The three keys to a successful product are: knowing the value your product has to add, understanding how to showcase that value to potential customers, and being able to identify and overcome the obstacles of your potential customers.
Nacho Parietti, today’s entrepreneur on Entrepreneur Stories, had a somewhat unconventional start to his life as a CEO. However, the advice he has can be universally applied by CEOs from every part of the world and each corner of the entrepreneurial spectrum, and his story serves as a testament to the abundance of untapped niches awaiting aspiring entrepreneurs worldwide.
What are three things every Entrepreneur should know?
The three things that Nacho believes are important for entrepreneurs to keep in mind are:
- Understand Your Company’s Value-Add
The first point Nacho mentioned seems to be an obvious one at first glance, however, it’s easier than you may believe to lose sight of the true value of your company. Consistently be aware of, assess, and understand the value that your product or service is creating and the specific need it is addressing in the market. This means identifying the problem your product solves and how it provides a valuable solution to potential customers.
- Showcase the Value through Behavior
Once you understand your product or service’s value, the next step is to figure out how to showcase said value to your target audience. This involves defining the behavior or actions that users need to take in order to experience the full benefits of your product or service as well as being able to drive that behavior in potential customers.
- Identify and Overcome Barriers:
Nacho emphasized that entrepreneurs need to be aware of the obstacles that their customers might encounter when trying to use or benefit from their product. These obstacles can come in different forms, such as not having enough money to afford your product, not having enough time to fully utilize it, or not having enough knowledge to understand how it works.
It’s essential to identify these obstacles and come up with strategies to overcome them, making it easier for your product to effectively reach its intended users and deliver the promised value.
What problem does your business solve and who are its customers?
Nacho is a designer at heart and his business, Ingenious Behavior, makes use of behavioral design to solve the problem of helping non-technical founders and researchers turn their ideas and research into successful products.
Nacho understands that simply adding features to software or hardware is not enough to create a successful product. Instead, he focuses on driving user behavior and engagement to ensure the product’s adoption and success. His customers are primarily non-technical founders and researchers who have valuable ideas or research findings but lack the expertise to transform them into market-ready products.
By bridging the gap between technical expertise and product design, Nacho’s business enables valuable research to reach a wider audience and helps non-technical founders realize their product ideas successfully.
This approach creates products that are more likely to be engaging, adopted by users, and provide effective solutions to real-world problems from the very beginning.
What inspired you to become an Entrepreneur?
Nacho’s journey into entrepreneurship was somewhat unplanned and driven by his passion for and involvement with a particular video game, whose development he contributed to. This experience sparked an interest in game programming, however, he ventured into the casino industry because of the lucrative opportunities in that sector.
Around 12 years ago, Nacho’s career took a significant turn when he was invited to become the Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of a video game studio called Ballpit Monster. The studio was a spin-off of a software development company that had ties to the gambling industry, an area where Nacho already had considerable knowledge and experience.
Despite the video game company not achieving the desired success, Nacho continued to grow and adapt professionally. He moved on to the main software development company, where he became head designer. He later became a partner but stepped back from direct management, remaining involved as a board member and advisor to executives.
More recently, the company transformed the design department into a separate entity focused on delivering value through design. This led to the creation of a spin-off company, and now Nacho finds himself leading this new venture as the CEO.
Despite his initial path being shaped by his love for video games, Nacho’s journey has led him to entrepreneurship, where he now heads a design company within the larger software organization, striving to create value through his skills and expertise.
Would you do it all again?
Yes, Nacho clarified that he absolutely would do it all again.
Despite having opportunities to secure a stable job, he finds fulfillment in working on multiple projects simultaneously and engaging with interesting people and their unique problems.
Nacho enjoys the freedom of being his own boss, collaborating with top experts in their fields, and serving clients with intriguing ideas, irrespective of their success. Being an entrepreneur allows him to pursue his passion and embrace exciting challenges.
If someone had given you a million dollars when you first started your business, what would you have spent it on?
If Nacho had received a million-dollar investment when his company first started, he would have primarily focused on marketing and establishing a sales funnel. He believes that the biggest challenge for his company, or any startup, lies with the entrepreneur and their ability to take ownership of the idea and drive it forward.
While there may be accountants for numbers and CTOs for technology, the role of a product guy, someone responsible for shaping the business and its service, is often overlooked until later stages.
With the million-dollar investment, Nacho would have allocated a significant portion to marketing efforts aimed at creating a sales funnel to attract customers and generate revenue. However, he admits that figuring out the best way to approach marketing would require careful consideration and input from other entrepreneurs or experts who specialize in this area.
Nacho acknowledged that this may not be the most strategic allocation of funds, but he is passionate about using his resources to help entrepreneurs, particularly a specific type of entrepreneur that he believes lacks adequate support in the market.
Ultimately, Nacho’s decision would be guided by his desire to change the world and support other entrepreneurs in their journey, even if it means taking a slightly unconventional approach to allocating the investment.
What is your proudest accomplishment as an Entrepreneur?
Nacho’s proudest accomplishment as an entrepreneur is successfully establishing his company’s independence and implementing new ways of doing things. Within just six months, he has managed to break away from old patterns and develop protocols and methods that are well-documented, making it easier to scale the business and accommodate more people.
Starting a business comes with various challenges, but Nacho has navigated through them effectively. He has learned how to manage the pressure of not solely relying on personal funds and instead using an investment to grow the company.
This shift has required him to step into a more mature and responsible role as a business owner.
What big goals are you looking to achieve?
Nacho’s main goal involves a plan to create a course that outlines his methodology, tailored for organizations like the Inter-American Development Bank and Colorado University. This course will help key individuals within these institutions understand how to collaborate with their consultancy effectively.
Moreover, Nacho intends to offer the course in both Spanish and English to reach a broader audience and facilitate global engagement with his business.
By accomplishing these goals, Nacho aims to establish his business as a self-sufficient entity and expand his reach to offer valuable insights and services to a wider audience in different parts of the world.
Something that Nacho’s Entrepreneur Story highlights is that there truly are a million small niches in the world just waiting to be discovered and jumped on by aspiring entrepreneurs.
Additionally, it shows that you never know what direction your life is going to take you in next. From games to casinos back to games to entrepreneurship through behavioral design: Nacho’s journey has certainly taken some turns.
We’d love to hear about the twists and turns of your entrepreneurial journey as well as the things you’ve learned along the way. Get in touch with us today to share it!
