I attended an entrepreneurship summit recently, where I was asked to
help select and distribute an interesting award. Attendees were asked to
write down something inspiring they learned at the summit and the best
entry would win.
The majority of attendees entered the same mantra from an earlier
speaker: Start before you’re ready. However, only one attendee went the
extra mile and described what that principle meant to him. He applied
the knowledge and was named the winner.
I was impressed by that because, of all the so-called entrepreneurs in the room, he was the real deal.
Thinking about this, I decided to look at my own entrepreneurship
efforts (some successful and some not) to see how the “Start before
you’re ready” mantra could apply to me. Here’s what I learned:
Don’t wait for perfection before launching your idea.
In an effort not to fail, many entrepreneurs spend precious time and
money perfecting a product or service before launching it to the market.
I am no different. When developing an idea I had for a new social
network, I was focused on creating the best user experience possible
before launching it, when I should have launched the idea and let users
guide my product development. Looking back, I wish I would have spent
half the time and money on my MVP (minimum viable product) because my
early adopters would likely work through challenges with me.
Focus on a few user scenarios first. Entrepreneurs
want everyone to love their idea, and this can cause paralysis. Instead
of trying to build a product for everyone, it’s better to focus on a few
use cases, learn from these users to refine your idea, and then roll
the idea out to more users. My reluctance to walk away from my big
vision delayed the launch of my social network into the market and also
watered down the user experience.
Pick the right investors and meet with them quickly.
Even if you’re not yet looking for funding, it’s important to begin
conversations early with the right investors. When launching my idea, I
made the mistake of reaching out to the investors I know, not
necessarily the right investors. Instead of talking to investors who
understand B2C companies, I went to my tried-and-true network of B2B
investors, spending time with people who would never invest in my idea.
Instead, I should have used my investor contacts to network to find the
right investors for my idea.
Claim your seat at the table. When talking with
investors and other advisors, it’s easy to get pulled off task by
following advice that’s not right for your idea. When meeting with
advisors, ask yourself what you want to get out of the meeting and stay
true to your idea. I ended up following advice that caused me to abandon
some major features I had planned for my idea. These features would
have driven value to a user, but I was pulled in another direction.
Finally, entrepreneurial success is often about people and execution,
but it also is about timing. When looking at today’s great
entrepreneurial companies, it’s clear that they had the right idea
hitting the right market at the right time. It’s almost impossible to
replicate this as a template or best practice. This is why it is so
critical to solicit market feedback early and often to further assess
the timing and market readiness.
Source: http://businesstips.com/lessons-entrepreneur-start-ready
