The Messy Middle: Finding Your Way Through the Hardest and Most Crucial Part of Any Bold Venture

by Scott Belsky

When pursuing a new idea or solution to a problem, run it through three filters: 1. Empathy with a Need and Frustration: You have to understand the struggle of your users. Are you empathizing with customers who will benefit from your idea? What is their frustration and where is it coming from? Since you are often a customer of your own product, pay special attention to what frustrates you. As Jerry Seinfeld once explained in an interview with Harvard Business Review when he was asked where his best ideas come from, “It’s very important to know what you don’t like,” he explained. “A big part of innovation is saying, ‘You know what I’m really sick of?’ … ‘What am I really sick of?’ is where innovation begins.” What frustrates you likely frustrates many others. 2. Humility with the Market: Humble yourself with the market dynamics around you. Is there another company in a much better position to serve your customer than you are? If so, what has prohibited them from doing so? What change in the market could immediately cripple your prospects? 3. Passion for the Solution: The final filter for an idea is whether or not you are passionate about the solution. I recall a number of on-demand laundry start-ups that had a market opportunity but whose founders realized, a few years into the journey, that they didn’t really care about laundry. Just because you see a market need doesn’t mean you’re the one to solve it. If you’re not willing to spend day and night, year after year, solving...