<aside> 💡 This document is still under construction. Please take everything in here with many grains of 🧂
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Paul Graham states that there are two types of startup ideas. Organic ones that emerge out of your own life and the ones you solve for other people. We are generally good at solving our own problems but terrible at solving problems for other people.
Similarly, the mom test discusses how receiving compliments or optimism during a user interview is a red flag. People often feel compelled to be polite and provide positive feedback, even if they don't genuinely believe in it. They may give compliments to avoid discomfort, maintain a friendly atmosphere, or preserve relationships.
Furthermore, as entrepreneurs or product developers, we may naturally seek validation for our ideas. Compliments can play into confirmation bias, where we focus on positive feedback that supports our preconceived notions while disregarding or downplaying critical feedback.
What isn’t discussed is how to know you’ve stumbled upon a problem worth solving. Here, I’ll try to share a framework as to how to do this:
A HOF problem should have nearly all of these qualities.
The best way I’ve found that a problem is worth solving is hearing about the convoluted ways they’ve tried to solve a problem. Often this solution requires stitching together various solutions or using existing tools in unexpected ways for which they weren’t designed.
Secondly, it means that validation is stemmed from their current behavior not some hypothetical use case that may or may not exist.
Another good sign could be that they’ve hired someone to tackle this problem; however, sometimes this can mean that they’re less open to new solutions given the investment they’ve already made.
If they aren’t actively trying to solve the problem then it’s either 1) not that big of a problem or 2) don’t care enough to solve the problem.