Entrepreneurship: Not Just for Startups | A Review of Danny Warshay’s “See, Solve Scale: How Anyone Can Turn an Unsolved Problem into a Breakthrough Success”
If you look up the definition of entrepreneurship, the Oxford Dictionary will say that it is “the activity of setting up a business or businesses, taking on financial risks in the hope of profit.” This definition makes it seem like entrepreneurship is exclusive to risk-seeking people in the business world. I was initially interested in the topic of entrepreneurship because I liked the idea of being my own boss and making a profit, but this definition makes it sound like entrepreneurship is exclusive to the risk-seeing business personality. However, Danny Warshay believes that entrepreneurship is a pathway that is independent of one’s field and personality. In his book See, Solve, Scale: How Anyone Can Turn an Unsolved Problem into a Breakthrough Success, he defines entrepreneurship as a structured process for solving problems, using an anthropological approach to figure out what problems to solve, without regard to the resources currently controlled (30). Warshay developed a curriculum to teach students at Brown University with no business background the principles of entrepreneurship that could be applied to any field of study, and he shares his teachings with the general public. I was pleasantly surprised to see how much the concepts in his book overlap with my fields of study: UX design and business. Danny Warshay teaches ambitious aspiring entrepreneurs a structured process of finding a problem, solving it, and building a sustainable model for growth.
His three-step approach to entrepreneurship–See, Solve, and Scale–shares similarities to the user-centered process of problem-solving practiced by UX designers: design thinking. But there are a few differences between both perspectives. Weaving them together can help create a successful entrepreneurial venture that satisfies customers’ needs in a way that brings them delight. According to Warshay’s research, the top reasons why startups fail are 1) they ignore the customer–as in, they do not listen to customer needs–and 2) there is no market need–as in, they do not even ask the customer in the first place (56). Many startups come up with a solution and then find a problem to solve, and this leads to failure. That is why the first step in his process is See: find an unmet need. This is similar to the first step of the design thinking process: empathize with the users to discover their pain points (Murtell). UX professionals conduct surveys, user interviews/focus groups, or A/B testing to learn about users’ pain points (Annikov). But to my surprise, Warshay actually discourages surveys and focus groups. He brings up an interesting point that surveys and workshops are an unnatural way of interacting. Focus groups require the participants to answer specific questions the researcher has framed for them, and that can lead to biased answers (52). Instead, Warshay advocates for bottom-up research, which is observing how people interact in their natural environment. If you see something that makes you think, “hmm…something is funny,” this is a sign of an unmet need (55). He provides an example from his previous students who found an unmet need by observing how disappointed pregnant women looked while shopping for prenatal vitamins at Whole Foods. His four students, all guys, learned that pregnant women take these vitamins for the health of their babies. The women complained that the pills were tough to swallow, they tasted bad, and they invoked feelings of nausea that the pregnant women were already experiencing. Warshay’s students observed these dissatisfied pregnant women, listened to their needs by asking them open-ended questions, and developed a new solution called Premama: prenatal vitamins in the form of convenient powder packs that were easy to consume, tasted great, and did not make them nauseated (59–60). This example made me realize that observational studies can be a more effective method than the traditional UX methods for uncovering the complexities of people’s problems to find novel solutions to them. Even though bottom-up research may lead to more innovative insights, it seems unlikely that UX designers would put this method into practice. I imagine they would instead continue with their current methods to meet the company’s expectations for quick and easy deliverables. This is all the more reason for entrepreneurs to conduct bottom-up research: to find the insights that companies are ignoring.
I still think traditional UX methods still have a place in Warshay’s entrepreneurial process. The second and third steps of the design process are to define a problem and ideate solutions. This involves taking the insights you have gathered from your bottom-up research, defining the problem that lies at the root of the users’ dissatisfaction, and coming up with a solution. This is where part two of Warshay’s entrepreneurial process, Solve: develop a value proposition, comes in. A value proposition is “a statement that ties the customer needs to the benefits of using your product or service in economic terms” (65). To come up with a value proposition–or in UX terms, a solution–Warshay lists out some ways of brainstorming ideas that coincide with UX design practices: thinking of as many ideas as you can, even wild ideas, before converging on a solution and developing a portfolio of ideas rather than settling on only one idea (69–71). Warshay’s Solve step ends after deciding on a solution and creating a value proposition that communicates the benefits of using the product or service to the customer. I believe that there is more work to be done in this step. From here, entrepreneurs should make sure the solution follows the three commandments of UX design: it must be useful, usable, and enjoyable to the customer. To do that, UX designers can design prototypes (mockups of how the product or service would look like) and test them to make sure they are on the right track (Murtell). Combining Warshay’s process with the UX design process can help turn an idea into a real solution that solves a real problem for customers in a way that brings them joy.
