Every business revolves around a product; even if you offer a service, it is your product. Common sense points to the fact that you need a great product, not just great branding, and marketing, to build a great company. As David Ogilvy said, “Great marketing only makes a bad product fail faster.”

Most business decisions will be tied to creating the product, improving the product, or even launching new products, and you often want to get the product done right. But before looking for how to get the product right, you should contact the right market.

What is the right product? What product does the customer want?

Researchers have suggested that the consumer is mainly indecisive, so carrying out a survey to know what a customer would like to see in the product would likely keep you running in circles. A customer could decide today that his ideal bank takes no charges and then change his mind tomorrow to say that his perfect bank resolves every complaint within seconds.

How do you determine the right product since the customer does not know what he wants? It is by testing customer behaviors. This should take your product development through four stages.

Ideate: This starts when you have an idea for a product. It could be that you are in a related business and observed a need, or you did a market survey to identify a condition people are willing to pay to solve. You also develop the template of a product or service that you think will solve the problem.

Build: Now, you move from the product to building what some might call the Minimum Viable Product (MVP). This product is based on your idea.

Test: Now, you do a mini-launch to test the product and see how the users respond to it. This is where you try all the assumptions upon which you built a product in the first place. You could have created an app to help homemakers draw up a housekeeping list based on the assumption that they consider it a herculean task; in this testing stage, you will see how they respond to your product and if they are willing to pay for premium features.

If you have developed a waiting list in the idea stage, it will come in handy in this stage. At this time, you are not just trying to test if the customer ‘can’ use the product, but if the customer ‘would use the product.

Measure: at this point, you measure the findings of your tests. You may discard all the earlier assumptions and develop a new list of hypotheses. Based on this, you go back to the idea stage and improve on the product.

Great products are a product of years of going over and over this cycle. So Product development never really ends. This is why you must continually update most apps on your phone to get the new features from the producers. Ultimately, your goal is to give the users a memorable experience that they would be willing to pay to call again.

There are rules for building a product, but you want to get through the stages as fast as possible. The problem is that most people remain at the idea stage for years. Some others ideate and build but never measure or test, yet they expect the market to swallow the product’s hook, line, and sinker. Intuition may be helpful at times, but it is never enough.

Another thing to address is who should build the product.

The person(s) building the product will depend on the kind of business you are into. Usually, it would be best if you had a team of two or more people building the product, although others can contribute ideas and opinions on what the product should be like. So, if you are developing Accounting software, you will likely require an accountant on the product development team.

It is also essential that the team understands the product’s value proposition – precisely what problem it is meant to solve and how it intends to address that. How is it going to be different from what the market offers already?

Learn also to keep your product simple. The success of your product is not related to the number of features you choke into it. Any part that does not directly improve users’ reception, use, and experience, needs not to be there. The Google home page is one of the most visited worldwide, but it only offers one feature – search.

Lastly, could you keep the story behind your product simple and compelling? If you have a beautiful product and cannot tell the story, you would be no different from a pretty lady sitting in a dark room. That story is what the user would hear and fall in love with.

This world is being transformed, and there is a high chance that many of us could be disintermediated by technology as AI systems continue to evolve. In other words, many of the things we do that put food on the table will go. To give us an example, I asked ChatGPT AI this question “What are the secrets to wealth in Nigeria?” It returned the answer below:

How do I explain ChatGPT? I simply asked the AI system and it provided this definition: “ChatGPT is a chatbot developed by OpenAI that uses a variant of the GPT (Generative Pre-trained Transformer) language model. It is designed to generate human-like responses to text-based conversation prompts, and can be used in a variety of applications such as customer service, language translation, and natural language processing. ChatGPT is trained on a large dataset of human conversations and can generate responses based on the context of the conversation and the previous messages exchanged. It is an advanced chatbot that utilizes artificial intelligence and machine learning techniques to generate responses that are more sophisticated and realistic compared to traditional chatbots.”

I asked the AI system “What is Tekedia Capital?”It responded as follows: “Tekedia Capital is an investment fund that focuses on investing in technology and innovation-driven startups. The fund provides capital and resources to help these companies scale and grow their businesses. It also works closely with its portfolio companies to provide strategic guidance and support in areas such as product development, marketing, and business development. Tekedia Capital aims to contribute to the growth and success of the startups it invests in, as well as generate strong returns for its investors.”

