concepts, tools & best practices for brainstorming business ideas

1. Brainstorming Business Ideas
key concepts for business innovators & entrepreneurs

2. Innovative business ideas arise only
when we apply creativity to a purpose
The challenge is to cross “the creativity gap”
© Arnold Wytenburg 2

3. Usually we think of individuals as
creative, but creativity occurs when
people act in concert with the
surrounding environment.
Getting to “there” starts
by defining “here”
… this is often harder than
you think, especially when
teams are involved
© Arnold Wytenburg 3

4. “The task is not to see what no one else
has seen, but to think what nobody has
yet thought about that which everyone
already sees.”
The best ‘new’ ideas come from combining old ideas in
novel and interesting ways…
Consider:
– The first automobile
– The first telephone
– The first computer
– The first spacecraft
– etc, etc
© Arnold Wytenburg 4

5. Opportunity knocks at least once every
seven days… are you listening?
Maintaining Letting go of Creating the
status quo… the past… future…
i.e. Establish uniform i.e. Introduce new i.e. Establish a
design and designs, drop old completely new
manufacturing ones paradigm
standards
© Arnold Wytenburg 5

6. The problem with most problems is that
we don’t really know what the problem
is
Typically, the ‘real’ problem has less to do with
the things we think about, and more to do with
the way we do our thinking about those things.
Start by looking around, not ahead… what is
actually happening today is generally far more
useful to know than what we can predict
© Arnold Wytenburg 6

7. No business idea can survive its initial
exposure to a potential customer
without needing to be completely
rethought
Put yourself in the customer’s shoes to find out what’s
really happening, and what really needs attention:
– The ‘economic’ customer
• the person who pays you
– The ‘functional’ customer
• the “end user”
– The ‘beneficial’ customer
• the person who gains a direct benefit from a purchase
– The ‘decision maker’
• the person who decides to buy
– The ‘decision influencer’
• the person who shapes the decision to buy
© Arnold Wytenburg 7

8. Visualize (or sketch, model, simulate,
etc) how a customer or end user
will ‘consume’ your product, service, or
experience
Ask and describe:
– What problems are solved? Created?
– What processes are improved? Needed?
– What new functions are performed? Eliminated?
– What costs are removed? Deferred? Added?
– What special knowledge is no longer needed? Required?
– Etc, etc
The goal is to make your ideas as concrete as possible:
– A word is worth 10–3 pictures
– A picture is worth 10–3 prototypes
© Arnold Wytenburg 8

9. Not every spark lights a fire… consider
that “90% of everything is crap, and
most of the rest isn’t very interesting”
Good ideas involve a lot of experimentation
Follow “Silver’s Law”:
– Find a major problem
– Identify an elegant solution
– Have the best team for the job
© Arnold Wytenburg 9

10. Modest ideas tend to deliver modest
results
Look for ideas that:
1. Combine your skills, knowledge & motivation
2. Push the envelope by doing something different
3. Provide customers with a measurable benefit
To qualify as viable “business ideas” they’ll need
to make a “10X difference”
© Arnold Wytenburg 10

11. The nature of business is networked,
and can best be thought of as a form
of ‘ecology’
Recognize that doing
business is a complex
affair involving a lot
of collaboration…
use your ‘creative
sweet spot’ to help
you find a niche
© Arnold Wytenburg 11

12. A warm-up exercise…
1. Watch “20 Questions for Startup Success”
with Norm Meyrowitz, former President of
Macromedia
2. Visit the Museum of Modern Betas, and briefly
answer Norm’s first 5 questions for at least 2
“beta” business ideas
© Arnold Wytenburg 12

13. Pitching your ideas involves making sure
the most important points are
communicated in the simplest, fastest
way possible
To communicate your idea:
– Identify/quantify a specific problem/opportunity
– Describe how you propose to solve it
– State your unique qualifications for doing so
© Arnold Wytenburg 13

14. Chaos, panic, disorder…
my work is done here
arnold.wytenburg@utoronto.ca