Your Idea Doesn’t Suck
How to turn a “no” into a successful business.
As we congratulate the 100 applicants moving to the next round of the GW New Venture Competition, we also celebrate those who took the courage to apply.
To you we say: the competition isn’t the only place to build and launch your idea.
From Social Driver to TrackMaven, these thriving DC companies got their #StartAtGW as a result of hard work, perseverance, humility — and not by advancing in the competition.
Success is not final, failure is not fatal; it is the courage to continue that counts.
- Winston Churchill, Former British Prime Minister
“I applied to the competition my senior year at GW at the recommendation of my professor. My venture, Junto Magazine was, and still is, a volunteer-based publication that reviews and responds to every creative submission, whether or not it is featured in our quarterly magazine. We did not place in the Top 100 and felt frustrated by the judges feedback. Rejection propelled the idea’s momentum and galvanized it. We’ve since revised our business plan twice and it looks completely different from the original. In retrospect, it’s fair to say the idea wasn’t fully formed when we applied.
“Failure” helped me realize this was exactly what I wanted to do, which is why Junto is still running and receiving submissions from all over the world. We have even launched a Kickstarter campaign to ensure we are able to continue providing such services to aspiring artists and writers.
My advice to anyone who didn’t make it into the Top 100:
Don’t become discouraged; it doesn’t mean it’s a bad idea. If you feel your idea has potential, take this opportunity to re-evaluate where the idea is weak, shore it up, seek out other advice and assistance, and keep going.
Joseph Attanasio is the Founding Publisher of Junto Magazine (NVC ‘15).
“There is no innovation and creativity without failure. Period.” — Brené Brown, Researcher and Author
Starting a company in college offers lots of room to make mistakes and learn from them while surrounded by a great support system. My first venture, Campus Splash, didn’t win in the New Venture Competition, but we got far enough along to win a cash prize. After completing the NVC, I switched all my classes to the evenings or independent studies to work full-time on my business while still in school. Ultimately, we were never able to fully scale and made mistakes, like providing solutions to a problem that was already solved.
I still made mistakes the second time around with my current company, TrackMaven, but they were more nuanced and less likely to hurt the business. Without making those initial mistakes, I would have missed the lessons that helped me get to where I am today.
My advice to anyone who didn’t make it into the Top 100:
Realize that creativity is a pattern of practice, not a gift. As a society, we fixate on the singular moments of success that define people and think they just *happen*. But in fact, those moments are the result of hard work, dedication, and passion. JK Rowling started with the idea of this character, Harry Potter, and then spent five years building outlines and developing plot lines before writing the first book. Mozart practiced relentlessly for 14 years before writing his first concerto.
Consume constantly. Spend three to four hours a day learning about your niche. By filling your brain with more associations, memories, and thoughts, you will be better prepared for moments of sudden brilliance.
Allen Gannet is the CEO of TrackMaven (NVC ‘12). In his upcoming book,The Creative Curve: How to Develop the Right Idea, at the Right Time, Allen interviews dozens of successful, creative people and explains the four patterns all their creative processes share in common, and the sociology behind it.
“I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.” — Thomas Edison, American Inventor
Lead Driver started as a business project with a friend who owns a car dealership. The venture offered software that customized car brochures for dealerships to help generate website leads directly from the lots. We first competed in the Pitch George Elevator Pitch Competition and didn’t even make it past the first round. That was humbling. After meeting with one of the judges, we took his feedback to heart, learned from it, and reworked our approach.
When we applied to the New Venture Competition, Lead Driver won first place. My partner, Thomas Sanchez, was working on the idea for Social Driver at the time and as that began really taking off we ended up pivoting from a software product to services such as websites and web applications, social media, and content.
Most people don’t realize that our story began with failure. You read profile pieces on entrepreneurs and get the impression they did it all themselves, *snap* just like that. But no business is created in a vacuum — there’s always an army of friends, supporters, advisors, and naysayers who push you forward. Because of that journey we’re now a leading digital agency in the DC area.
My advice to anyone who didn’t make it into the Top 100:
Welcome criticism, it will make your idea better and business stronger. Take the feedback you received and meet with a Mentor-in-Residence, join the GW Innovation Exchange to connect with experienced professionals in your field, reach out to one of the judges, or have coffee with a professor you trust and hear what they have to say. There are so many people available to offer guidance both on campus and in the greater DC startup community.
Anthony Shop is the Co-Founder and Chief Strategy Officer of Social Driver.
“Failure is simply the opportunity to begin again, this time more intelligently.” — Henry Ford, Founder, Ford Motor Company
Even though our venture, El Chavo Store, only made it to the semi-finals, we still attended the Competition. Watching the finalists’ presentations from the audience when we felt we should have been on stage with them propelled us to prove that we were worthy of success, too. Which is exactly what we did. Now, three years later, we belong to a larger licensing group, Grupo Chespirito, which enables the commercial use of TV characters.
My advice to anyone who didn’t make it into the Top 100:
Attend the finals in April. Hear the other teams’ ideas and see how you can apply them to your own business.
And apply again if you still have another year at GW. In the meantime, meet with advisors and other members of the community to address weak areas in your idea or business model, and keep working on your venture.
José Pablo Arnau is the licensing and senior strategy manager of Grupo Chespirito.
Remember: everyone loves a good comeback story.
