Evaluating Ideas and Problems to Solve
Before you worry about brand, price, or hustle — find the gap between what a problem costs the market and what it costs you to solve it. That gap is your business.
Price ≠ Difficulty
People paying a high price don't care how hard you worked. Hard work is not correlated with high price.
Seek the Margin
Don't find the hardest problem — find the biggest margin between what the market pays and what it costs you to deliver.
The Process
What problems can you actually solve?
List every high-value thing you could deliver based on your skills, access, and knowledge. Your highest-value skill is often not the obvious one.
How many people have this problem?
A great solution to a tiny problem is still a tiny business. Get specific — industry, geography, company size, role.
How do they solve it today?
Every problem already has a "solution" — even if it's painful, expensive, slow, or broken. Understanding it reveals your real competition.
What are they paying for it today?
This is the most important number. What does the market currently spend annually on this problem — in total? That's your TAM.
If you capture 1% — what's the business worth?
Even 1% of a large market produces a meaningful business. Use this to pressure-test before spending a dollar building anything.
× revenue multiple (2–5×) = Company Value
e.g. $500M TAM → $5M rev → $15M company at 3×
Follow this process for every idea.
Run every idea through steps 1–5. Don't fall in love with one before you've pressure-tested several. The best opportunity often isn't the one you started with — it's the one the math supports.
Don't let effort determine value. Instead, seek the biggest margin between what the market pays and what it costs you to deliver. Find where someone is already paying a lot for a bad solution. Show up there.
"I'll work hard and justify the price over time."
You're letting effort determine value. The market doesn't reward effort — it rewards solving problems people are already paying to avoid.
"I'll find who's paying a lot for a problem I can solve cheaply."
You're letting market signals tell you where to aim. Price follows the problem size — not your hours.
Opportunity Worksheet
| # | Problem I Can Solve | How Many | Avg Price Paid | TAM | Revenue | Co. Value |
|---|