Is This the Biggest Myth in Entrepreneurship?
Everyone with a business idea believes it, and they’re all wrong
“I’m glad you could make it!” he said. “I’ve got an idea I want to run by you.”
I’d just arrived at a birthday party for one of my daughter’s kindergarten friends. If you’re a parent, you understand the kind of party I was at. It was one of those “invite everyone from your child’s class” parties where the parents stand around and make small talk with each other while our kids consume all the junk food and juice boxes we’d never feed them at home.
Since becoming a father, these little kid birthday parties have taken over my weekends, and the parent who was excited to see me was a father I’d been chatting with during a similar party a couple weeks prior. I felt a bit awkward because he was excited to see me, but I couldn’t remember his name. However, he clearly remembered me. And, judging by his statement, I knew what was coming next. He wanted my feedback on a business idea.
This kind of thing happens a lot. When people find out I teach entrepreneurship, they love telling me their business ideas. And I don’t just mean typical entrepreneurs pitching their venture-style tech companies. I mean my neighbor, my hairdresser, my bartender, and even, one time, my mailman.
