People
Every business, no matter the type or scale, is a transaction between you and real people. If no one wants what you're offering, nothing else matters. Who is this really for? Why would they want it—not why you think they should? What problem, desire, or curiosity are you tapping into? From cupcakes to clothing to software—people are the only market that exists. A child selling lemonade on a hot day understands this instinctively: thirsty people walking by are everything. The temperature, the taste, the price, the smile—all of it works because it connects with what people actually want in that moment.
The idea only matters if it reaches someone. You're not building for a portfolio or to impress other entrepreneurs, you're building to connect with real humans who have real needs. Does this actually make someone feel something? Are you solving something that hurts, annoys, or excites them? What would make someone share this or come back for more? Connection is not optional—it's the difference between novelty and value. When someone uses what you've built and feels understood, heard, or helped, that's when you know you've found something real. Everything else is just noise.
Impact comes from usefulness, not cleverness. Whether you're offering delight, speed, style, or ease—make sure it relieves something. What friction or frustration are you removing? What's hard for them that you're making easy? Is it actually helping—or just adding more complexity to their world? If it doesn't move someone closer to ease, gain, or a better version of themselves, it fades fast. The best businesses feel like a gentle hand on your shoulder, guiding you toward something better. They don't demand attention—they earn it by making life a little bit easier, a little bit better.
Assumptions are poison, and they're everywhere. They feel fast and clever, but they're often lazy stand-ins for real information. Most of the time, they're wrong. What are you assuming about people that you haven't tested? Where are you projecting your own wants onto the market? Are you solving a real problem—or one you imagined? Assumptions are often lies dressed as insight. The cure is simple but uncomfortable: talk to people, watch what they actually do, pay attention to where they spend their time and money. The distance between what people say they want and what they actually choose can be enormous.
The core principle that every startup cliché boils down to is this: make things people actually want. Center everything around people, and most other pieces become much easier to solve. When you truly understand what moves people, what they care about, what keeps them up at night, the path forward becomes clearer. You stop building things that sound good in theory and start building things that work in practice. You stop trying to convince people they need what you've made and start making what they're already looking for.
1.2 >
Service, Value, Execution
2.2 >
Competition