“If you make it, they will come” doesn’t always work. If the technology isn’t ready, they won’t come for sure. But even if you’ve got the tech, then you still have to time it right. The world has to be ready to want it. Customers need to see that your product solves a real problem they have today—not one that they may have in some distant future.

Investors today don’t fund solutions that work; they fund business models that work.

Finding a problem that warrants switching isn’t enough—it also needs to represent a business model opportunity worth pursuing. This comes down to price and people. As we’ve covered previously, the two are related: price determines your customers, and vice versa.