What’s Your Value Prop Story?

When I hear someone describing their company using a phrase like “the new platform for blockchain VR optimization”, I can’t figure out how this idea is supposed to give people value. And when I dig in, the reality is often that it simply doesn’t create value.

Here’s a quick sanity check to see if you’re plausibly going to be making something people want. I call it the value prop story.

The Value Prop Story

A well-formed value prop story must fit this template:

1. Describe a specific person with a specific problem
   23 year old male who can’t get a date
2. Describe their current best effort to solve their problem
   He gets a Tinder account and does his best to use it on his own
3. Describe why it’s still a problem
   His matches barely respond to his messages, and when they do, the conversion feels boring and forced. He uses it for 1 hour every day but only manages to get 1 date every 2 months.
4. Describe how their life gets better thanks to you
   Once Relationship Hero coaches guide him through writing his texts, he suddenly has much better conversations that result in a date each week

Plausible Mechanism of Creating Value

If you can tell a well-formed value prop story, then we’ll know your idea has a plausible mechanism of creating value.

Having a plausible mechanism of creating value is a low bar for a startup. And we’re just talking about plausible in theory — forget about practice. Passing the Value Prop Story test doesn’t require you to show any market research or empirical evidence validating your idea.

Surprisingly, most startups won’t clear this bar, ever! Y Combinator’s motto is “Make Something People Want” because most entrepreneurs don’t. A simple weak test that nevertheless trips up most entrepreneurs is a great tool to have in your toolbox.

What’s your Value Prop Story?

See also: The Power to Judge Startup Ideas and Your MVP is Bloated