This document provides guidance on optimizing a new venture by answering five key questions: 1) What is your idea? 2) Who is your target customer? 3) What problem are you solving for them? 4) How do you know it's a good idea? 5) Is your idea as good as it can be? It emphasizes defining the target customer, proving market need through primary research, optimizing the idea based on customer insights, and creating a brand that is relevant, resonant and differentiated. Continuous intelligence gathering and optimizing based on customer feedback are presented as critical to success.

1. Optimizing Your Venture
THOUGHT INTO ACTION INSTITUTE
November 2012
WIRELESS:
U/N: tia
P/W: colgate

2. THOUGHT INTO ACTION INSTITUTE
Five Questions
• What is your idea?
• Who is it for?(your user, influencer, purchaser)
• What problem (need) are you solving for this target?
• Is it a good idea? How do you KNOW? (OK, prove it!)
• Is your idea as good as it could be? Do you know?

3. THOUGHT INTO ACTION INSTITUTE
1) What Is Your Idea? (In 30 Seconds)
• The promised land: clarity, simplicity, jargon-free.
• Write it before you say it; trim all non-essentials. (Imagine
each word cost you $10.00)
• The test--does your presentation produce: a)reactions to
the idea? Or b)“Hmm—not sure I understand it.”

4. THOUGHT INTO ACTION INSTITUTE
Communication Commandments
• 1) Jargon is the refuge of small and insecure minds, and
the enemy of clarity and power.
• 2) Good communication= when your audience spends
100% of their energy responding to your idea and 0%
trying to understand it.

5. THOUGHT INTO ACTION INSTITUTE
2) Who‟s Your Target?
• Demographics (males 18-24; married with kids)
• Attitudes (traditional; safety-conscious)
• Behaviors (diet beverage user; donates to charities)

6. THOUGHT INTO ACTION INSTITUTE
2) Who‟s Your Target?
• Be able to define your target with absolute clarity! (Women
who use inexpensive hair dryers; Males 18-24 who cook for
themselves; Local schools that lack computers)
• Force yourself to refine the target:
Macho teen boys/Health-conscious seniors
• Get inside their head—look through their eyes—talk to
them. Otherwise, you are assuming…..

7. THOUGHT INTO ACTION INSTITUTE
3)What Problem Are You Solving
• State the problem/need with CLARITY
• Make sure you KNOW it‟s a problem FOR THEM.
(„Knowledge‟ beats „Belief‟ every time.)
• How big/important is the problem/need? Worth solving?
Will a consumer change his/her behavior?

8. THOUGHT INTO ACTION INSTITUTE
4) Is It A Good Idea?
• How do you know? (Know vs. believe)
• Can you prove it…to investors, to potential
employees/partners, to anyone you need help/support
from?
• Because if you can‟t, here‟s a story about what could
happen to you…..

9. THOUGHT INTO ACTION INSTITUTE
“Your Idea Sucks!” (Prove It Doesn‟t!)
• Who says it‟s a good idea? That‟s right, the “who” is key!
(You or your mom vs. 100 potential customers.)
• Have you stepped outside your beliefs and assessed the
relevance/power of your idea to your target market?
• “Unless you are going to buy one million cases yourself,
your point-of-view is nice, but I only care about what our
target customer thinks.”

10. THOUGHT INTO ACTION INSTITUTE
“My Idea Doesn‟t Suck! It‟s Good!”
• OK, prove it by knowing the answers to the „four questions‟:
• 1)Who is it relevant to? (Understand your target…and their
needs/wants)
• 2) Why is it relevant? (What unmet need/problem are you
addressing?)
• 3) Does it have a meaningful point-of-difference from
competitive offerings? (Competitive „reason-for-being‟---
better/faster/cheaper/etc.)
• 4) Is it compelling enough to motivate action? Change behavior?
Open a wallet?

11. THOUGHT INTO ACTION INSTITUTE
Have You Done Your Market Research?
• If not, it‟s very, very hard to answer the four questions.
(Maybe impossible…)
• If not, you are „flying blind.‟
• Victory—in war, in the marketplace, or in TIA—
goes to those who have better intelligence about
the needs/wants/beliefs/perceptions of their
target.

12. THOUGHT INTO ACTION INSTITUTE
How Do You Get Insights…
• …into your target‟s needs, wants, perceptions and beliefs?
o Ask them….
o There is no substitute for this type of knowledge. Period.
• Again: without it, you are „flying blind‟…which decreases
the odds of getting to your destination…….

13. THOUGHT INTO ACTION INSTITUTE
How Do You Get Started? It‟s Easy…
• Identify your target(s); and determine how many
interviews do you need to do (set a target);
• Develop an interview guide—this forces you to define what
you want to learn;
• Before you begin—practice, practice, practice…to develop
your interviewing skills;
• And now, start your research!

14. THOUGHT INTO ACTION INSTITUTE
And Remember…
• When you talk with your target:
• take notes: shows respect, loosens:
tongues, enhances ‘data recovery’;
• Remember the „Divine Ratio‟:
2 ears+2 eyes:1 mouth =listen/watch more than
talk—you will learn more/get smarter.

15. THOUGHT INTO ACTION INSTITUTE
5) Is Your Idea As Good As It Can Be?
• Has it been optimized? How do you know?
• Answer the next question correctly and you will be on the
right path……

16. THOUGHT INTO ACTION INSTITUTE
When Does Intelligence-Gathering Stop?
• Never…unless the world stops changing;
• Never stop talking to your customers! The more you
know, the better your chances of success;
• Apply continuous market/consumer intelligence to your
product or service, and…..
• You‟ll know that your product/service….is as good as it can
be……for now.

17. THOUGHT INTO ACTION INSTITUTE
Final Thought: Make A Powerful Brand
• Powerful brands have three key features: relevance,
resonance and differentiation
• Relevant: addresses functional needs of the target
• Resonant: addresses emotional needs of the target
• Differentiated: from competitive offerings
• Focus relentlessly on delivering all three: you will
increase your odds of winning in the marketplace