Chapter 4: Opportunity

Question 1

What is the idea classification matrix?

Answer 1

Value and Usefulness
Degree of novelty

Innovation, Invention
Improvement, Irrelevant

Question 2

Define opportunity and idea.

Answer 2

Opportunity: a possibility of generating value through the introduction of unique, novel, or desirable products, services, and even processes that have not been previously exploited in a particular context.

Idea: any conception existing in the mind as a result of mental understanding, awareness, or activity.

The difference between an idea and a business opportunity is related to the three central characteristics just discussed: novelty or newness, desirability, and value.

Question 3

What are the 6 idea-generating strategies?

Answer 3

1. Scanning: use your entrepreneurial alertness to scan the environment.
2. Connecting: consciously making links between concepts to create new concepts.
3. Lateral thinking: uses indirect and creative approaches to solve problems (look at problems from a different angle).
4. Imagining: use your imagination to create unrealistic scenarios as a way of triggering idea and opportunities.
5. Observing: observing from a different perspective such as person who is having a problem.
6. Collaborating: generate ideas in a group, brainstorm.

Question 4

What are the 4 pathways to opportunity identification?

Answer 4

1. Find: assumes that opportunities exist independent of entrepreneurs and are waiting to be found.
2. Search: is used when entrepreneurs are not quite sure what type of venture they want to start, so they engage in an active search to discover new opportunities.
3. Effectuate: involves using what you have (skills, knowledge, abilities) to uncover and create an opportunity that uniquely fits you.
4. Design: It can uncover high-value opportunities because the entrepreneur is focusing on customers’ unmet needs specifically, latent needs (needs we have but don’t know we have).

Question 5

What is the IDEATE method?

Answer 5

is an empirically proven method for identifying and selecting high-potential ideas that can be converted to new opportunities.

Identify: involves working to identify migraine headache problems (MHP) and creating solutions that people are willing to pay for.

Discover: searching problem-rich environments we are already familiar with.

Enhance: adding innovation and novelty to existing products and services or simply making an inferior product or service better as long as customers are willing to pay for it.

Anticipate: look at an unknown future, anticipate changes, and then create new ideas based on the problems that those changes create.

Target: find a large customer group, identify their needs, pain points, or MHPs, and then create a solution.

Evaluate: winnowing down your many ideas to the most likely ideas that could be converted into a viable new business. Idea score = (MHP x Enthusiasm) + Gut.