To tweet

The blanket advice for #entrepreneurs creating #startups is to formulate their view as a solution to a problem someone has. Therefore, the first step is identifying those opportunities, and match them with our skills and ideas. But how do we find problems?

If we limit ourselves to the problems we, as individuals, experience, we will miss plenty of options and opportunities. Very few people know what are the challenges of a big chemical company, or the areas in which governments need support.

This does not mean that someone, without direct access to the field, may not have a solution. Especially when dealing with non-digital issues, answers may come from a wealth of angles. Thinking outside the box is harder when you are not exposed to radically different scenarios.

Besides very few cases, such as @startupinres , I don't know of examples in which corporations and governments publicly acknowledge their problems and limitations. I see that more and more solutions to problems do not come from specific networks of people, but from collaborations

Only big companies and rich governments dare to open up funds to explore out of the box ideas. Isn't there a way for smaller business to share the risk, by funding joint ventures? It goes against the manual of crushing your competitors, but what if it leads to a better world?