How do you generate ideas?
● Start with your means
○ Who am I
○ What do I know
○ Who do I know
The means-based approach
● Who am I?
○ Traits/abilities
○ Values
○ Interests/activities
● What do I know?
○ Education
○ Experience
○ Expertise
● Who do I know?
○ Close contacts
○ Friends of friends
○ Possible contacts
Why use a means based approach?
● Allows entrepreneurs to start NOW and take advantage of present opportunities in their
lives
● Different means are unique to each entrepreneur, creating a competitive advantage for
their venture
The 3 components of a valuable idea
● Desirability
● Feasibility
● Viability
, Design Thinking: human centered approach that brings together what people —-----?
Desirability
Finding solutions for urgent problems and challenges, which are key pain points customers
encounter when trying to complete a certain task
1) Is the problem big or small?
● Harder to sell products for smaller problems
2) Are customers trying to solve the problem?
● Ex. Are people trying to solve stubbing their toe?
3) How often does this problem occur?
4) Do current solutions exist?
● Your product must be better than the other existing product
5) How many customers have this problem? Is this customer market growing?
Activity: Identify which of the following problems have the most/least desirability
1) Plastic pollution in our oceans
2) Many people struggle with eating healthy
3) Cleaning your house can be a hassle
4) I always burn my toast
5) Sometimes I get holes in my socks
6) People get dizzy while playing virtual reality games
● Start with your means
○ Who am I
○ What do I know
○ Who do I know
The means-based approach
● Who am I?
○ Traits/abilities
○ Values
○ Interests/activities
● What do I know?
○ Education
○ Experience
○ Expertise
● Who do I know?
○ Close contacts
○ Friends of friends
○ Possible contacts
Why use a means based approach?
● Allows entrepreneurs to start NOW and take advantage of present opportunities in their
lives
● Different means are unique to each entrepreneur, creating a competitive advantage for
their venture
The 3 components of a valuable idea
● Desirability
● Feasibility
● Viability
, Design Thinking: human centered approach that brings together what people —-----?
Desirability
Finding solutions for urgent problems and challenges, which are key pain points customers
encounter when trying to complete a certain task
1) Is the problem big or small?
● Harder to sell products for smaller problems
2) Are customers trying to solve the problem?
● Ex. Are people trying to solve stubbing their toe?
3) How often does this problem occur?
4) Do current solutions exist?
● Your product must be better than the other existing product
5) How many customers have this problem? Is this customer market growing?
Activity: Identify which of the following problems have the most/least desirability
1) Plastic pollution in our oceans
2) Many people struggle with eating healthy
3) Cleaning your house can be a hassle
4) I always burn my toast
5) Sometimes I get holes in my socks
6) People get dizzy while playing virtual reality games
