How to start a business:
- Pick the market
- Assemble a team of people who are also interested in that market
- Talk with people in the market and learn about their most painful/frustrating problems
- Attempt to solve that pain without technology
- Apply technology to systematize, automate, and scale the manual solution
If you’re intentionally wanting to start a business, start with the market.
Pick the area of the universe that you’re most interested in and seek to connect with other people who share your interest and organizations who exist in that market.
It’s similar to how you should approach real estate investing:
- Pick the market
- Assemble your team
- Identify the opportunities / strategies
- Identify specific properties
If you start with the market first, everything else will fall into place.
In my life, this lesson is similar to when I realized I wanted to work in technology.
I had no idea of the specifics. All I knew is that I needed to get myself to San Francisco. Once I was there, I was able to find my niche through a bit of experimentation.
Founding a business is no different.
The first and most important step is to figure out what corner of the ecosystem you’re most interested in. Then head there.
The rest has a way of sorting itself out.