Up until this point, Warshay did an impressive job explaining the first two steps of the entrepreneurial process. The third part of his process, Scale: create a sustainable model, is where the shortcomings of the book lie. His narrow approach to entrepreneurship can benefit from incorporating not only a UX perspective but also a business perspective to reach a wider range of entrepreneurial ventures. Despite marketing entrepreneurship as a process that can apply to any field, whether it be a non-profit organization, a government agency, or a research institution, this last section focuses largely on startup-related advice. He writes, “In my approach, small business is not an expression of entrepreneurship unless it is a precursor to a larger version through which it can have scalable and long-term impact” (118). This quote and the chapters dedicated to raising funds, choosing the right investor, and pitching startup ideas to investors make it seem like Warshay’s definition of entrepreneurship is a startup. But that is not how every aspiring entrepreneur would like to run their venture. Entrepreneurship can come in many forms, including small businesses. For people hoping to pursue anything other than a startup, this last third of the book can cause them to tune out. To be fair, the title of this book is not See, Solve; it is See, Solve, Scale. It is explicitly written in the title that this book is for people who want to scale their solutions to something big. But if Warshay wanted to direct his focus on startups, he should explicitly frame this book as a startup guide rather than an entrepreneurial guide. People who want to pursue their entrepreneurial endeavors can still benefit greatly from the first ⅔ of the book on finding a problem and creating a value proposition. But, depending on the venture, the last ⅓ of the book may or may not be relevant, and outside sources in that specific field of interest would be necessary to fill in the gaps.
For the people who do want to build a scalable startup, this section is worth a read. However, despite honing in on startup-related advice in this section, Warshay underestimates the value of having business knowledge and fails to address business strategy when creating a sustainable model. In the See section of his book, Warshay provides an example of how two of his former students reinvented the way people buy mattresses. He said their lack of knowledge of how the mattress industry actually helped them because they were not limited by the norms and expectations of the mattress industry. I agree that having a fresh perspective on an industry can help people come up with creative solutions to a problem in that industry. However, I argue that strategy is vital to the sustainability of a startup. To enter and compete in a market, it is necessary to know the characteristics of the industry and its competitors to guide business decisions and create a competitive advantage. Creating a competitive advantage involves having a wide wedge between buyers’ willingness to pay and costs (Ghemawat and Rivkin 3). A value proposition is only one component of competitive advantage. The other part includes having an integrated set of choices, from production to marketing to finance, acting in harmony so that a firm can distinguish itself from its competitors (Ghemawat and Rivkin 3). Without a clear competitive advantage and strategy, a firm will be driven out of the market.
Fasten is an example of an innovative company that tried to break into the ride-share market to compete against Uber and Lyft by starting small and eventually growing to other cities. Fasten’s founder Kirill Evdakov used one of the techniques that Warshay mentions in his second step, Solve, in which he became a geographic follower, which means taking an existing concept that is working in one and replicating that model in another suitable geographic location (91). Fasten brought the ride-share concept of charging drivers a fixed commission that was working in Russia to the U.S. and tried breaking into the highly rivalrous industry dominated by Uber and Lyft (Zhu). While Fasten was able to enter the market on a small scale in one or two cities in the U.S., it failed to enter the market on a larger scale. Warshay could argue that Fasten failed because the company did not satisfy the needs of the riders, who cared about price and wait time. From a business strategy perspective, it was unable to compete in the market because the ride-share industry is a winner-take-all one, and the incumbents Lyft and Uber have the power to drive competitors out. Warshay argues that entrepreneurship is a process that does not require a business background, but that does not mean that these business analyses can be ignored. They are vital to shaping how a company creates value and attains sustainable growth. After all, outside competitive forces can influence whether or not a new venture can compete in the market. I would understand if he decided to exclude this information to apply to a wider audience such as researchers and non-profit organizations, but since he dedicated several chapters of his books to startup-specific advice, I think a business strategy perspective is a crucial piece that is missing in his book.
Despite these criticisms, See, Solve, Scale is a solid book packed with evidence-based techniques and relevant student examples of ventures that not only get the reader to think like an entrepreneur but also give them the tools to start their own venture. This book is a gem for people wanting to build a startup that will impact millions of people. If your goal is to start an entrepreneurial venture that differs from Warshay’s big-impact vision, the first ⅔ of the book, the sections on finding an unmet need and a solution for it, are worth a read. After that, it is recommended to look into further research tailored to the field you want to pursue. Warshay cannot cover everything to know about entrepreneurship in one book. But it is an overall well-written book that can help anyone find an unsolved problem and solve it to make an impact on people’s lives.
The purpose of this book extends beyond teaching ambitious entrepreneurs how to create a sustainable venture that solves problems. Even if you had no intention of starting your own entrepreneurial venture, you can take away lessons such as thinking big, problem-solving, and finding ways to turn wild ideas into reality. He advocates for finding purpose in your work and pursuing a career that gives you that purpose. See, Solve, Scale encourages people to look beyond what is to what could be, and this shift in mindset is valuable for anyone, no matter their path in life.
Works Cited
Annikov, Ivan. “How to Conduct Effective UX Research: A Guide: Toptal®.” Toptal Design Blog, Toptal, 21 Feb. 2018, https://www.toptal.com/designers/user-research/budget-ux-user-research.
Ghemawat, Pankaj, and Jan Rivkin. “Creating Competitive Advantage.” Harvard Business School Publishing, 2006. Harvard Business School.
Murtell, Jennifer. “The 5 Phases of Design Thinking.” American Marketing Association, 14 July 2021, https://www.ama.org/marketing-news/the-5-phases-of-design-thinking/#:~:text=The%20Five%20Phases%20of%20Design%20Thinking&text=The%20short%20form%20of%20the,to%20a%20practical%20design%20process.
Warshay, Danny. How Anyone Can Turn an Unsolved Problem into a Breakthrough Success. St. Martin’s Press, 2022.
Zhu, Feng, and Angela Acocella. “Fasten: Challenging Uber and Lyft with a New Business Model.” Harvard Business School Publishing, 2020. Harvard Business School. Case Study.
