(2022-08-23) Chin The Idea Maze Cases

Cedric Chin: The Idea Maze. A good founder is thus capable of anticipating which turns lead to treasure and which lead to certain death... What is the Idea Maze? In a sentence: the Idea Maze is the process of exploration required to nail down all the components of a successful product.

The question, of course, is how to think about this seemingly random process.

This is fancy way of saying that the people involved were often groping their way in the dark. Or, to use our core analogy: perhaps they were finding their way in a maze.

Concept

It is equally tempting to say that the creation of a successful new product is a matter of luck

Launching a new product is hard

the vast majority of successful products are the result of a longer process of trial and error under conditions of some uncertainty.

Chris Dixon took Srinivasan’s original idea and extended it: Good startup ideas are well developed, multi-year plans that contemplate many possible paths according to how the world changes. (Is that really true? Or is it a retcon?)

Scratch the surface of any story about new product development and you'll find a circuitous journey to find a product that works, with a distribution channel that is well-adapted for it, sold to an audience ready to receive it. (well, that's true)

The following series of cases should demonstrate what that looks like in practice.

Cases

TikTok - One Very Long Year 2022-08-23-ChinTiktokOneVeryLongYear

The iPhone Keyboard - Make It or Break It 2022-08-23-ChinTheIphoneKeyboardMakeItOrBreakIt

PayPal - The Beamers Didn't Come 2022-08-23-ChinPaypalTheBeamersDidntCome

General Magic - The Future, Too Early 2022-08-29-ChinGeneralMagicTheFutureTooEarly

Instagram - The Bigger Picture 2022-08-29-ChinInstagramTheBiggerPicture

Amazon Prime - Burn to Grow 2022-08-29-ChinAmazonPrimeBurnToGrow

Microsoft Office - Suite Success 2022-08-29-ChinMicrosoftOfficeSuiteSuccess

Get Started With The Commoncog Case Library Beta

because we tend to look for similarities amongst different cases, it is useful to force yourself to occasionally do the opposite. That is, in looking at two similar cases, ask yourself what the differences are.

as you read each case, reflect and ask yourself:

Here’s a quick recap of Cognitive Flexibility Theory

So how do you gain expertise? The answer: first, you expand the set of cases in your head, and second, you inculcate the adaptive worldview.

In this email, we’ll do three things:
Give you an idea of the structure of the beta test.
Give you a brief note on how to use this case library to accelerate your learning, according to the basic principles of Cognitive Flexibility Theory.
Tell you how to get the PDF copy of this case library

1) What To Expect From This Beta

You may read any of them, in any order, though the recommended order is top-to-bottom

2) How To Learn

Once you’re done reading all the cases, click the button below to get a closing sequence of emails sent to you. One of them will contain a PDF of the Idea Maze cases, for you to download and keep.