With  the  Support  of:  

www.de-­‐pe.com    @depeteam  

Antofagasta,  Chile,  June  2011  

1  

Idea Generation & Opportunity Research

Class  3  

God

Idea?

Has

Given you a Business

Outline •  Coming  up  with  a  new  idea  is  hard  •  Napkin  Entrepreneurs  •  The  IDEA  GeneraHon  Process  

–  Brainstorming  –  Traps  –  IDEO  Method  –  Start  Asking  QuesHons  –  StarHng  Points  –  Idea  vs.  Opportunity  

•  Teams  –  Successful  startup?    

New ideas are hard

People  believe  that  coming  up  with  ideas  for  startups  is  very  

hard.  

Coming up with a new idea

Overvalue  ideas  

Most  startups  end  up  nothing  like  the  ini>al  

idea.    

The Initial Idea is just the Starting Point

It’s  not  a  blueprint  It’s  a  ques>on.    

Treating a startup idea as a question changes what you're looking for. If an idea is a blueprint, it has to be right. But if it's a question, it can be wrong, so long as it's wrong in a way that leads to more ideas.

Paul  Graham,  Founder  of  YCombinator  

New  technologies   The  Right  Friends  

New Startup Idea

Napkin Entrepreneurs

Napkin  Projects  

Idea Generation

"The  best  way  to  get  a  good  idea  is  to  get  a  lot  of  ideas."  -­‐Linus  Pauling  

•  Brainstorming  (Business  Idea)  –  Start  with  a  topic  –  Ideas  are  cheap  and  dont  get  to  hung  over  by    them  –  Time  limit  (discipline)  –  Generate  as  many  ideas  as  possible,  forget  about  constraints  

–  Select  the  best  3  ideas  from  the  list,  and  select  the  best  based  on  debate  and  discussion.  

–  Impose  constraints  on  the  best  idea  –  Ask  the  group  about  the  Business  Model  Modules  (point  8)  –  Prototype  (first  MVP)  

Traps

Creative Process Having  an  Idea  &    Surviving  the  Plateau  

Staying Loyal

How to Survive the Lull

IDEO Method People  Centered  Design  

Start Asking Questions

Donald Trump’s Favorite Sources 1. Wherever  my  entrepreneurial  passions  lead  me  2. Any  trade  show  in  an  aXracHve,  recession-­‐resistant  industry  (food,  energy,  water  purificaHon  technology,  health,  computer  services,  Internet,  or  digital,  wireless,  mobile,  and  personal  devices—use  your  imaginaHon)!  

3. Real  estate  and  business  opportuniHes  in  Investor’s  Business  Daily,  Banker  and  Tradesman,  and  the  Wall  Street  Journal  

4. Franchising  trade  shows  5. Recognizing  and  borrowing  other  companies’  best  pracHces  6. Magazines  and  catalogs  such  as  Inc.,  Entrepreneur,  MIT  Technology  Review,  Popular  Electronics,  the  Edmund  ScienHfic  catalog,  and  the  like  

7. Unstoppable  world  trends,  for  example,  energy  shortages,  the  commercializing  of  Asia,  populaHon  and  demographics,  the  increasing  U.S.  naHonal  debt,  global  warming,  and  the  lieoff  of  digital,  wireless,  mobile,  and  personal  devices    

8. AcquisiHon  of  a  sustainable  business  at  a  distressed  price  9. AcquisiHon  of  mulHfamily  real  estate  at  a  distressed  price.  10. Traveling  the  world  and  just  observing  with  my  value-­‐adding,  innovaHve  mindset  

7Starting Points

#1 Solve a Problem You  can't  start  with  randomness.  You  have  to  start  with  a  problem    

Finding  a  problem  intolerable  and  feeling  it  must  be  possible  to  solve  =>  recipe  for  a  lot  of  startup  ideas.  

#2: Make things people want Look  at  stuff  people  use  now  that's  broken.    Da>ng  sites    

Take  a  luxury  and  make  it  into  a  commodity  

Henry  Ford's  plan  

#3: Redefine a problem

Redefini>on:  Make  things  cheaper  -­‐  >  make  things  easier  -­‐>    make  things  easier  to  use.  

Problem:  Things  are  too  expensive  

Simplicity  takes  effort-­‐-­‐  genius,  even.    

#4: Keep your antenna up The  most  producHve  way  to  generate  startup  ideas  is  also  the  most  unlikely-­‐sounding:  by  accident.  

