Escape the Startup Graveyard: Uncover Real Opportunities with JTBD
Why most "good ideas" fail & how Jobs-to-be-Done reveals the unmet customer needs that fuel breakthrough ventures.
Stop chasing competitors and start solving the real problems customers face. Learn how JTBD reveals hidden markets and novel solutions.
Table of Contents
The Startup Graveyard is Full of "Good Ideas"
Why do so many startups fail despite having smart teams and seemingly good ideas? It's a question that haunts founders and investors alike. Often, the answer lies not in the execution, but in the premise. Many startups die because they build solutions looking for problems, instead of the other way around.
Traditional market research often falls short here. It might tell you what features customers say they want, what competitors are doing, or which demographics might buy your product. But this often leads to incremental improvements on existing solutions or, worse, products that address symptoms rather than the core struggle. It focuses on the solution space, which is crowded and constantly shifting.
There's a more powerful lens: Jobs-to-be-Done (JTBD). JTBD flips the script by focusing relentlessly on the customer's struggle for progress toward achieving specific goals or objectives, perfectly. It asks: what "job" is the customer fundamentally trying to get done?
By understanding this underlying job and the outcomes customers use to measure success, startups can identify truly novel and valuable opportunities – the kind often missed by conventional approaches that just skim the surface. This post will explore how you can use the JTBD framework to move beyond feature lists and uncover the breakthrough opportunities hidden in your customers' unmet needs.
What is Jobs-to-be-Done (and Why It Matters for Opportunity ID)?
At its core, Jobs-to-be-Done isn't about your product, your features, or even your customer demographics in isolation. It's about what an individual is trying to achieve and how they prioritize the outcomes that measure the relevant progress.
Think of it this way: People don't just buy products; they hire them to do a job. That job is the object or goal they're aiming for. When you bought your last cup of coffee, were you just buying hot bean water? Or were you hiring it for the job of "Increase alertness for the morning meeting" or perhaps "Facilitate a comfortable social interaction"?
This simple shift in perspective is profound for startups:
It changes the unit of analysis: Instead of focusing on the user or the product, you focus on the job.
It elevates the discussion: It moves beyond temporary solution preferences to the stable, underlying need. Solutions change rapidly; the core job often endures for much longer.
It reveals the real competition: Your competition isn't just other companies making similar products. It's anything a customer might hire to get the same job done (including spreadsheets, manual processes, or even doing nothing).
For startups seeking opportunities, JTBD directly illuminates the path by uncovering unmet needs and underserved outcomes. It shows you precisely where customers are struggling to make progress, which is the most fertile ground for innovation.
The JTBD Framework for Identifying Novel Opportunities
Applying JTBD isn't just a mindset shift; it involves a structured approach. Here's how it helps in identifying novel opportunities:
Defining the Core Functional Job
Getting the "job" definition right is crucial. It needs to be solution-agnostic and focused on the objective.
Unit of Analysis: The focus must be on what the customer is trying to accomplish, not who they are or how they do it today.
Outcome-Focused Verbs: Use clear, action-oriented verbs that define the goal (Referencing the Verbs for Job Statements list helps). Instead of a vague goal like "Manage finances," focus on specific jobs like "Minimize the time spent reconciling accounts," "Maximize confidence in investment decisions," or "Reduce the effort needed to track expenses accurately."
Consider Different Frames: As outlined in the Research Framework, jobs exist at different levels. Are you looking at the Core Job (the main objective), or Consumption Chain Jobs (like learning, purchasing, interfacing, maintaining)? Understanding these frames helps scope your investigation.
Mapping the Job & Identifying Desired Outcomes
Once the core job is defined, break it down into steps. This is often called Job Mapping.
The Process: What are the discrete steps the customer goes through to get the job done? (e.g., For "Plan a healthy weekly menu," steps might include: Define dietary goals, Find recipes, Create shopping list, Check pantry inventory, etc.)
Desired Outcomes: For each step, identify how the customer measures success. These are their desired outcomes, often expressed as metrics. Use formats like:
Minimize [time, effort, errors, waste, risk]
Increase [speed, efficiency, output, predictability, confidence]
Reduce [complexity, cost, variability]
Spotting Opportunity: The magic happens when you assess how important each outcome is to the customer versus how satisfied they are with current solutions. High importance + Low satisfaction = Opportunity.
Elevating the Level of Abstraction
This is where truly novel thinking emerges. Don't just focus on making the current steps slightly better; ask why those steps exist and if the higher-level job could be achieved differently.
The Concept: Move up the "ladder" of abstraction. Instead of focusing on the job of "Drill a hole," think about the higher-level job: "Create an aperture" or even higher: "Secure an object to a surface."
Example: Focusing on "Improve the drill bit" leads to better drill bits. Focusing on "Create an aperture efficiently" opens the door to lasers, water jets, or chemical etching. Focusing on "Secure an object" might lead to advanced adhesives, magnetic solutions, or interlocking surfaces – things that don't involve creating a hole at all!
Revealing New Solution Spaces: This higher-level thinking allows you to envision solutions that might:
Use fundamentally different technology.
Require fewer steps or consolidate multiple jobs.
Obfuscate complexity, presenting a much simpler interface (fewer visible features).
Be performed by a different person or even autonomously.
Connecting to Innovation Types: This approach naturally surfaces opportunities beyond just incremental improvements. As per the Approach to Different Types of Innovation, elevating abstraction can point towards Core Market Disruption (doing the core job better/cheaper with a new approach) or New Platform Creation (addressing the core job and related jobs in an integrated, superior way).
