ITE groups have improved

2023-11-28

Joben and I went over the panel recordings from a few days ago. We are happy to note that ITE ideas have, once again, improved compared to those that were pitched in previous panels.

• There was an uptick in the number of B2B groups. What we like about the B2B groups is that their ideas tend to be (though are not always) more grounded in problems that people will pay them to solve. We particularly appreciate student groups that tackle B2B because we understand that students generally do not have natural exposure to business problems.
• Many more groups have now tried to solve their target problem. We respect groups that do this because it provides evidence that an idea will work (or that it won't). Even if a group's efforts at validating their idea fail, that in itself is evidence that the group is serious and that the group has made some progress.
• Even the consumer idea groups have stronger fundamentals now. We tend to be skeptical of consumer ideas from ITE groups because they tend not to come with any sort of evidence that their target problem is painful enough for people to pay to solve. When we questioned the consumer idea groups this time, though, they were generally able to articulate real problems in their idea spaces. These groups still seem to settle for the hardest way to try to solve the problem, which we consider a point for improvement.

We think some of these groups actually have a chance at success.