About

I Got 99 Problems is a podcast that investigates billion dollar problems. Our mission is to help you discover an interesting problem that you would be personally excited to work on.

As a feature, we believe that all problems discussed on our show can be solved by a small team of talented individuals, with little starting capital, and reach a minimal-viable-product within a few months. In other words: great startup potential.

Every episode will focus on 4 things:

• The importance and scale of the problem
• The context surrounding the problem
• The history of the problem
• Past failures in trying to solve the problem

Important Note: We focus on the problem, but it is up to you to find a working solution.

Problem Analysis

We use the University of Waterloo Problem Lab methodology to analyze each problem. Written guides for all problems can be found on Substack or under the "Episodes" tab on this site.

Importance and Scale

The value of a problem comes from its importance and scale.

Importance is a relative measure that considers the seriousness of a problem as compared to other problems experienced by the same person or organization. Important problems cause strong adverse effects that prevent primary goals from being reached.

Signs of a highly important problem:

• Repeatedly and frequently encountered
• Invokes a strong sense of urgency to solve it
• Impacts one or multiple important outcomes
• The problem is long-standing
• The problem is mission critical

Scale refers to the number of people who experience the same problem. Both scale and importance can change over time so looking at future trends is also necessary to determine the value of a problem.

As a question: "Who exactly has the problem and how much does it matter to them?"

Context

To analyze the context of a problem we need to understand its causes and effects. Often the cause of one problem is an underlying deeper problem, and it is generally better to address the root cause. Problems that are systemic in nature cause multiple adverse effects and are likely to be important.

We also need to explore the circumstances and conditions surrounding a problem. Is the problem faciliated by changes in law, technology, or social trends? Deeply understanding a problem is generally a necessary step in solving it.

As a question: "Where does the problem come from and what would it look like if the problem was solved today?"

History

All problems originated at some point. We need to look towards the past to understand how a problem has changed in scale, importance, and context over time. If the problem has only grown since its inception, this is a sign that it will be bigger yet in the future.

Problems that are long-standing suggest a history of failed attempts in trying to solve it.

Past Failures

With the exception of brand new problems, there is a list of past failures that we can learn from. We need to find out who has tried to solve the problem before and why the problem still hasn't been solved.

As a question: "What pitfalls and difficulties should I expect when trying to solve the problem?"