News#Opinion
14 July 2020
Unsplash © Xavier von Erlach

Why solving a big problem isn’t enough to build a billion-dollar startup

If you want to be a successful entrepreneur, you need to find a big problem and solve it. But if you stop there, you might just wind up being the inventor of an amazing solution that no one ever uses. As Joe Procopio suggests, that is probably not your goal.

Step 1: Perfect the scalable solution

Step 2: Carve out a new market

Step 3: Build off your intellectual property in the new market

But what most large companies are terrible at is focusing advancements in development, process, technology, hardware, and data capture into a cohesive product strategy.

Step 4: Maintain your lead

This article was originally published on Medium by Joe Procopio

Joe Procopio is a multi-exit, multi-failure entrepreneur. He is currently the Chief Product Officer at Spiffy, on-demand vehicle care and maintenance startup. In 2015, he sold Automated Insights to Vista Equity Partners. In 2013, he sold ExitEvent to Capitol Broadcasting. Before that, he built Intrepid Media, the first social network for writers. You can read more and sign up for his newsletter at www.joeprocopio.com