Starting a new venture is not easy. 90% of all startups fail. It takes years of hard work and grit. This is why an aspiring founder should not start with the the product they should build, but to answer this question: “why should I go into business?” What is it that you HAVE to do no matter what it takes? That is your “why”. Use the following resources to help you explore your own “why”.

First time entrepreneurs frequently make the mistake of building a solution before validating the problem. But how do we go from our “why” – which often involves broad social causes (such as “climate justice”), or passion about a technology (such as “AI”) to finding and defining a problem statement? Check out the following resources that will help you define an actionable problem statement.

Originally developed at the Stanford d.school and brought into the mainstream by the product design firm IDEO, Design Thinking is a framework that encourages us to solve problems by building empathy with the user / customer to understand their needs, wants and expectations. This helps us define the problem and rapidly prototype and test solutions. This human-centric approach is universally applicable whether you are creating a product, service or user experience.  Note that it is a solution-centric framework that does not typically include business/financial considerations.

The Business Model Canvas (BMC) is a strategic tool for venture builders to develop new business models or document old ones. It was introduced by Alexander Osterwalder in his seminal book, “Business Model Creation“. It offers a one-page view including 9 building blocks that entrepreneurs need to think about. There are many variants of the BMC including the Lean Canvas, the Mission Model Canvas and more.