Course: Problem Solving 

In our first video of the Problem Solving series, we tackle the importance of challenges and uncovering the opportunities that lie beneath the problem.

 

The story of Airbnb is rich in anecdotes on problems that, on closer look, revealed themselves as opportunities in disguise. By simply going through the problem step-by-step, they recognized the asset value of their own real estate under certain conditions, coupled with their ability to provide competitive prices.

 

A key takeaway for aspiring entrepreneurs is to reframe their mindset towards problems - especially those with existing market solutions – to perceive those as opportunities and to research methods to address said gaps. Watch more videos like this on https://www.adsmehub.ae/en/learn/eye-opener

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My founders were finding it expensive to commute around town, so they started me as a ride-sharing service in an effort to help improve cab transportation in the US and make it more affordable and accessible. I have since become an international USD 69 billion sensation. I am ___________________.

1

Careem

2

U-haul

3

Uber

4

Airbnb 1 / 5

My founders could not pay rent. They started renting their own apartment to guest and cooking breakfast for them, taking advantage of how the city’s hotels were overbooked. I am now worth 71 billion USD. I am ________________.

1

Marriott

2

Booking.com

3

TripAdvisor

4

Airbnb 2 / 5

I started out as a location-sharing app that nobody was using to share locations. My founders were smart enough to realise that my photo-sharing feature was popular, so they pivoted me into a simple photo-sharing app. I have been bought by Facebook for USD 500 million. I am _________________.

1

Foursquare

2

Instagram

3

Hipstamatic

4

Facebook 3 / 5

I became the leading social medium for sharing brief opinions and thoughts. This was after my founders realised that it was pointless to compete with Apple iTunes for podcast-sharing, so they pivoted me. I am ________________.

1

Reddit

2

Quora

3

Facebook

4

Twitter 4 / 5

I came about in an effort to solve a simple problem: how to connect with friends? I am now worth >USD 430 billion. I am ____________________.

1

Instagram

2

Snapchat

3

Facebook

4

MySpace 5 / 5 Error Occured Prev. Next

When you know how to properly do research, it’s much easier to answer such questions effectively, rather than proceed purely on gut feeling.

 

At its core, research is an attempt to answer a question, such as “How do I get users to flock to my app for downloads/paid subscriptions?” or “How do I get users not to churn (uninstall)/unsubscribe to my app?”.  In this video, we will dive headfirst into how an aspiring entrepreneur can address such problems via research, by taking the case study of DuoLingo, the most successful language-learning mobile app today.

 

Find out in this video how you can identify a problem that you want to solve by following the rigorous steps of objective researching.

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You are in the process of designing a product/service. Before you go ahead and invest a lot of time and effort towards this, you want to be certain you are on the right track. 

 

Answer the following questions to understand how best to proceed:

 

What do you do to get started on researching your product idea?

1

Formulate a proper research question(s)

2

Consult market research reports

3

Position your product idea in the market

4

Conduct a SWOT analysis

5

All of the above 1 / 5

What should you as an entrepreneur ask right at the start of your research?

1

What does the customer want?

2

Does my product solve a real-life problem?

3

Is my product idea innovative?

4

How much will my product cost to make?

5

(a) and (b)

6

(c) and (d) 2 / 5

What resources can you rely on for your research?

1

Market research data, reports and studies

2

User surveys and focus groups

3

A-B Tests

4

Personal experience using similar products/services

5

Personal professional experience

6

All of the above

7

Only (d) and (e)

8

Only (a), (b) and (c) 3 / 5

What if you asked the right research question(s)/problem(s), BUT the answer(s) comes back unfavorable (i.e. market is not currently ready to pay me to deliver said product/service concept)?

1

Abandon the problem as not worth pursuing

2

Continue pursuing the exact same problem anyways

3

Pivot your research problem/product idea

4

(a) or (c) 4 / 5

Once you have studied the market properly, what is the outcome of your research?

