Startup Bootcamp, Part 1: You have a f&@!$%# great idea. Now what?

Most business books would have you believe that innovation is born from a spark, from some “big idea” that hits you over the head and becomes the next billion-dollar business. 

That’s BS. In our experience, innovation is born from a combination of imagination and observation; it requires a shift in mindset from consumer who purchases the next big thing to producer who recognizes the hidden opportunity in a problem and imagines a new or better way to solve it.

What we do with these observations is what separates the people with their big ideas from the people who actually launch a viable product or service. It’s the execution.

Why don’t more people launch a product or service? Because it’s hard and expensive, right? Making an idea real by definition requires jumping through a series of unknown hoops and navigating a maze of information dispersed across websites, buried in books and discussed in podcasts, all without a clear direction or framework. Where do you start? What if you fail?

Let us get to the point. Innovation isn’t magic; it’s hard work. What we’ve learned is that your original idea probably sucks, but that’s OK. In fact, that’s the point. That’s why we’re launching a blog series that walks you through how to determine whether you have a viable business idea or a dud, without mortgaging your house to do it.

Whether you’re working at a small startup, you’re a solopreneur or you’re trying to innovate within a large organization, we’ll walk you through the initial phases of the development process.

We’ll help answer the questions you’ll have along the way, like the starts and sputters you’ll encounter, whether the market wants your product and when to pivot or persevere.

In our next post, we’ll explain what a minimum viable product is, how it can help, and how to go from 0 to 100. Buckle up.