Spend time with the customers, immersing yourselves, watching. Spend time at their homes. Hear what they say, but most importantly, watch their behaviors as the indication of where the pain is. And then go solve that pain.
Our first product was Quicken, which is personal financial management on a PC. It had a tough start, and we ran some tracking surveys to understand who was using it. Half the users claimed to use it in some sort of office environment. We ignored that. I thought it was meaningless.
Subsequent to the original Quicken, the whole idea that we, as a consumer products company, could actually make business products, that was a whole revolution in our thinking.
Well, today people have to be self-reliant if they want a secure retirement income.
People don't place their trust in government or company pension plans; they have to be self-reliant.
Before 1980, it was basically illegal for U.S. banks to invent new products.
