Welcome!
Today Narrowing the field Open Mic + pizza
Topic 2: Narrowing the Field How do you decide which idea to pursue?
Narrowing the field How do you sort through potential ideas? – Pick which feels best – Fight for your own ideas over others’ and go with whomever wins – Darts – Flip a coin – Structured evaluation and scoring
A great business idea has a combination of: Really big market Low capital requirements Clear value proposition High margins Sustainable competitive advantage
Really big market – lots of customers!
Low capital requirements
Clear value proposition
High margins
Sustainable competitive advantage
What is this?
Sustainable competitive advantage 1: patents
What is a patent?
Sustainable competitive advantage 2: scale
Sustainable competitive advantage 3: brand
Explicit Evaluation Criteria Really big market Low capital requirements Clear value proposition High margins Sustainable competitive advantage
Where the rubber meets the road Are claims backed up by data? Is the case presented coherently? Does the team have relevant experience and passion? Does this feel real, or just for show?
Open Mic!