I agree. Indeed, the best entrepreneurial opportunities are those that everyone observes but few truly notice. My innovator instinct draws me to problems that, initially at least, no one else sees.

Why is it important to work on a problem that nobody tries to solve?

For an entrepreneur, the simple answer is to frame this question in business terms: what valuable company is nobody building? And how can you unlock new value that no one else has?

My first business led to an eight year startup sprint which resulted in two companies founded and sold for more than £150 million. We made one valuable business that no-one else had, and quickly set about another one, after exiting the first. 

It started when my business partner and I flew to the Canton fair in China, a trade expo, to scout for ideas, around 11 years ago, and it was soon after we landed that we learned the lessons of how to find a problem worth solving. 

Sleepwalking into a life changing idea

Impossibly vast, the Canton fair showcased every product producible in China to those seeking manufacturing. Jarringly, JCBs jostled for attention next to a wall of sex toys. In my near-sleepwalking, jetlagged haze, this made for a disorientating and uninspiring trip. 

Frustrated, I reached for a cigarette, one of impossible-to-shift, my 20-a-day, 15-year habit. Then the spark hit me: not from my lighter, but one of the smallest stands in the entire exhibition, staffed by a lone person occupying a solitary table and chair. A dreary single banner above, however, said what became impossibly magical words “Electronic Cigarette.” This thing simply didn’t exist in the UK at all. I grabbed my business partner David, pulled him urgently to the stand and proclaimed: “This is the answer!”

Hopes for the electronic cigarette could have died that day. Instead, we helped the idea catch fire and subsequently transform the lives of smokers and the smoking-related diseases they could otherwise have had, and the subsequent pressures on global healthcare systems. 

We also built the first company, CN Creative, into a major life sciences venture, and within four years sold it for £40 million. In the process, we delivered a 20x return to investors, which would make raising money for a new startup much easier.

Our entrepreneurial instinct for its potential, the problem worth solving, despite no one else using that particular solution, was key. So how do you find such problems and solutions? 

1. Avoid the madness of crowds, think for yourself 

When it came to cigarettes, and cigarette-related illnesses, group think led to a dumb solution: ‘low tar’ ciggies. Science quickly showed that low tar versions were more dangerous than their higher tar equivalents. Similarly, nicotine patches, an ineffective solution, were deemed a success even if smokers only made it 13 weeks before resuming a 30-a-day habit. That’s mad! 

So I realised that I needed to avoid the madness of groupthink and figure out an alternative pathway that would help relieve smokers of their cravings for good. I’d give the same advice to any entrepreneur seeking an innovative business idea. Question everything, including crowd wisdom, and think for yourself. 

2. Find something rooted in the present

As an innovation of its time, Gutenberg’s printing press wasn’t just disruptive, it was revolutionary. Yet every component of that historical invention was available at the time. The ‘present’ problem he solved was getting books into the hands of the illiterate masses. Once he created the press using those components, Gutenberg additionally perfected other parts, inventing a new type of oil based ink, which was more effective than the water-based ones of the time. 

More recently, Elon Musk is a great example of an innovative entrepreneur who has achieved undeniable successes from solving problems rooted in the present, using available technologies to incredibly innovative effect. 

After identifying the damaging effects - and the dwindling supply - of fossil fuels, he presented the world with electric cars as an alternative. His company Tesla sped into the fast lane and, despite having a far smaller range of models, quickly overtook the competition to become the world’s biggest car maker by market capitalisation. 

So to find your valuable company that no-one is building, look to the present. 

3. Make it bold

Entrepreneurial thinking can solve global-scale problems. So why not aim for solving challenges that are bold enough to impact us all? 

Rather than creating yet another short-video social media platform, think about whether there’s a grand challenge or a billion-person problem that you’re passionate about. In the words of Peter Diamandis, founder of innovation award the X-Prize, “the best way to become a billionaire is to help a billion people.” It’s a good idea to start small - like Facebook’s initial target audience being Harvard students - but always think big. 

4. Sales are as important as product

These days, a concept isn’t enough and neither is great engineering if it’s not coupled with brilliant design, sales and marketing ideas. 

Eight of the world’s 10 most valuable companies, including Apple, are innovators with engineering - be it software, hardware or mechanical - at their heart. As an engineer myself, I know how many believe that good engineering means products sell themselves. The truth is that they don’t, and leaders like Tim Cook (and Steve Jobs before him) know how critical sales and marketing are to driving adoption of a world-changing product. 

The itch to innovate doesn’t go away

I’m still obsessed with solving things no one else is trying to solve. For me, I only engage with opportunities that are disruptive and can make a positive, global impact. As a co-founder, I’m currently working closely with Prevayl, a ‘medical grade’ wearable tech clothing company for regular gym goers in a bid to drive preventative healthcare at a global scale. And I’m working closely with Sano to disrupt the building industry and find brilliant new ways to solve the debilitating, and sometimes deadly, household mould issue with a completely new way of thinking about housing. 

The cynics say that we have all the answers we need and nothing original can be made, but that’s simply wrong. In fact, the opposite is true. Important and world-improving innovation is just a question away, now and all around you. So observe, notice, question, and create the next problem worth solving.