Friction

I get asked all the time how I come up with all my business ideas. "Its easy," I reply, "I just look for friction in the world."

Friction is a force that opposes and this opposition creates heat. This heat is waste, and in business, friction indicates opportunity for someone to do whatever it is better. WITHOUT FRICTION. (ie. without waste)

The success of the iPod isn't because its a killer MP3 player. There are plenty of players with more features, cheaper, etc.

The friction wasn't the player. The friction was in how consumers imported, managed and bought their music.

The success of the iPod is iTunes.

iTunes+iPod now rules the music world and has arguably taken control of the online (pay) video world. The only real big online play that they've not moved in on is the porn industry. I think those guys are safe from Steve and company. ;-)

And then they jump into the phone business 'cause there's lots of friction there too. The most disruptive thing about the iPhone isn't the phone. Its the way that Apple is changing how the mobile game is being played. And that's something the phone carriers don't like. Nobody likes the guy that rocks the boat.

Look around you. Where do you see consumer frustration, confusion, or obfuscation. Look at what's really going on and see if you can figure out at way to do it better.