So, You Have An Idea?

An idea in itself is worth NOTHING. Ideas are dime a dozen these days, lots of people have lots of ideas, and everything you ever possibly thought of, someone has for sure thought about it. ACT on your idea, let it take a life of its own a.k.a let it out and see what is possible. Here’s what you should and shouldn't be doing.

UNDERSTAND THE CUSTOMER.

Trying to really really understand the customer is imperative. If you can get a customer to really explain to you what the problem is, what he thinks should be done about it, that is GOLD. We all think we know how to do market research (at least I did), by fielding surveys and questionnaires, but go talk to REAL CUSTOMERS and they will almost always have some interesting insights. Cliched, but rarely ever taken care of before building something.

KEEP YOUR TEAM SMALL. 

When you’re trying to getting things done quickly, it’s important to have a two (three at the most) person team. You might think more the merrier, but that logic is rather flawed in a start-up setting when decisions need to be made quickly. A larger team is a nightmare when you’re trying to align everyone’s opinion on something as simple as font size and color. 

BUILD IT QUICKLY & ITERATE.

You can build a working prototype over the weekend. What a lot of people struggle with is this notion that they are busy in their “real” jobs and that they need to quit to start something substantial. Complete BS! So stop giving yourself (and the rest of the world) excuses and commit to doing something. I’m not saying it’s easy, but a little commitment goes a long way you know. 

BE A PIRATE.

Do whatever it takes to make it, because the only time anyone cares is when you make it, otherwise no one gives a damn. Use your hustle and street-smarts to get ahead, because really that’s all you have going for you at this point.  

MOVE ON TO YOUR NEXT IDEA… 

Do NOT persevere if what you’re solving/building doesn’t solve a true customer need. People love telling stories about how they ate frozen food, slept on couches, roughed it out when it was tough, and went on to strike GOLD. These make for amazing media stories that people love to read, but the real trick is to know when to walk away and work on something else.