Is Your Idea Worth Pursuing?

Once you’ve identified a problem, make an initial attempt to consider whether it’s a problem meaty enough to merit further examination. Spend 10 minutes (two minutes per question) assessing the following five starting questions.

• WHO: Who are the stakeholders who care MOST about this?

• HOW MANY: What is the scale of this problem—how many people might be affected by this?

• ALTERNATIVES: What are the current band-aids, or temporary fixes, that people use to address this issue?

• MARKET GAP: In what ways are those band-aid solutions lacking, either in terms of expense, quality, durability or otherwise?

• PROBLEM DEPTH: To what extent do people suffer financial, social, emotional or other burdens as a result of this problem?

 

Next, take five minutes to make an initial effort to address the following questions:

 

• Why is this problem significant for those who have it? What are the underlying needs and goals that are affected by this problem?

• To what extent does the problem affect various people in similar ways? What are some of the commonalities among those who suffer from this problem, and what are some of the ways in which it affects people differently?

 

In the case of the gap in quality coverage of North Korea, founder Chad O’Carroll determined that government agencies, university researchers and business professionals with a commercial interest in North Korea were the ones most affected by the information gap, which was affected by restrictions on the free flow of information, among other factors.

 

Having spent 15 minutes thinking through these initial questions, you’re on your way toward developing an initial hypothesis about a potential problem to address. But that initial hypothesis is just the starting point for a deeper exploration process.

 

When evaluating potential problems to solve, understanding the underlying needs or goals of those affected can help in three ways. It can help you:

 

1) Clarify necessary components or characteristics of the solution that might otherwise have been ignored.
 

2) Communicate clearly and persuasively about the problem by drawing on a nuanced understanding of those affected by it.

3) Find others affected by related issues who might also benefit from a potential solution.

 

Often there are existing band-aid solutions for information problems. People may use a Facebook group to satisfy their need to exchange information within a community. Or they may rely on periodic Google searches or an existing news organization’s occasional coverage. In some cases, if the problem isn’t a deep one, these existing solutions, even if imperfect, may be sufficient to satisfy demand. In other cases, persistent efforts to find band-aid solutions may reflect a substantial and serious need for a new solution.

To assess the depth of the problem and the degree to which current solutions are sufficient requires the kind of research and reporting that suits journalists’ expertise and experience. In the exploration phase of the startup process, it’s crucial to delve deep to develop a rich understanding of the people you’re interested in serving.

Would-be entrepreneurs sometimes act the part of the reckless doctor, crafting a costly new type of surgery for an ailment the patient doesn’t have. The self-assured wantrapreneur plots out some new shiny thing, assuming that imagined users will clamor for whatever he dreams up.

 

The reality is that marketplaces are already overflowing with news products and services. News sites have flooded the Internet in recent years. Apps have poured onto the iOS app store, joining more than 2 million other apps. News apps compete in a brutal battle for consumers’ attention with games, social apps and work tools. Novelty isn’t sufficient to sustain consumers’ interest.

That does not mean that opportunities for journalism innovation have dried up. It means that the threshold for creating something sustainable has risen. For a novel journalism product or service to survive and thrive, it has to address a genuine market need. To identify gaps and spot opportunities, it’s crucial to take a customer-centric approach. Rather than focusing on what you or I want to create, we have to concentrate on what people actually need.