Another way to gain insights into an industry is by talking to the experts. Experts can specialize in many different areas of knowledge and may have different levels of expertise. As a general warning, it's essential to do due diligence on your experts, mentors, advisors, consultants, and coaches, especially if they are asking for money or equity in exchange for knowledge sharing.
Customer Expert
A customer expert is someone who interacts with your customers as their job. They could sell to-, buy from-, or partner with them. We like them because these experts have had deep experience working with your customers in an adjacent manner and will, therefore, likely provide some valuable insights and patterns. They may also be working in an adjacent field and notice problems their customers experience that they cannot solve - even better! It's more valuable to talk to experts who serve a similar audience compared to someone who releases a solution similar to the one you have in mind but for a different audience. If they are directly solving your problem in their job right now, they might be a competitor and be wary of speaking to you, so be sure to put them at ease.
Examples include:
Founders
By founders, we mean individuals who have previously started companies in this space and failed or pivoted. We like them because they are deep experts and are passionate about meeting someone who shares their passion for solving this problem. They tend to have learnings that they cannot use anymore and would be happy to pass along to someone excited about the problem. Plus, don't you want to know why they failed or pivoted so you don't make the same mistake again? Cold emails or LinkedIn messages from founder to founder can be surprisingly effective if you've done your homework! Of course, it's always better if you can get a warm intro from a mutual connection.
Former Employees
We also recommend talking to former employees of a company in this space and, ideally, someone with several years of experience in the industry. While an employee may not have the same type of learning as a founder, they are much more accessible. You can even do some competitor research, as these companies can still be operating in this space. Get an inside perspective to add to your customer interview and competitor analysis. If you're looking for former employees of larger companies with multiple products, it's important to talk with someone in the right department.
Investor
Talk to an investor who has deep experience in this industry, deploying capital in either successes or failures in the space. It's investors' job to meet founders, so it's usually not too hard to get a meeting with them or someone on their team. They tend to have a pretty broad perspective working with multiple companies and are aware of those significant market trends you might want to leverage. Do be careful, though, if they have a portfolio company that's playing directly in your space.