by Nick LaFond, co-founder and CEO at Funclobile, Investor & Startup Advisor

It all starts with a problem. “Yeah, I've got plenty of them.. how ‘bout you?” I don’t mean the worry you feel when you accidentally swipe right on Tinder. Or the tried-and-true miss work, lie to your family— better join a twelve-step program soon —kind of problem.

No. I’m talking about the one that keeps your mind spinning when your head hits the pillow; the I need to un-f*ck-this-now-or-slowly-die sort of problem. You know that one?

Of course you do.

If you’re like me, it’s easy to stop right there. The world’s going to love this — right? Perhaps. I mean, who’s crazy enough not to see the need for your spectacularly designed “Uber-for-X” app? Congratulations, incrementalist.

But Nobody Has Done it Yet!

That’s fine. And just maybe there is room enough in “me too land” for all of us. But have you considered thinking bigger? Stay with me for a second.

If opportunity doesn't knock, build a door.
— Milton Berle

You can now get virtually anything delivered to you. Magic App made a big splash when it debuted on Product Hunt last month. Need an authentic Mexican wrestling mask in a hurry?? “Roger that — over.” Of course, you’ll have to be in San Francisco to join the early-adopter club for many of these startups.

And if that doesn't set off your I-want-shit-now meter, a recent CB Insights article reported a whopping ~$2B in venture capital being chucked into the delivery-app fire in 2014.

So what can you do to stand out in this noisy mobile landscape? Let’s talk about 3 tactics worth exploring:

1) Predict the Future

That’s impossible, right? Nope. Predicting doesn't mean you can see the future. It means you have the ability to analyze the current situation, and imagine where the world will be in 3–5 years. That’s the sweet spot.

Let’s take the example of Wash.io, whose team has raised over $16MM for their dry cleaning and laundry delivery service. Seems simple enough, yeah?

What if they know something that we don’t. Suppose the rate at which Americans are returning to the city grows exponentially. Or imagine California’s water-crisis becomes so desperate that in 3 years washing machines are banned from home use — who wins this game?

If your founding team’s vision includes an IPO in the next 7–10 years, use the first 3 years to collect the data, and hammer out the infrastructure required to nail a revolutionary product at year 5. You can still make money with your first product(s), right, but it should be a stepping stone for the *BIG* idea.

2) Don’t Compete

Thiel has radically blazed this path for the rest of us, and his book Zero To One ranks among my favorite collections of sage advice. But this isn't to say it’s easy. When you begin reaching out to your first customers your initial challenge is to overcome competition. Competition for their time. Money. Attention. Willingness to change.

And it’s not easy to get people to change. Surely you've tried that before? The key is leading them away from their pain — and they do have pain — to an environment where it’s easiest to stick with your product. Next, innovate. To solidify your spot in their daily life you must make your product so good that it’s painful to change.

“All failed companies are the same: they failed to escape competition.”
— Peter Thiel

But it’s more than that. Your goal should be to leap-frog the market. The MVP gets you out of the dark, and Product 2.0 is simply an opportunity to grab attention and focus it towards your BHAG. After all.. your mama didn’t raise a one-hitter-quitter.

3) Figure out a Genius way to Leverage the Data

We all saw it coming when Facebook and Twitter began to monetize their free platforms with advertisement. What is it that they say? “If you’re not paying for the product, you are the product.”

Of course, you’re going to treat your customers with the utmost respect. Who wants to come out of the wash feeling used and abused? Delivering a truly delightful experience should be paramount, but the real magic could be waiting for them (and you) down the road.

If we had a monopoly on ALL this data — what would it be worth to the incumbents? How could we innovate by partnering? …then work backwards to find the solution.

Let’s return to the dry cleaning example. Supposing they’re able to capture significant marketshare, we can assume they will have loads of interesting data in their hands. Who is really pressed [pun intended] for time, and where are they located? Which customer segments have disposable income aimed towards fashion? Which apparel brands do consumers in NYC launder [read: wear] the most?

Asking your team, from the beginning: who are the big players that might want this data? And figuring out which key insights you can deliver — data they will be unwilling or unable to gather themselves — that has strong play written all over it.

Increment — I will not!

The days of marginal improvement are quickly fading. Soon enough I expect many of these low-margin, on-demand apps will be fighting over the same customers. Who will innovate quickly enough to develop that staying power we are all striving for? And what opportunities can we expect will emerge from this plethora of data? Let’s build for that.

So as you catapult head-first into your next venture,
please take a moment to pause and consider.
“How can I think bigger?”