Recently, I had the opportunity to mentor two impressive groups of founders as part of the REVCA (Rotman Entrepreneurship and VC Association)’s ideation competition: Problem Hunt with Koru. I was impressed by the insights and strategies employed by both teams in their respective fields of food safety and pet health. Here are some of my takeaways.

One key insight is the importance of finding the right problem to solve. When you do, everything else tends to fall into place. This convergence creates a unified story among the different players in the market, from the regulator to the end user to the payer. For example, the Catalyst team heard the same message repeatedly – the need for better control and reliability in food safety measures, particularly as outbreaks become more frequent and culture-based controls prove unreliable.

Team Cuida emphasized the importance of making their products easy to use for customers. By identifying a niche beachhead market of diabetic dogs that needs their pet health solution, they’re able to really drill down to the customer use case and behavior. They are then able to focus on how to incorporate their product into existing behavior patterns of weekly meal planning or incident-based recording.

Finally, both companies emphasized the need to understand the competitive landscape and incorporate existing players in the industry. The Cuida team worked to incorporate vets to increase the app’s reach and impact by facilitating customer care adherence and streamlining vet discovery. The Catalyst team clearly demonstrated a #pricing comparison to address the current high pricing in food safety solutions – the main reason why restaurant owners are not taking more preventative action.

Overall, the lessons learned from these companies can be applied to any industry. By identifying the right problem, making products easy to use, and understanding the competitive landscape, entrepreneurs can create solutions that truly matter.