This article summarizes the content from a previous entrepreneurship course I attended.

What is a Startup?

It’s difficult to define in just one sentence, but generally, a startup is a company that offers a service or product providing significant value to users and achieves explosive success. In terms of organization size, it might not differ much from an SME (Small and Medium-sized Enterprise). While they may look similar externally, startups typically follow a growth trajectory known as the J-curve.

The Mindset for Starting a Startup

If you start just because everyone else is doing it, or because there are many success stories, and you think you can always quit if it doesn't work out, you’re likely to give up halfway. A lot of energy is required, and quitting midway can be a huge personal waste.

You need a clear reason like: "I absolutely cannot work a regular job," "I have an entrepreneurial spirit and must solve this problem," "I really want to make a lot of money."

At first, you might think financial difficulties are the biggest challenge for early-stage startups. While economic hardships are certainly tough, far more difficult challenges arise. Solving one problem often leads to an even bigger one, and these issues can occur simultaneously.

Dealing with these problems is what defines a startup. During this process, you will face psychological and mental stress. Therefore, mental health management is crucial. Some investors even offer free mental health counseling for startup founders.

If you still feel the need to start a business after acknowledging these challenges, you might be ready to prepare for entrepreneurship. Your reasons may change several times. Initially, I thought I could make a lot of money, but within two to three months, I was branded a failure. It took a long time to endure until the real value of the service to users became the focus. Receiving positive feedback and seeing users love the service became truly enjoyable. Eventually, you achieve a sense of accomplishment that you can’t experience elsewhere. Afterward, everything else follows—satisfying users attracts investment, and the work becomes fun.

What Problems Should Startups Solve?

Startups should aim to solve the following types of problems:

• Problems no one has discovered,

• Problems that have been discovered but not solved,

• Problems that are necessary or important.

"Necessary means market size," and "important means how urgent it is for me."

Even large or important problems can sometimes lead to struggles for startups. Surprisingly, many startups struggle even with these.

Solving small or unimportant problems makes it extremely challenging to sustain the business.

Approach big problems from a market perspective:

• How large is the market affected by solving this problem?

If the market is large, you can deliver value to many people and achieve explosive success. However, the market situation is not easy, and competition is fierce. Given the same effort, it’s better to tackle big problems.

Important problems should be approached based on how much you care about them:

• How desperately do I want to solve this problem?

You’ll have a strong will to solve it. However, what is important to you may not be important to everyone. If the scale is ambiguous, it could become a social enterprise or a personal business.

1. Solving Big Problems

   • Approach from the market perspective

   • The size of the market impacted by solving the problem is large

   • The competitive environment and market situation are tough

   • Given the same effort, efforts in a large market will shine more

2. Solving Important Problems

   • Approach based on how much interest you have in the problem

   • Strong willingness to solve the problem

   • If the business scale is small, it may not be aligned with startup goals