Launching a business often involves a risk, commonly referred to as the “leap of faith”. However, this concept, which involves believing in something without rational proof, is not the most effective approach to starting a company. Instead of launching into the unknown without any assurance, it’s more advisable to take a confident step forward, backed by facts and evidence.
This approach was used when Jotform, a company that offers no-code form creation, was established. The founder, who was a programmer at a media company, recognized the need for forms in the company’s operations and the inconvenience of constantly having to build them. This understanding of the market need, coupled with the personal experience of the problem, laid the groundwork for the creation of Jotform. This aligns with the idea expressed by Y Combinator co-founder Paul Graham, stating that startups should have at least some users who urgently need what they’re making at launch.
The story of Jotform also serves as an example of the concept of “scratching your own itch”. In this scenario, even if the product didn’t gain popularity, the founder would still have solved a personal problem and continued to earn from his day job.
Additionally, before launching a company, it’s