Personal  collec>on  of  links  

Steve  Wozniak  wanted  to  build  microcomputers  

#5: Build-stuff-for-yourself

#6: Bridge New Fields Pain>ng  

Coding  

#7: Best Practices

Keep  it  legal!    And  remember  it  is  a  two-­‐way  street!  

Andy  Wilson,  Boston  Duck  Tours  

Absorb  &  Apply  

Idea or Opportunity?

Most entrepreneurs assume that their creative idea can be commercialized readily into a profitable business. Not so! Ideas are the starting point, but every idea must go through a rigorous distillation and selection process

-­‐  Donald  Trump  ���

Ideas & Opportunities are not the same thing! ���

The Golden Question

How  can  you  know  in  advance  whether  your  idea  is  just  another  rough  thought  or  truly  presents  an  opportunity  to  

build  a  successful  business?      

4 Possible Scenarios

Idea vs. Opportunity Look  at  each  idea  and  ask:    1.  Is  this  a  good  business  from  the  perspecHves  

of  revenue  growth  and  posiHve  cash  flow?    2.  Is  this  a  business  that  will  capture  my  

passions?    3.  Can  I  add  unique  customer  value  to  the  

business?    4.  Will  this  business  survive  and  thrive  in  difficult  

economic  Hmes?  

Pass it through Idea Funnel

Road to Opportunity

The  opportunity  

•  What  is  the  market?  •  Who  is  the  customer?  •  What  is  the  problem?  •  What  are  the  current  soluHons?  

Focus, Focus, Focus •  Select  one  and  only  one  opportunity  

•  Don't  try  to  boil  the  ocean.  Only  do  one,  narrow  thing  and  do  it  well.    

My mind-set is to take one rapid, frugal step in the most likely direction and then evaluate whether another quick, parsimonious step should be taken. At some point soon, I have my go/no-go answer without spending much money.

-­‐  Donald  Trump  

Your First Steps 1. Start  with  good  people,    2. Make  something  customers  actually  want,    

3. Spend  as  liXle  money  as  possible.  

GROUP WORK Class  3  

45  

Work Teams 1.  Equipo  1  

–  Jaime  Michea  –  Mauricio  Basaure  –  Andrea  Carvajal  –  Rodrigo  Baeza  –  FoHs  Layera  

2.  Equipo  2  –  Angelina  Figueroa  –  Chester  Peña  –  Guido  Mena  –  Humberto  Gonzalez  –  Merylen  Córdova  

1.  Equipo  3  –  Fabiola  Flores  –  Paulina  Silva  –  David  Salas  –  Ronald  Yañez  

2.  Equipo  4  –  Gilberto  Alvarez  –  Ljubica  Sukno  –  Javier  Cruz  –  Nelson  Herrera  

•  Equipo  5  –  Eduardo  Pizarro  –  Ivan  García  –  Miguel  Jimenez  –  Evelyn  Contreras  –  Renato  Cortés  

•  Brainstorming  (Business  Idea)  –  Start  with  a  topic  –  Ideas  are  cheap  and  dont  get  to  hung  over  by    them  –  Time  limit  (discipline)  –  Generate  as  many  ideas  as  possible,  forget  about  constraints  

–  Select  the  best  3  ideas  from  the  list,  and  select  the  best  based  on  debate  and  discussion.  

–  Impose  constraints  on  the  best  idea  –  Ask  the  group  about  the  Business  Model  Modules  (point  8)  –  Prototype  (first  MVP)  

Reglas •  ObjeHvo:  Brainstorm  el  nombre  de  cada  equipo  •  Comiencen  el  tema  claro  •  EsHren  los  músculos  de  su  mente  •  Enumeren  y  escriban  sus  ideas  •  Dejen  claras  las  reglas  (usen  herramientas)  •  Enfóquense  en  el  tema  •  Mantengan  el  momentum!  •  Todos  parHcipan  •  Elijan  al  presentador  del  Brainstorm  •  Tienen  15  mins  para  terminar  •  Luego  2  mins  para  presentar  el  nombre  del  equipo!!  

Idea Generation Tools •  Idea  GeneraHon  –  use  to  consult  for  random  associaHons.    This  is  great  because  it  gives  you  combinaHons  of  terms  that  are  usually  unrelated  – hXp://www.tdbspecialprojects.com/  

•  e.g.  spasmodic  mercenary  sportswear  

grupos •  #1-­‐  ECO-­‐DRIVERS  •  #2-­‐  ALADINO  •  #5-­‐  R.I.  ENTERTAINMENT  •  #3-­‐  DREAMS  WITHOUT  LIMITS