I then asked it “What is Tekedia Institute?” The response: “Tekedia Institute is an online education platform that offers courses in the fields of technology, entrepreneurship, and innovation. It provides a range of professional development and certification programs for individuals looking to advance their careers and skills in these areas. The institute also hosts events and webinars focused on innovation and technology, and provides resources and support for entrepreneurs and startups”.

Then, “Where is Ovim in Nigeria?” Response: “Ovim is a town in Isuikwuato Local Government Area in Abia State, Nigeria. It is located in the southeastern region of Nigeria.”

People, Google Search has a challenge ahead. In this technology, you do not need to be checking links for answers. Yes, ChatGPT gives you an answer. And the most fascinating aspect, the answers vary on the sentence structure if you repeat the same question. If they continue this playbook, Google may have a real problem to deal with. They just need to provide this summary and offer more links where people can go and learn more.

But ChatGPT was diplomatic when I asked it “How can ChatGPT defeat Google Search?”. Response: “It is unlikely that ChatGPT, which is a natural language processing tool designed for generating human-like responses to text inputs, could defeat Google Search, which is a search engine that utilizes complex algorithms to index and rank websites based on their relevance and quality. Google Search is able to provide users with highly accurate and relevant search results for a wide range of queries, while ChatGPT is primarily focused on generating responses to specific text prompts.”

AI – the singularity is on course.

Comment on Feed

Comment 1: Although it can challenge Google to some extent and when been asked certain question, but there are more queries that ChatGPT does not ever have answers to …especially if they are based on personal experience or natural feeling. But above all I’m really keen on knowing more about takedia institute, when I get the money I wish to surely enroll

My Response: “there are more queries that Chatgpt does not ever have answers to” – Google does not know all either…it only shares links. In ChatGPT 2.0, they can do the same thing and share some links for you to investigate. The problem for ChatGPT though is copyright if it lifts IP-protected lines for soon paying customers. For instance, I can write “The History of Tantuta Kingdom” and post it on my website. While this is fictitious, it is a data source for AI. If you go to ChatGPT and ask questions on Tantuta Kingdom, it can lift lines from that web entry. Where that happens, it violates my copyright and can be sued. That is the risk!

Comment 1B: Ndubuisi Ekekwe, your post is very insightful. Your comment about the potential risks of copyright infringements makes me wonder if ChatGPT also places its users at risk of plagiarized content. As a healthcare practitioner and entrepreneur, I also envision several ways that ChatGPT could help create game-changing tools for patient care, public health campaigns, and tailored services. Even if it does not replace Google Search, it is ripe with many opportunities for the prepared mind to be blown/humbled by collective efforts like the OpenAI project, which made ChatGPT possible. I am all for Augmented Intelligence, the tactful use of deep data to improve the human experience, even drive equitable innovation in healthcare and education.

Thanks for sharing!

Comment 1C: Ndubuisi Ekekwe google also needs to tell its algorithms that “ look oo this is copyright work, don’t lift it, of course by the time creatives like you begins to tell the chat bot to treate your work with some respect it will abide by it. You can write programs to ask Chatbot not to access your content just like you will tell google not to crawl your content.

Google also recently updated their algorithm to checkmate chatbot-created contents and downgrade them SERP, we cannot say for sure who will win but if Open AI (creators of ChatGPT) sees the opportunity for monitization, you can be rest assured that the die is cast with google, competition will start and google search will start a slow decline except they have other plans.
With advancement in technology even Wall Street cannot predict all things with business especially on who survives, the innovative strength of the managers is what will count

My Response: “google also needs to tell its algorithms that  look oo this is copyright work” – Google picks snippets and does not generate a relative tome like ChatGPT does.  For example, Google drops 5 words and leaves the link while ChatGPT could produce  paragraphs. ChatGPT has more burden to do that without infringements.

An AI Answers “What are the secrets to wealth in Nigeria?”

