The document discusses the process of idea generation and opportunity evaluation for startups, emphasizing the importance of starting with customer problems rather than technology. It highlights key factors for evaluating opportunities, such as market size, competitive landscape, and team dynamics, while promoting the idea of brainstorming with diverse perspectives. Key takeaways include focusing on customer needs, the significance of team collaboration, and the interplay of passion and market opportunities.

1. Vision & Values
Mika Marjalaakso
Founder Institute
Helsinki
21.11.2012

2. IDEA GENERATION &
OPPORTUNITY EVALUATION

3. What kinds of opportunities you
should focus on?
Passion
Big
Best in the
untapped
world
opportunity

4. Bad ideas are not always bad …
Recreation of Peter Thiel’s venn diagram of good startup investments.

5. Where do opportunities arise from?
Enabling Consumer
Business Model Industry Regulation
Technology Behaviour
• Location • BYOD • SaaS • Finance • AMR business
• AI • Social media • Crowdsourcing • Energy / Smart case as an
• Cloud sharing habits • Subscription Grid example
• Grid Computing commerce • Retail • A number of
/ P2P • Freemium … • Government medical and
• Mobile financial
• Medical
• Pervasive cheap innovations …
always-on
connectivity
• Payment
systems …

6. It’s all about increasing awareness

8. How to brainstorm ideas?
• Simply start listing down various ideas on paper
• Involve trusted people with diverse backgrounds and
view points early on (industry / domain experience,
techie, designer)
• Sit down, exchange ideas, copy, twist, add, take out
– be creative
• The ugly truth: the best ideas come always as a
surprise when you don’t try to figure out them; be
aware and let your subconsious do the work for you

9. Build your best ideas into concepts
(very few idea level things can be evaluated …)

10. How to evaluate ideas?
The OAK Quick and Dirty Opportunity Evaluation Framework
Compelling Idea
Opportunity Entry Point
Market Size & Growth
Competitive Situation Small idea Big idea
Timing
Pivotability
Assets Team
Attitude
Prototype Piece of shit Great stuff
IPR
Customers / Partnerships
Kill Often, Kill Fast Money
A: 10k€
B: 100k€
C: 1M€ Basic research, Quick GTM,
truck load of money double down
Time
A: 6 months
B: 1 year
C: > 1 year

11. understand your customer’s needs

12. minimum viable product?

13. solve your customer’s problem

14. SOMETHING ABOUT THE
CULTURE

18. Key Takeaways
1.Start with the
problem/customer not with
piece of (shit) tech.
2. Team. Team. Team.
3. At the intersection of …
– Passion
– Best in the world
– Big untapped opportunity
4. Culture matters.