Are you curious what mindset it takes to be a successful founder?
The most successful startups solve a valuable enough problem that compels people to engage with them to meet their needs.
The corollary of this is that the number one reason startups fail is that they fail to create enough value solving a significant enough problem.
I continue to get curious about this and wonder if you might be too.
If you are, read on.
So what is the starting point for you to found a successful venture?
People often think it’s an idea, and it might be. For example, if you’re targeting a consumer, and have identified a latent need that could evolve into a meaningful desire that compels them to buy your product or service.
In the business world it usually starts with identifying a more blatant and critical problem that unless solved will have tangible and costly consequences.
In either case, the starting point is identifying a valuable enough opportunity or problem to solve.
(I’ve written more about about the overall process in my Startup Secrets series, leading to a that you can read
. But I realized that one thing was missing and that’s the mindset needed to keep not only define the problem or opportunity but also keep in touch with your customer’s evolving needs, because the only constant I know of in a startup is change.
Curiosity Killed The Cat, But Ignited Successful Startups
The mindset needed is simply a curious one.
Curiosity will keep you asking questions. Questions of yourself, your customer, their desires, needs, aspirations or their business, it’s problems, challenges and ongoing market developments and opportunities arising or indeed declining.
Again the only constant in our world is change so it’s vital that one stay curious about all these aspects of your venture to stay ahead of the game.
I can’t give you curiosity though. You need to feel that for yourself. Only then will it energize you to go the distance in your venture as things constantly change.
But what I hope might help you is a little inspiration and some frameworks to channel your curiosity.
These are all sales related questions that will help when you come to define your qualification process for prospecting and running a pipeline
These are all customer success related questions that will help you develop a strong retention and upsell business model
... and endless more potential questions that will arise from a curious mind!
Now a question for YOU: What other questions can you think of that would be helpful to really defining, mapping, visualizing, organizing and communicating the problem exhaustively
Here’s my Startup Secret
Never make assumptions, instead, question everything
Conclusion
The principle behind all these questions is to be really curious, and keep getting more curious until you believe
You can never be too curious about a problem or opportunity.
Think of it as the key skill that could guide you to find your way through the ups and downs of the startup journey.
Taking it to the extreme to make the point with an exercise in thinking. Imagine you’re in a perilous situation, blindfolded. How could you find your way out of the problem just by asking questions of the right people in the room? Don’t even assume you know who to trust! That is part of the curiosity you need to find the right people who really understand each facet of the problem and how it might be not just solved, but also paid for, implemented, and promoted both internally and externally. (This can make an excellent team exercise)
This level of curiosity will help you not only with defining the product or service, and engineering it, but also ensuring customer success and marketing to others. Thus all elements of your business will benefit from curiosity.
Are you curious to learn more?
Check out how this all plays into your , or get a perspective on how all this fits together with a warm .
