You want to start a company.
Not just any company.
Something game-changing.
Something worth your blood, sweat, and risk.
But the world is loud.
Everyone’s got an opinion.
Everyone’s got advice.
You need clarity.
A solid framework.
A compass to guide you through the noise.
Here it is: four questions.
They cut through the guesswork.
They reveal the path that fits you best.
1. Native or Migrant?
Question: Are you attacking a problem you know intimately, or challenging a sector you barely know?
Insiders hold an edge.
Its a home ground.
They’ve lived the pain.
They talk the jargon.
They can walk into a prospect’s office, say “I’ve been there,” and win instant trust.
But insiders can drown in assumptions.
What if they’re so used to how things ought to be done,
They miss how things could be done?
Outsiders bring fresh eyes.
They’re bold enough to ask, “Why is this so complicated?”
They break rules without knowing the rules exist.
That can be their strength—
or their downfall.
Being naive is liberating, until you meet a wall you didn’t see coming.
Both can succeed—
but know the road you’re on.
2. Existing Category or New Category?
Question: Do you refine a known product, or invent something entirely new?
If you improve an existing category,
customers already have budgets.
They’ve heard of what you offer—
they just need a reason to switch.
That’s your wedge.
Better user experience.
Fewer bloated features.
Cheaper, faster, simpler.
It’s straightforward but hardly easy.
You’ll face entrenched rivals,
and matching their feature list alone can be a nightmare.
If you pioneer a new category,
you get wide-open territory—
if you can build it.
Customers don’t have budgets for “the unknown.”
They don’t fully grasp what you sell.
You’ll educate them at every turn.
It’s expensive.
It’s risky.
But if it lands, you become the category king.
Which battle do you prefer?
Steal someone else’s castle,
or build your own from scratch?
3. Broad TAM or Narrow Focus?
Question: Aim at everyone, or zoom in on a specific niche?
Investors love big markets—
billions in potential.
Yet they also demand focus.
They don’t want a sloppy product that claims to do it all.Better to start small.
Own a niche.
Become the best tool for that niche.
Then expand.
That’s how many giants got big.
Some niches become massive.
What seems small today might explode tomorrow.
Or not.
If your market is truly tiny,
that’s fine—just keep your overhead in check.
Where do you find your perfect, paying customers first?
Because it’s easier to widen a narrow beam
than tighten a broad floodlight.
4. Trend or clandestine?
Question: Chase the hype wave, or solve a problem nobody’s talking about yet?
Hot trends—AI, crypto, “the next big thing.”
They draw investors like moths to a flame.
“Why now?”
Because hype.
But hype fades.
What remains?
Real customers.
Real pain.
That’s what they pay to solve.
Not a fad.
Under-the-radar problems can be gold mines.
If you’re the first to solve them,
you define the conversation.
Still, you’ll have to do more work early on.
Convince people the problem exists.
Convince them it’s worth solving.
But if you succeed, you set the pace for everyone else.
Would you rather ride a wave you didn’t create—
or chart your own ocean?
The Point
Insider or outsider?
Existing or novel?
Wide or focused?
Trendy or stealth?
Each path demands a different kind of fight.
Each path rewards a different mindset.
Pick the one that resonates.
Then commit.
Because the biggest sin in starting up?
Standing still.
We live in a world of endless opportunity—
but it goes to those who move.
Inspired by : https://www.bvp.com/atlas/a-brainstorming-framework-for-aspiring-founders