Make Your Mark: The Creative's Guide to Building a Business With Impact (The 99U Book Series)

get there by starting with people. What do people need, what do they care about, what are their passions and dreams, their desires and fears? Then, and only then, can you begin to understand how your product fits into the equation.

best brands, the strongest brands, the ones that everybody loves, stand for a concept that is much greater than the product itself.

The “why test” always ends with fear of death. That’s the only acceptable indication that you’ve reached the end of the “why” chain, because you could argue that “fear of death” is the ultimate motivator for all human behavior. Only then do you have permission to go back and identify which insight is actually most relevant and appropriate for what you’re trying to create.

People weren’t walking (or riding) around, wishing for a car. But maybe the problem was, “My horse is very slow and he tires easily.”

people are not wishing for your idea to exist, because they don’t even know it’s an option. So when you sit down to clarify what problem you’re solving, a great initial test is to imagine someone’s inner monologue. Is the problem you’ve identified something that a real human might actually be thinking?

Without fail, each entrepreneur jumps to the benefits of his or her product instead of the needs of their audience.

you have to clarify: Who is your actual target? What are you actually trying to accomplish in the world? Everything else should flow from that. That’s what I mean by putting things in the right order.

the power of language to mobilize people around ideas over the years. You find that key turn of phrase that helps them hang on to the idea, process it, and make it their own.

Being able to see the world in a fresh way is the essence of being an entrepreneur. You have an idea about the way the world ought to be. You have a theory about why and how you are going to connect the dots

Innovation starts with enthusiasts. The reason why it starts with enthusiasts is that they are focused on the right priority, which is the change they want to make in the world