is that creating a new market (for something that you exclusively need) is extremely expensive. You have to educate your customers on why they need your product and push against a massive amount of resistance. I think it's pragmatic then to accept that working with an existing market in some shape or form is inevitable. So, why not embrace it? I think that's the market-driven approach. You can still come up with novel and fun ideas that you own, but ground them in an existing market that you've researched.