2 ms·

New ideas aren't a hard sell. Cumbersome ideas that cost more than the benefit are a hard sell.

kristopolous 5y ago
I believe it was one of Steve Blank's fairly complicated books that differentiated different kinds of new[1] Simplifying dramatically, there's new solutions to acknowledged problems and unacknowledged problems. What you say satisfies the first one. The unacknowledged problem requires you to first connect desperate ideas and consolidate them together in the prospect's mind. Then you need to convince them that it's a suboptimal state of affairs. Then you need to convince them that an amelioration is attainable. Then you need to convince them that you provide it. Contrast this to the first one. The prospect knows things are suboptimal, has a current insufficient remedy and is open to a better one. You need to convince them that you provide it. That's way way easier - like orders of magnitude, a "completely different problem domain" kind of easier (It's worth noting that elevator pitch templates address the easier type of new) Next task, solve the first one in under 5 or so seconds of exposure: connect ideas, show it's a problem, demonstrate the mechanism, and propose a plausible solution that's easy to participate in. Maybe that's trivial for you but I personally have very little aptitude for that and struggle immensely with it [1] all those startup books become a giant soup after you read a bunch so sorry if this was like Moore or Christensen, I think it's Blank. If anyone remembers exactly where this was I'd love to find it again.
- nefitty 5y ago
  There's also the issue that solutions to "unacknowledged problems" can be perceived as grifts. "Your app predicts when my lightbulbs will go out and it costs $1? Wait, why wouldn't I just do what I do now which is have some spares and wait till one actually goes out?"
  - kristopolous 5y ago
    Nice insight. Reminds me of another problem: targeting. If the target customers have already found each other, it's an easier sell. If they haven't then you have a "customer diaspora" For instance, if I have a new game, there's plenty of organizations, institutions, and forums I can introduce my game on. If instead, I have productivity software that helps disorganized people manage time better, there's no "disorganized users group" or "decluttering news" website to find the people ... it's a slog. Where would those people concentrate? A bar on a weekday night maybe? The most inconvenient parking spaces of an office park? I don't know. At least to me this is a harder problem

I believe it was one of Steve Blank's fairly complicated books that differentiated different kinds of new[1] Simplifying dramatically, there's new solutions to acknowledged problems and unacknowledged problems. What you say satisfies the first one. The unacknowledged problem requires you to first connect desperate ideas and consolidate them together in the prospect's mind. Then you need to convince them that it's a suboptimal state of affairs. Then you need to convince them that an amelioration is attainable. Then you need to convince them that you provide it. Contrast this to the first one. The prospect knows things are suboptimal, has a current insufficient remedy and is open to a better one. You need to convince them that you provide it. That's way way easier - like orders of magnitude, a "completely different problem domain" kind of easier (It's worth noting that elevator pitch templates address the easier type of new) Next task, solve the first one in under 5 or so seconds of exposure: connect ideas, show it's a problem, demonstrate the mechanism, and propose a plausible solution that's easy to participate in. Maybe that's trivial for you but I personally have very little aptitude for that and struggle immensely with it [1] all those startup books become a giant soup after you read a bunch so sorry if this was like Moore or Christensen, I think it's Blank. If anyone remembers exactly where this was I'd love to find it again.

nefitty 5y ago
There's also the issue that solutions to "unacknowledged problems" can be perceived as grifts. "Your app predicts when my lightbulbs will go out and it costs $1? Wait, why wouldn't I just do what I do now which is have some spares and wait till one actually goes out?"
- kristopolous 5y ago
  Nice insight. Reminds me of another problem: targeting. If the target customers have already found each other, it's an easier sell. If they haven't then you have a "customer diaspora" For instance, if I have a new game, there's plenty of organizations, institutions, and forums I can introduce my game on. If instead, I have productivity software that helps disorganized people manage time better, there's no "disorganized users group" or "decluttering news" website to find the people ... it's a slog. Where would those people concentrate? A bar on a weekday night maybe? The most inconvenient parking spaces of an office park? I don't know. At least to me this is a harder problem