So, I have this idea. Wanna do a startup?
Every so often a friend, or a friend of a friend, will call me and ask if I can sit down with them and listen to an idea they've had. They have an itch for doing a startup around it, and want some sage (as if) advice from someone who's done it before. I always insist we go get coffee, because I drink coffee, and the only thing better than coffee is free coffee. Hey, I'm a cheap date.
A typical discussion usually starts with them explaining exactly why they had the idea (problem statement) and how they arrived at a solution for it (the opportunity). Occasionally, people will identify existing solutions (competitors), and how their product is unique and people will want it (market demand), but usually they don't. Nine times out of ten they have no idea about the market at all, and end up focusing on why the idea is so great, and why everyone else in the entire world will just "get it" and buy it for the same reason they would. They get stuck.
Startup Step One: Be prepared to have more than one idea.
Actually, ideas are a dime a dozen. Ideas occur to everyone around you, all the time. I had an idea for an online classifieds site way back in 1994, right around the time Connor was born. I was sitting in a restaurant talking to my mom (ask her if you don't believe me), and she was complaining about having to pay the newspaper for listing her garage sale. I mentioned that the Internet was going to be huge, and it would be the perfect place for posting classifieds in the coming years. As it turns out, Craig Newmark had the exact same idea, at about the exact same time. The difference was he executed on it, and I didn't.
This is exactly the reason why people shouldn't start a startup with just a single idea they've had. What really matters is their knowledge of a market space, and their ability to execute on morphing a regular idea into a fantastic one. In fact, if you get a meeting today with any of the VC firms who litter Sand Hill Road in sleepy Menlo Park, California, this is exactly the question they ask. "Can the core team build and market this product?" If answer is no, it's the wrong idea. No funding for you.
Startup Step Two: Abuse your ideas.
If you really want to do a startup, you have to be willing to make your idea cry. You have to be able to kick it, poke it, abuse it, and rough it up a little. If it can't stand up to the abuse, it will become apparent to everyone involved it's a BAD idea. People usually call this "market research". The second it smells like a bad idea, you need to find a shiny new one to abuse. Toss the old one into a blog post. Maybe someone else will take over. I have a few bruised ideas if you want them.
By abusing the idea, you become better at understanding the market of the idea itself. If you find yourself unable to abuse the idea, you probably don't have a good knowledge of its market. You end up going easy on the idea, and instead try to figure out ways to make it sound better - just like lipstick on a pig. Essentially, you become an idea softy.
I met with on such softy in 2005 - the watch guy. The watch guy was a marketing executive who had an idea for a $800-1000 "brand-able" watch with an OLED screen in it, which would target the watch connoisseur. The watch charged through an inductive podium, which in turn had wifi in it, allowing it to download content at night to display the next day. The idea was for the watch to reconfigure itself periodically - the ultimate horologists platform. Being a bit of a hacker myself, I cooed in glee over the thought of a micro-controlled watch face which had part-time Internet access. The watch guy, unperturbed with my geeky advances, continued blathering on about how high a price he would command from major brands for displaying their marks on the watch, and how connoisseurs would flock in droves to him.
Once I calmed down and started thinking about it, the technology was going to be a real hurdle with this boat anchor of a watch. OLED screens back then were expensive as hell, wifi power consumption sucked, and batteries, well, batteries always suck. Then there was the induction charger, that would take some serious tech to make it work. I figured all this out in the first 5 minutes, and said as much, but watch guy didn't hear me. He had no interest in manufacturing processes, sourcing parts, power consumption, writing software, or wireless limits. All he knew was marketing and branding, and how great the watch would be, and how much people would love it.
I'm pretty sure the watch guy never did do the watch. Today, there are several similar products, including an e-paper watch for about $250, and an OLED video watch for around $30.
Startup Step Three: Know your market.
If you know a market, you're more likely to see problems within it. If you see problems within a market, you're more likely to have an idea - a solution - for that problem. Then, once you have a good grasp of the idea, beat the ever loving hell out of it. By doing some serious market research, you make yourself into a market expert.
It's only then, when your idea is sitting there blinking back at you, completely whole, do you know it's a good one and you, yourself, are capable of starting out with it.