Idea Refinement/Finalizing Your Team (15.390, Monday, Week 5)

In very early stage, think about what hypotheses need to be true for your new venture to succeed. Usually three buckets:
– technology works
– customers want it
– customers can pay for it

Look for ways to quickly test these hypotheses with existing data. Example: Do people care about weather forecasts? How many times a day does the average smartphone user check the weather?

Subsequent priorities: figure out criteria under which you would walk away from idea and criteria that would make idea really exciting.

Don’t spend lots of time chasing after an idea that the market doesn’t appear to value. You may be able to make it work, get the IP, etc. But what is opportunity cost of six months of your time?

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