1

A SWOT analysis of the market (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats)

2

A proper understanding of the market gap(s) in solving your targeted problem

3

A sound understanding of how you could market-position your company

4

All of the above

5

None of the above 5 / 5 Error Occured Prev. Next

 

How do you as an entrepreneur conduct guided research leading to a clear action plan?

 

Crucially, how do you evaluate the research? Before investigating such a problem, you come up with a list of questions that you need to answer to evaluate if it is worth digging deeper into.

 

When these questions are rightfully answered, you can evaluate whether it is worth it to further explore the problem, or if you need to refine your research to a problem that is more specific, broader, or altogether different.

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What is a problem that is not worth solving for an entrepreneur?

1

A problem which the consumer does not face frequently

2

A problem which not many consumers face

3

A very painful problem

4

(a) and (b)

5

(a), (b) and (c) 1 / 6

What do you - as an entrepreneur - do if the problem you are researching is addressed by other solutions in the market?

1

You seek to understand the gaps in existing solutions

2

You immediately abandon your product idea as a failed one

3

You immediately begin researching other markets instead

4

(b) and (c) 2 / 6

What was the main challenge faced by the founders of Odeo?

1

Podcasts were not popular or even trending

2

They were competing against Apple iTunes

3

Their app was broken and full of bugs

4

All of the above 3 / 6

What is the best way to evaluate your research as an entrepreneur?

1

Ask the right questions on the importance of the research problem to the market

2

Look for sound metrics and measure them

3

Stick with hunches and gut feeling

4

(a) and (b)

5

All of the above

6

None of the above 4 / 6

What metrics did the founders of Odeo rely on to measure their potential for success?

1

Cost of technology

2

Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC)

3

User conversion rates

4

All of the Above

5

None - they just relied on gut feeling and experience launching similar products in the past 5 / 6

What did the founders of Odeo do when they realised they could not compete with Apple?

1

They studied the market to understand what users were lacking

2

They discovered a need for a thought- and opinion-sharing platform

3

They pivoted into Twitter

4

They persevered with podcast-sharing in the hope that people would eventually be willing to pay them for this service

5

All of the above

6

(a), (b) and (c) 6 / 6 Error Occured Prev. Next

Given a clearly defined business/product, you need to research, gather data and prepare a slide deck with an overview and list of the problems and trends together with a competitor landscape and SWOT analysis.

 

Finally, use all this data to answer the simple question: is my business problem worth pursuing?

 

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How do you get insights into the success of your product?

1

You examine data and analytics on product usage data to observe trends

2

Purely gut feeling and experience launching similar products in the past

3

“I delivered a well-researched product, so success is practically certain.”

4

None of the above 1 / 6

What did Burbn’s founders find to be its greatest weakness?

1

Not enough features

2

Poor location-sharing performance

3

Its photo-sharing feature

4

Slow app performance

5

Cluttered design with too many features 2 / 6

What did Burbn’s founders do with their app when they realised from the research that its photo-sharing features were popular with users?

1

They abandoned their location-sharing features and app infrastructure

2

They focused on their photo-sharing feature

3

They simplified the app design and cut down on features

4

They kept the app as is and added new photo-sharing features

5

None of the above

6

(a), (b) and (c) 3 / 6

What market research did Burbn’s founders conduct after examining their product’s usage data analytics?

1

They examined similar location-sharing apps such as Foursquare

2

They focused on researching the market for social photo-sharing

3

The focused on how to enhance their location-sharing performance

4

(a) and (c) 4 / 6

What was Instagram’s chief asset upon relaunch?

1

Cool photo filters

2

Excellent location-sharing features

3

Ease of use

4

The company’s reputation

5

سمعة الشركة 5 / 6

What is the main takeaway(s) from the Instagram story?

1

Always listen to your existing user base

2

Research what the targeted market wants

3

Study the weaknesses of other market offerings

4

Position yourself properly in the market

5

All of the above 6 / 6 Error Occured Prev. Next