Finding the "Novel": Where JTBD Points to Breakthroughs
JTBD systematically uncovers different types of opportunities, many of which are inherently novel:
Underserved Outcomes
This is the classic JTBD play. Where are customers consistently frustrated? What important outcomes are poorly served by all existing solutions? Quantifying this gap (e.g., through surveys rating outcome importance and satisfaction) provides a clear target.
Novelty Source: Solving a problem others have ignored or failed to solve adequately. Startups often gain their first foothold here.
Non-Consumption
Why are some potential customers not hiring any solution to get a job done? Often, it's because existing options are:
Too expensive
Too complex or require specialist skills
Only available in centralized locations
Require prerequisite resources they lack
Novelty Source: Creating a simpler, cheaper, more accessible solution unlocks entirely new markets. Think of the PC disrupting the mainframe or simple online tools disrupting complex enterprise software for specific segments.
Overserved Outcomes
Sometimes, existing solutions provide more performance or features than many customers actually need or value, often at a higher cost.
Novelty Source: Opportunity for disruptive innovation by offering a "good enough," simpler, more convenient, or significantly cheaper alternative that targets the overserved segment.
Future Concepts through Abstraction
This is where you look beyond incremental changes and envision fundamentally different ways to achieve the job's ultimate purpose.
Working Today (But Rare): Look for niche tools or advanced processes that already abstract away significant complexity. Examples might include highly automated scientific equipment replacing manual lab work, or integrated platforms that combine tasks previously requiring multiple software tools. These prove the higher-level job can be done differently.
Truly Novel Concepts: Brainstorm based on the highest level of abstraction. If the job is "Ensure data integrity across systems," could future AI systems monitor and correct discrepancies autonomously, eliminating the need for current reconciliation software and manual checks entirely? If the job is "Create compelling marketing visuals," could generative AI reach a point where it understands strategic goals and produces entire campaigns, bypassing graphic designers and complex editing software for many use cases? These novel solutions often have fewer visible features but deliver the core outcome far more effectively or efficiently.
Case Study Snippet: Focusing on the Real Job
Consider project management software. Most tools focus on the job of "Track tasks and timelines." They compete on features like Gantt charts, dependencies, and reporting.
But what if the real job is "Align team efforts towards a shared objective successfully"?
A startup focusing on this job might prioritize features differently. Instead of just task tracking, they might excel at:
Facilitating clarity on goals: Tools for defining objectives and key results (OKRs) upfront.
Reducing communication friction: Integrated, context-aware communication channels.
Predicting roadblocks: AI analyzing progress and communication patterns to flag risks before they derail the project.
Simplifying collaboration: Making it easy for different roles to contribute without complex workflows.
This JTBD lens shifts the focus from managing tasks to achieving outcomes, potentially leading to a novel solution that feels simpler yet is far more effective for certain teams.
[Image: Simple comparison table: Feature-focused PM tool vs. Outcome-focused PM tool]
From Idea to Opportunity
Stop chasing fleeting feature trends or building solutions in search of problems. The Jobs-to-be-Done framework provides a rigorous, customer-centric way to identify opportunities grounded in real, unmet needs.
By defining the core job, understanding the customer's desired outcomes, and daring to elevate the level of abstraction, you can uncover pathways to innovation that your competitors, stuck in the weeds of existing solutions, will likely miss.
Your action item: Think about your industry or area of interest. What's one significant struggle you see customers consistently facing? What progress are they trying to make where current solutions fall short?
Share your thoughts in the comments below! What's a "job" you think is ripe for a novel solution?
If you’d like to take action, I would love to help. Here’s are some steps you can take to make that a reality for us:
Join my community and get access to more content and tools
Apply for coaching so we can do projects together and build a new business-as-usual with someone who will share the knowledge, and hold you accountable. (I have limited seats so hurry!)
I do project work as well. Use the coaching link and we can discuss.
Why Me?
I only offer a limited number of free initial consultations each month.
I’ve been trained by the best in Outcome-Driven Innovation. Part of that training involved how to understand what the future should look like. As a result, I’ve taken what I’ve learned and begun innovating so I can get you to the outcomes you’re seeking faster, better, and even more predictably. Anyone preaching innovation should be doing the same; regardless of how disruptive it’ll be.
How am I doing this?
I’ve developed a complete toolset that accelerates qualitative research to mere hours instead of the weeks or months it used to take. It’s been fine-tuned over the past 2+ years and it’s second-to-none (including to humans). That means we can have far more certainty that we’ve properly framed your research before you invest in a basket of road apples. They don’t taste good, even with whipped cream on top.
I’m also working on a completely new concept for prioritizing market dynamics that predict customer needs (and success) without requiring time-consuming and costly surveys with low quality participants. This is far more powerful and cost effective than the point-in-time surveys that I know you don’t want to do!
I believe that an innovation consultant should eat their own dog food. Therefore, we must always strive to:
Get more of the job done for our clients
Get the job done better for our clients
Get the job done faster for our clients
Get the job done with with fewer features for our clients
Get the job done in a completely different and novel way for our clients
Get the job done in a less costly manner for our clients
But more importantly, I strive to deliver high quality and high availability. That's why I also have to be choosy.
All the links you need are a few paragraphs up. Or set up some time to talk … that link is down below. 👇🏻
Mike Boysen - www.pjtbd.com
Why fail fast when you can succeed the first time?
📆 Book an appointment: https://pjtbd.com/book-mike
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