Nigeria’s biggest problem is that most of the citizens have not been fundamentally educated to a level which will make it possible for them to be effectively governed. Indeed, from election to monetary policy, we are faced with issues which to a large extent are systemic. And until we fix those paralyzes, the economic ascension we expect will not come. I am very sorry to write that.

China has 99% primary education enrollment with less than 10% university attainment. They put all the best money in basic education (primary and secondary school levels), making sure that it is really great. For the university, they don’t really care that much. The US follows a similar pattern where basis education is largely free; take a loan if you want to go to college.

For China and the US, with a strong literate base, it is easier for the government to implement most policies. Yes, people can read ballot papers and vote. People can read and follow government enactments.

But when it comes to Nigeria, with a double digit illiterate rate, it is extremely tough for the government to implement most policies, contributing to most policy failures. Consider this: “According to multiple reports, the newly designed naira notes which are gradually going into circulation have been surrounded by tales of widespread rejection. Some reports reveal that several businessmen and women are reluctant to accept the new notes as legal tender, as they have decided to stick with the old notes pending the deadline given by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to phase out the old notes. Some have expressed concerns about the authenticity of the new notes, stating that it will be very difficult to identify fake ones.”

I sympathize with these citizens since most use colors to model the value of currency notes, and when the color-scheme is confusing, problems are expected. Yes, this CBN policy is noble even though  the design  was poorly executed. Nonetheless, the government should stay the course and provide support through education and awareness via churches, markets, mosques, etc. As that happens, Nigeria must invest to deal with its #1 development problem – mass illiteracy in many communities – if the nation hopes to move to the next level.

Comment on Feed

Comment 1: Illiteracy in Nigeria doesn’t have to deal with school attendance but seriously our belief system, I got a message via WhatsApp that I should not accept the new notes because of it might be fake and some will go with the conspiracy theory not because they didn’t go to school but because they tend to believe anything that comes from anywhere, I then heard a government hospital is not accepting the new notes just on the basis of this conspiracy theory.

Prof. here in Nigeria not all who are educated are literate, the minds of Nigerians needs to develop into the evolving world before we can really get rid of illiteracy

Comment 2: I once rented a house that had bad water. When I grumbled to the Landlord. His response were ” i promised water but not clean water”. Did you not see water? Is this Landlord not a Nigerian? The CBN promised new notes, there it is. I think the issue is not education but mistrust of the political class by the citizens. Any of the social contracts with the political class been met? Tell me any of the political parties that has kept to her manifestos? Country that tells her citizens that, there is no money but the citizens see how monies are wasted. Our legislatures are among the highest paid in the World while other civil servants are still fighting for implementation of 30,000 NGN minimum wage . The political class children lives in affluence in midst of poverty of other citizens. Is this not a country that hides palliatives meant for the citizens? How then do you expect the citizens to believe in the new notes?

Comment 3: As someone who had been in the education space, I feel so bad about what our primary and secondary schools have become. I’m sorry but I have to say this, our leaders and government are terribly irresponsible, from the presidency to the local council.

Nothing worthwhile is going on in our primary and post primary public schools yet the government does nothing. Many profit-focused terrible private schools are being opened here and there yet the same government cannot effectively regulate them to see that they are meeting up with the required standards.

Apart from making primary and secondary school compulsory for every child, the government have to invest in these schools and show genuine seriousness in seeing that our children are receiving the right education.

These things are not rocket science.

I used to tell my students “if you feel you aren’t receiving the right education in any school you find yourself SCREAM.

Comment 4: Perhaps it was the fault of the national government for not educating the masses about the new notes before being released into circulation. Months should have been spent showing pictures/images of the new notes before they were released – in Canada when one and two dollar paper notes were replaced with equivalent coins we were told many months in advance. Also when new faces are added to existing notes we are similarly informed months, if not longer, in advance.

Nevertheless, primary education needs to be free for all, relevant in modernity, and compulsory at least to the age of sixteen. Many nations go further and provide post secondary education for free – I wish I got mine for free!

There are so many brilliant people in Nigeria – it should be way more prosperous than it currently is…..but you are trying hard to change the narrative Ndubuisi- all the more power to you Professor.

Newly Designed Naira Notes Faced With Widespread Rejections as Many Seem Unaware