How did you tackle problem (2) here? trade shows or something? How do you go from 0 (no connections to industry X, or people who face problem Y) to being able to do 2 without some inside connection?
re no connections to industry x - if you don’t have connections it means you probably don’t have the insight necessary to solve a problem for people in that industry. I’d probably look closer to home. If you really want to, reach out to people on LinkedIn and offer to pay the first couple for an hour of their time. Then reach out to more people and share insights from the first few. In short, add value. Soon you’ll be an expert.