We all need to be kids to solve problems >>> this is why ??

I was chatting with my son (3.5yrs old) this weekend, and he reminded me of just how much I love the honesty and curiosity of a child's mind. “Why daddy?” followed up with another “Why?” I hope he always keeps asking questions because it’s something we should all be doing daily.

?? Why is the most important question we can ask, something we are born with but typically lose in our early years, as adults (typically parents and teachers) condition us not to question back, not to ask “stupid” questions, and to simply accept what we’re told.

?? First principle or critical thinking, is the single fastest route to the truth and to solving any problem. It releases us from the herd mentality of using given assumptions and allows us to find new solutions to tackle continuous problems.

?? "If it aint broke dont fix it” is a classic herd mentality answer, one that accepts inadequate solutions based on prior assumptions, and it is utter nonsense.

?? This mentality is the reason so many solutions are just plasters treating the symptoms rather than the root cause of a problem, the difference between taking a holistic view to solving or one through a tiny little prescribed lens.

“If I had an hour to solve a problem, I’d spend 55 minutes thinking about the problem and 5 minutes thinking about solutions.”

— Albert Einstein

?? As a startup founder, first principle thinking is a power tool at every stage. Here are some ideas on how you can use it:

1. What is the problem I have identified??
2. What are my assumptions about the problem?
3. Strip it back to its core and challenge the assumptions by asking why 3 times
4. Now, what is the simplest way to solve this at its most basic level?
5. Draw a solution tree based on the easiest way to solve?
6. Make sure it is viable by asking why at each point
7. And boom, maybe you can change the world.??

?? This is how ingenious and unique solutions to complex problems are made.

?? It was this type of thinking that led us to build N2, a platform for the 99% of founders that need to raise based on the strength of their product, rather than pre-existing VC network.

?? What we observed in the VC ecosystem is a dangerously low success rate, where <1% of pitch decks seen by an investor actually receive funding. The long-held belief has been that “more is better”, so founders have continuously been given access to low grade, poorly qualified, and often entirely irrelevant pools of investor data that actually make the job of raising capital even more difficult. The irony is that most of this is just recycled so a lot of the data is just repeated yet presented in different formats!

? Founder assumption: Quantity of investor data beats the quality of it.

? Existing solutions: Large databases of investor data

Please see this article for insights on the study we carried out to put this assumption to the test. You can see the results and tangible evidence of why this approach doesn’t work:

https://www.dhirubhai.net/posts/derek-watson-n2technology_startup-founders-fundraise-activity-6931481643274637312-W1U-?utm_source=linkedin_share&utm_medium=member_desktop_web

?? So here’s how we applied First principles thinking:

1. What is the problem I have identified??
2. Access to be able to identify, connect and talk directly with investors that can invest in my Startup

What are my assumptions about the problem?

• It will take a lot of time to search, filter, reach and qualify any potential investors
• The data is second/third hand and I don't know how accurate it is?
• The data is largely void of critical information needed to evidence-based decision making, e.g has the investor actually got any money to invest in new opportunities or not

Strip it back to its core and challenge the assumptions by asking why 3 times

• Too many fees incentivising actors to make it seem difficult
• Too many investors that want to catch everything and follow the herd
• The advice on google says that this is how founders should do it and quantity is better than quality

Now what is the simplest way to solve this at its most basic level

• Use first-party data submitted directly by verified and approved investors?
• Connect relevant dealflow based on startups business against investment thesis
• Automate the repetitive heavy lifting for both sides of the marketplace

The internet is noisy, and there are endless articles and experts offering advice, so-called industry insights or “get rich quick schemes” that are creating more problems for founders than they solve.