Founders looking for problems to solve: You can simplify by having these “one thing” framework:
One Trend: The MFM podcast talks about “one chart businesses” – businesses based on a macro trend that’s undeniable with 90%+ certainty. What’s the One Trend expected in 2024 and beyond that you can bank your idea on? Don’t be too vague (“AI will become more prevalent”), but be more specific (“Cremation rate will grow from the current 50% to 75% in the US funerals in the next 5 years”)
One Feature: In your problem space, what processes do the current users have to go through and what’s the one area you can vastly improve? What’s the equivalent of Dropbox’s drag-and-drop file upload for your business, i.e. One Feature that would make a real difference and change the game forever?
One User: Who are you trying to sell to, and what do they look like? What are their consistent complaints in the problem space? This can be you, by the way (if you’re trying to solve your own problem first.) Define the user persona and journey map for activity X in the problem space Y for that One User to find the right problems to solve.
It’s easy for founders to get into the rabbit hole of finding problems and coming up with 7 different feature ideas. Most great startups weren’t built that way – they did one thing really well, for one particular set of users, and they were often greatly helped by the tail wind of one macro trend. Sometimes taking a deep breath and simplifying your thought process helps.