To me, it's the presence of the problem, and how many people are looking for some solution. I love how Steve Blank talks about the ideal situation being when t

To me, it's the presence of the problem, and how many people are looking for some solution. I love how Steve Blank talks about the ideal situation being when the customer has already cobbled together a solution from an old vacuum cleaner, four dozen zip ties, an Arduino, a stepper motor, and some old coat hangers (or whatever). Why? Isn't it bad when the customer already has a solution? Well maybe sometimes. But if the underlying problem is a high value problem, the customer has - by cobbling something together - validated A. that the problem exists, and B. that they need a solution. And if they're smart, they know they don't want to be in the business of maintaining this cobbled together P.O.S. which works 63% of the time, violates half a dozen fire-code regulations, and isn't remotely close to being their core competency. No, they want somebody like you to come along and offer a proper solution and will probably purchase your solution as long as the price is right or you don't blow the sale in some other way.