Often, innovators have a wonderful brainstorm and then look for a problem to their solution. Innovation needs both a problem and a solution. Which comes first? I favor looking at the problem first, then developing the solution.

The Gasper monitoring solution was conceived while I made a presentation to a bank in Los Angeles. They loved ATMs and what they could do for banking. They complained bitterly that these new unmanned devices needed to be monitored and there was no way to do it.

PicsMatch was born when my wife spent hours and hours trying to locate old photos for a surprise birthday party.

So, I prefer to seek a problem and then find the solution. There are three quick rules that I suggest.

1. Let the market (potential new customers) describe the problem and not the solution. Customers typically define solutions to their problems in terms of refining existing technology instead of thinking dramatically about breakthrough changes.
2. Make sure the problem is a need not a want. Paying customers make the best marketplace. There are lots of nice to have things that everyone wants. Few business models are successful selling nice to have.
3. Check to see if anyone else is thinking the same ideas in terms of possible solutions.