"You have to be a little silly about the goals you set. ... You should try to do the things that most people would not.", Google's co-founder Larry Page told a group of students. I am fascinated by the stories founders tell of their trials and tribulations in going from their grand idea to implementation. There is so much to learn from these tales.
I recently interviewed the founder of a student portal in South Africa. He said, "At first we wanted to get a deal with the Universities for the student email accounts. But dealing with Universities is impossible, there is just so much bureaucracy. In the end we went and built the community person by person using any trick we could to entice members to the portal. This total change in strategy has really paid off because we are now free to do what we want."
So here is a digest of some of the lessons from the founders that I have researched.
1. Believe in the impossible
So many new businesses have flown in the face of conventional wisdom. "It doesn't work like this.", is a perfect response. The stronger you get it, the stronger your potential. Think about how the record labels have fought and fought and fought on-line music. Ten years or more later and so many missed opportunities they are coming to realise that their way of operating has changed forever. Think of discount airlines, most successful e-commerce sites and the Blackberry.
On opening his chain of Internet Cafes, EasyJet's Stelios Haji-Ioannou, told the media, "This is a category killer. I look for opportunities where I can totally change a market."
2. It needs dedication and focus
Of course just having the idea is not enough. "The idea is just the beginning, and I will openly discuss all of mine, because the hard work is in making it happen.", a serial entrepreneur once told me. So often I find that inventors are almost paranoid about talking about their ideas to anyone in case they get stolen. But ideas need to be hardened in the cauldron of debate.
Having done this, you are presented with the opportunity of fine-tuning the ideas. People will give you many practical reasons why you shouldn't be doing this. These are the obstacles you will have to overcome. Make a careful note of them. Then you have to decide whether you are able to push through these or whether they require a change in your approach.
There is a real skill in deciding between making a change, sticking with your original, or retreating totally and giving up.
3. Get it known by the world
The final piece of advice is you simply have to get it out there. This means finding the best way of getting exposure. In today's world we are spoiled for choice. But you need to rise above the clutter and become noticed.
Tools at your disposal consist of a variety of new media from blogs, wikis, and social networks.
The stronger you make the network surrounding your products the more secure your growth will be. The one thing that makes the iPod a success, other than the great design, is the network effect created by the iTunes store. Of course, Steve Jobs' social network with the record labels helped to make iTunes store great. Even Apple Music may finally concede and allow the Beatles music onto iTunes. Then Jobs' network with Hollywood has made it possible to add video and movies to iTunes.
We see these network effects over and over. What is a DVD without a DVD-player? I am sure not many people remember the MD music format. Here was a great piece of technology that simply didn't have content and so the format was doomed to obscurity.
So we see that a dedicated focus on implementing the impossible in a way that will capture the imagination of the world is all that is required.
--------------------
This post is cross-posted from Helium.
No comments:
Post a Comment