c_sepulv

I agree that the heuristic is far from complete. I've been tempted to add to it many times, but for me, it starts to diminish its usefulness.

I'll use "my test" to indicate areas that might have less consideration. For example, solution design tends to get the most attention from founders. You have an idea and start to run with vision and possibilities.

But, as you noted, the attention given to economics may be lacking. This can help remind you to try to balance your planning.

I think it is really hard to plan on get acquired. Even if it seems logical that Google might want to acquire the company, funding it would be hard. The startup would have little leverage in negotiations, if they were lucky enough to have them. Investors would have a hard time imagining a good return, if there was a successful outcome, i.e. the acquisition.

My example doesn't add much more value than conveniences. That's good, but it probably isn't a sustainable business.

If I were really considering my example as a viable startup idea, my comments about Google (in the post) would push me to dig deeper and look for more value than the just the cross product search feature.

It isn't about an exit strategy; it is hard to get funded if you have little defensibility.