Entrepreneur Problem Database

If we start with the assumption that the classical definition of an entrepreneur is to profit as a byproduct of solving real problems where the solution improves everyones well being in the same vein as Henry Ford or Thomas Edison, then there are two big problems today for talented entrepreneurs:

Problem 1: Entrepreneurs pursue ideas instead of problems.

An idea is something that hasn't proven to be a problem yet. And since it hasn't proven to be a problem yet there's no need to find a business solution. When you try to market a solution for a non-existent problem, the result is novelty. Novelty may be profitable in the short term but usually is unsustainable. This leads to entrepreneurs misplacing their time and money. Examples of novelty can be seen in Tyler Cowen's video on the Great Stagnation. The internet promotes more ideas than problems. And genuine problems are difficult to locate, understand or verify.

Solutions to problem 1:

• Create a submission process for filtering real problems from ideas.

• As part of the submission process, peer review submissions through industry experts.

• Submissions that fail peer review, will be tagged as "ideas" instead of "problems".

• Index submissions into long form centralized discussions that are searchable by tags/keywords.

• Promote objective discussions of submissions through citations of transparent data.

Problem 2: Entrepreneurs profit as a byproduct of rent seeking, financialization, offshoring, consolidation.

These business models generate profit from innovation that is not based on the classical definition of solving problems by improving everyone's wellbeing.

Solutions to problem 2:

• Tag submissions by type of innovation.

• Incentivize submissions for classical innovation over rent seeking, financialization, offshoring, consolidation.

• Incentivize discussion for brainstorming publicly available business plans for verified problems.

• Incentivize entrepreneurship through publicly available business plans being available.

• Incentivize entrepreneurship through enabling participants in submission discussion to network.

Process

The process I have in mind is more or less as follows:

Step 1: Make submission

Submitter must state a problem. They should make a case for the problem. Ideally they should cite current businesses that fail to address the problem. There will be a structure to writing a submission with different fields required. The goal here is to prove that the submission is a problem.

Step 2: Verify Problem

The submission must be reviewed by someone who has experience in that industry. The goal here is to verify that the submission is a problem. Only a reviewer can certify that a submission is a problem. If submissions are not a problem, they should be refuted through data or industry expertise. In such cases the submission should be tagged as an idea.

The reviewer should somehow demonstrate credentials. A simplified version is just to take their word. A complicated version would be to have their credentials verified by Linked In. Reviewers could also be invited by the submitter to certify their submission.

Submissions can be reviewed by multiple experts. And submissions can go from being “ideas” to being “problems”. There will be a score associated with each submission. The higher the score the more verified a problem is.

Step 3: Brainstorm Solutions

This would be a place to formulate business plans for verified problems. Both step 2 and step 3 could be a very long and deep discussion. There would be a single threaded discussion for each problem. There would not be duplicate problems. The end result would be a wikipedia like database of problems that show a history of discussion.

It’s possible that some problems will be verified as problems but not have solutions. Step 1 and 3 serve different purposes.

Do any sites like this exist?

I don't know of any websites that do this in a formal structured way. The goal is quality over quantity. To have perhaps the 100 biggest verified entrepreneurial problems of a given time rather than 10,000 ideas. I would rather have the 10 best discussions on the internet about 10 problems, with each discussion being 50 pages long, then 10,000 threads that each have single word responses/post. Profit is also secondary to innovation quality. There are plenty of places that thrive on offering innovations in scams, but this place will value real innovation. And if there are no innovative submissions then the space shouldn’t be filled just to be filled.

Is this a problem for anyone?

In the spirit of this post, I will consider the post itself an unverified idea. I’m not sure whether this is a real problem or not. Maybe existing online business/startup/entrepreneur forums already informally address this issue.