can’t a private enterprise do the same and even better?
Basic “why” questions help form billion-dollar enterprises. From an investor perspective, don’t hold judgment against any entrepreneur whose domain expertise is in another sector. They are most likely applying lessons from another field. I know of one investor who turned down funding Paypal in its early stages. I bet he’s still kicking his own ass today. I also know an investor group that turned down Mark Cuban when he was seeking funding for his company Broadcast.com. His startup focused on broadcasting sporting, presidential and other events over the internet. Cuban came from high tech and was not a domain expert in sports broadcasting. The investor group was greedy, but it didn’t matter to Cuban. He refused the deal and later sold the company to Yahoo for $5.8 billion. That investor group still regrets blowing off Cuban.
“Why” can change an industry.
Why can’t a startup company outside of the automobile industry build a line of electric automobiles for the masses? Tesla Motors is doing it today.
I funded a team of entrepreneurs who designed an electric bike when the green movement was just taking off. Like Musk, they had the attitude of “why.” They asked, “Why can’t we build an electric bike that goes more than 20 to 30 miles before the next charge?”
Don’t be afraid to question everything and anything.
Why does film distribution operate in its current state? Why can’t we change the film distribution model and compete head-on against Blockbuster? The “why” caused Netflix and Hulu to change the entertainment business model and compete directly and indirectly against Blockbuster — putting them on the ropes.
Why did consumers switch from using MySpace to Facebook? Google questioned why consumers should only use Facebook and came out with Google+. Why is Apple successful in entering new markets where other companies struggle? Why do consumers buy a certain product or service? Why can’t we change the product’s appearance to appeal to a different market? Why is the product manufactured in a specific way? Why can’t we lower its cost? Why can’t we manufacture the product locally or regionally instead of overseas? Why is the product distributed in some channels and not in others? Why do buyers buy it? Why do things work the way they do? Why can’t the industry work differently? Why not? Why can’t I sell direct instead of through retail channels?
Why, why, why, why, why?
Ohno taught that you had to ask “why” at least five times to get to the bottom of the question or issue.
You must also ask, “How?”
How can we make a product better or different? How can we improve the process but use fewer resources? How can we finance our venture with little or no money? How do we create effective branding? How do we get distribution in a retail store? How do we create a viral marketing campaign? How do we develop hardware products more quickly and in half the time? How do I build an app in three days? How do I launch a venture more quickly than through accelerators?
Great entrepreneurs are curious entrepreneurs. They ask a lot of questions. Combining “why” and “how” puts your mind into the ideation stage. Asking simple questions helps you see the world through the eyes of a child, and perhaps see the next big wave coming around the corner.
The “why” and “how” — a powerful combination. Just combine them into “whyhow”
Why do we need to use a specific type of packaging, and how can we make it cooler, more noticeable and different from competition? Why use Twitter, and how do I make money using Twitter? Why can’t I make products or services with the collaboration of the consumer (crowdsourcing), and how do I set up the processes? Why can’t I compete indirectly or directly with Google or Facebook, and how do I develop a better social platform? Why can’t I
Basic “why” questions help form billion-dollar enterprises. From an investor perspective, don’t hold judgment against any entrepreneur whose domain expertise is in another sector. They are most likely applying lessons from another field. I know of one investor who turned down funding Paypal in its early stages. I bet he’s still kicking his own ass today. I also know an investor group that turned down Mark Cuban when he was seeking funding for his company Broadcast.com. His startup focused on broadcasting sporting, presidential and other events over the internet. Cuban came from high tech and was not a domain expert in sports broadcasting. The investor group was greedy, but it didn’t matter to Cuban. He refused the deal and later sold the company to Yahoo for $5.8 billion. That investor group still regrets blowing off Cuban.
“Why” can change an industry.
Why can’t a startup company outside of the automobile industry build a line of electric automobiles for the masses? Tesla Motors is doing it today.
I funded a team of entrepreneurs who designed an electric bike when the green movement was just taking off. Like Musk, they had the attitude of “why.” They asked, “Why can’t we build an electric bike that goes more than 20 to 30 miles before the next charge?”
Don’t be afraid to question everything and anything.
Why does film distribution operate in its current state? Why can’t we change the film distribution model and compete head-on against Blockbuster? The “why” caused Netflix and Hulu to change the entertainment business model and compete directly and indirectly against Blockbuster — putting them on the ropes.
Why did consumers switch from using MySpace to Facebook? Google questioned why consumers should only use Facebook and came out with Google+. Why is Apple successful in entering new markets where other companies struggle? Why do consumers buy a certain product or service? Why can’t we change the product’s appearance to appeal to a different market? Why is the product manufactured in a specific way? Why can’t we lower its cost? Why can’t we manufacture the product locally or regionally instead of overseas? Why is the product distributed in some channels and not in others? Why do buyers buy it? Why do things work the way they do? Why can’t the industry work differently? Why not? Why can’t I sell direct instead of through retail channels?
Why, why, why, why, why?
Ohno taught that you had to ask “why” at least five times to get to the bottom of the question or issue.
You must also ask, “How?”
How can we make a product better or different? How can we improve the process but use fewer resources? How can we finance our venture with little or no money? How do we create effective branding? How do we get distribution in a retail store? How do we create a viral marketing campaign? How do we develop hardware products more quickly and in half the time? How do I build an app in three days? How do I launch a venture more quickly than through accelerators?
Great entrepreneurs are curious entrepreneurs. They ask a lot of questions. Combining “why” and “how” puts your mind into the ideation stage. Asking simple questions helps you see the world through the eyes of a child, and perhaps see the next big wave coming around the corner.
The “why” and “how” — a powerful combination. Just combine them into “whyhow”
Why do we need to use a specific type of packaging, and how can we make it cooler, more noticeable and different from competition? Why use Twitter, and how do I make money using Twitter? Why can’t I make products or services with the collaboration of the consumer (crowdsourcing), and how do I set up the processes? Why can’t I compete indirectly or directly with Google or Facebook, and how do I develop a better social platform? Why can’t I
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