Entrepreneurship & Problems
So you want to be an entrepreneur like everybody else. For the last 2-3 years, i have heard or read this word almost everyday, from the kid who is 10 and came up with an app, to the average employee who hates his boss and wants to quit and start his own business.
Being an entrepreneur is a wonderful thing, but don’t forget, you need to work harder than before to get where you want to go. But with time I started hating the word, every time i hear it, it puts me in a bad mood and don’t really know why.
So you have a business plan for an idea or project and you want to be an entrepreneur. You dig here and there and end up having 30 minutes with a VC. You go to the meeting, enter a big room with nice chairs and video projector and during the conversation, someone asks you, “what problem is your product gonna solve?”.
Excuse me?
Why do you think I am here to solve a problem or who told you my idea is about solving problems. I just got an idea and I want to execute it differently.
No matter what article, blog post or book I read about VCs, entrepreneurship or ideas, they always bring up the problem of solving a problem.
What about 20, 30 or 40 years ago, when people used to open businesses around the corner, was it to solve a problem? or to make a living? or they had an idea that sometimes turned into pure gold?
What about I take a product that already exist and do it in a different way? What about I copy someone else better? What about I just come up with an idea that does not solve any problem but is a nice idea?
When Jeff Bezos created Amazon.com, he simply wanted to build the world largest bookstore, was this a solution for a problem? Then he started selling other products, what solutions did he bring to DVDs or CDs or electronics? There are electronics shops in New York City and Brooklyn who have bigger stock and larger selection than Amazon.com, and Jeff is still making good earnings.
So whenever you have an idea, it does not necessarily need to be a solution for a problem, just go and make your idea and dream come true.
