founders paras chopra, chapter by chapter
4. Be in the Desire Market, Not the Solutions Market
Customers are loyal to an outcome, not to the current way of achieving it.
Solutions come and go; desires persist. A toothbrush competes not only with other toothbrushes but with every credible route to oral hygiene. A search engine once competed with libraries and directories. Defining a market by product category hides both the real competition and the opportunity for a radically different solution.
Write the customer’s desired outcome, then list every current way they achieve it—including doing nothing, hiring someone, or using an improvised tool. Position and design against that full set. If your solution disappears, the desire remains; your job is to satisfy it better than whatever replaces you.
Original sketch and model by Paras Chopra. Read the source chapter.