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of customer understanding, but you can ask the right ques-
tions to identify your early market “sweet spot,” that market
segment where customer demand for your offerings is likely
to be greatest. Start at the simplest level and work from there.
Who is most impacted by the problem you are solving? Who
is already using your product or something like it? What’s
motivating them to use it? How would you describe those
who seem like the best fit for your offerings and why?

3. What is the nature of the overall market opportunity? This
question gets at the longer-term viability and growth poten-
tial for your new business. You can solve acute problems for
an initial set of buyers but fail to find enough of them to
grow, or even sustain, your business over time. Markets have
characteristics and personalities just as people do. They can
be young or old; large or small; steady or volatile; wide or
narrow. In evaluating your market opportunity, and the
broader forces acting upon it, consider at least three dimen-
sions: size, context, and timing.
With regard to size, ask yourself: How large is your target
market? How fast is it growing (or declining)? Why is it growing (or
declining)? Is it emerging or mature? Is it poised for boom or bust?
When founded, both Modality and The Ivey were enter-
ing growth industries with distinct profiles. Mark Williams’s
decision to develop applications for the iPhone in 2007 put
him on the cusp of an explosive wave of growth in the mobile
learning markets worldwide. Lynn Ivey, when she launched
her center in 2007, was also catering to a population on the
rise, the aging baby boomer generation, although the growth
curve for this “age wave” has followed a slower, steadier
climb. In fact, Lynn Ivey’s vision for an upscale, full-service
adult daycare facility may have been launched well ahead of
its time, perhaps by five to ten years.
Concerning context, ask yourself: What’s happening in your
industry? What larger forces and trends are driving your opportunity
(economic, technological, demographic, social, regulatory, environmen-
tal, etc.)?

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