“Are you building a church or a religion?” A VC asked us this once during the last call towards him investing in our company. In the moment I was super-happy to have my cofounder think on her feet and answer it. The question, though stuck with me. The idea is pretty simple: A church builds on something people already understand and want. You’re making it better, cheaper, faster, etc. A religion is something fundamentally different. You’re asking people to change how they think or behave, or convincing them that something they take for granted shouldn’t work that way. Religion can have a much bigger impact, and therefore also a market potential, but it’s also much harder to get it going. You have to create the belief before you can "convert" the market. I think it’s a useful question for any founder: And I found that answer can actually change. Something you thought was obvious can turn out to be completely non-obvious once you start talking to customers. I found it worth keeping in mind as a concept and internal question when building something new.