How to find "Problems"

[Ankesh]

This is a great question. Thanks for asking Paul.

One trick is: Start with the Who. Not the What. There is no one in the world who does not face problems. The lady on the forum had a photoshop problem. My neighbour has a problem of finding a good renter. The guy who sits in front of the computer for 16 hours a day has eye sight problems. The lady who makes custom jewelry as her hobby has the problem of no one except her friends knowing how good she is. Everyone has a problem.

But not all problems are worth your time and attention. So look out for groups of WHO who have the same problem. Look out for the hungry audience as Gary Halbert says.

Forums are good. Another good idea is simply going to your local book store and buy 3-4 magazines in different industries. And read the ads in these magazines. Good ads provide solutions to problems lots of people face.

Also - don't worry about you not personally being able to solve other peoples problems. Have you heard this website called lynda.com ? Its hugely popular. It solves people's software problems by showing them video tutorials. Its founder Lynda - however just has I think 11 videos out of the 1000s on the website. She got other people to record solutions for the problem her audience faced. You can always find a good person and partner with her as long as you have identified a problem that is popular enough.