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Think this guy is pulling out early
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I just realized I’m the dead participant.
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Reminds me of the final year project my team and I worked on. Built a remote controlled“micro-unmanned aerial vehicle” and detailed some use cases/applications for it. Way way way before drones became consumer products. I genuinely thought we had something promising in our hands and wanted to push for a patent but neither my mentor nor my team wanted to put in the leg work for it. I started doing this myself but then landed a job and priorities shifted. Only to find out these damn things were going to become super popular years later.
So it’s not only you. But it’s also not only you that’s coming up with these great ideas. People have great ideas all the time. Executing on them is a whole another ball game. So is scaling it. So what you’re not doing is taking on the risk involved with execution. Maybe try this with one of your ideas. Take it as far as you can before your risk controls kick in.
Great response D1! We watch shark tank all the time and have new ideas from time to time, but we both have full time jobs that we passionately pursue & not enough motivation to push the ideas further to implementation. But, we also mock ourselves while watching shark tank for doing nothing about those ideas. You really articulated that so well!
It shows that action is more important than knowledge. What prevented you from taking action on that idea? For most people it’s fear.
I came up with the basic idea of Pinterest about 5 years before it was created and everyone laughed at me when I shared it with them. I let myself get discouraged by people who couldn't see the vision and I let go of the idea.
Maybe start patenting those ideas so you can still profit from them? It also takes work but you don't have to actually fully develop it.
“Vision without action is merely a dream.
Action without vision is merely passing time.
But vision with action can change the world.”
Was about to launch (website done, entities formed, initial team ready) something just like classpass maybe 7 years ago when news broke they got a massive PE investment so we gave up. Classpass was bought by mindbody last year for $500MM. [[shakes fist]]
Competition is great! Launch anyway, consumers love having choices. And many times, competing products complement each other. How many of us have both Netflix and Hulu? Find your differentiation and go for it!
Hi fellow PM! Let’s join forces
Risk, connections, ability. If anything, take comfort in knowing that you have a sharp eye for good ideas. Then keep focusing on developing the network to execute on one of those ideas in the future.
You need to take action. It’s risky, and it will all be on the line. You have to be OK with that.
Because thinking and doing are not the same thing.
I used to facilitate workshops with clients and I would joke with coworkers that half the things clients reject are probably million dollar business ideas.
I invented, in my head, the AV inputs in cars in 1989. I was 17, so I don't beat myself up too much.
In 2003 I had an iPod, PDA, and cell phone and wondered why they couldn't all be one. The iPhone came out 4 years later.
My parents played a board game, they invented, for 15 years. In 1984, Balderdash was released. It was exactly the same.
My grandpa and a friend designed one of the first tubeless AM/FM radio far cars. They lost the Chrysler contact when the radio failed the crash test... they dropped it on the floor and a light bulb broke. Some Mexican company swooped in.
Yes, I love how relatable this post is.. happens a lot when I watch shark tank lol
As they say - ideas are cheap, execution is everything :)
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Yep. About ten years ago I had an idea for automating some of the routine BS we were doing at my agency. I spent nights learning how to build the tools, built them, tested them, got them working great. But I had no connections, no customers, and no way to turn them into a viable business. Ten years later and I find companies doing exactly what I did but five years after I started, making millions of dollars. Super frustrating. The lesson though is that sometimes even ideas and execution aren’t enough if you aren’t in the right place at the right time.
This is the most important thing people don’t talk about: start with bill gates. He wasn’t some poor kid with no education. His mother knew Warren buffet. He got access to computer systems for free. Bill was already super connected.
It requires a lot more than brains to make things turn into commercial success.
What are some of the companies you thought of?
Cause you don’t want to be Elizabeth Holmes
Risk aversion is why.
Chief
Risk aversion and lack of capital.
I once had an idea of connecting lost batteries to devices that powered down. A shared economy of batteries- where they would roll around town until they found an owner in need ❤️
Ahhhh! I feel you here. I had an idea similar to Mondays.com, and never went forward with it. Years later they come out and I’m still stuck in consulting.
Ideas are useless, execution is everything
You literally read my mind with this. I’ve experienced the same, a few different times now.
Yes. I wrote a biz plan for a ride share app so people could share rides from airport to destination. Back then everyone said that no one would want to get into a car with a stranger Then Uber showed up a few years later.
I also launched a business to distribute music programming electronically to radio stations instead of CDs. That was when music digital rights and streaming were just getting figured out. Too soon.
I launched a biz to manage “smart home” controllers including auto thermostats and programmable lights. Didn’t get funded because investors were worried that my day job was too similar (smart electric meters) and they would claim my invention
I notice many people come up with great similar ideas at the same time. Reason is when technology catches up to needs- the inspiration becomes clear. The ones who execute it best will win.
30 years ago my mom told me that her and my dad were driving somewhere and the radio was fuzzy and my dad asked my mom: “wouldn’t it be a good idea to connect the radio to a satellite in space?”
Chief
I got a lot of good ideas. Trouble is, most of ‘em suck.