Startup Thinking
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To see what began as an idea or a eureka moment one day in a shower transform into an actual service or a product solving real problems and making meaning is a desire many of us secretly harbor somewhere in our subconscious. Dropping everything and making this a reality requires courage , determination, money and desperation possessed only by a handful.
When i speak to aspiring entrepreneurs or people with ideas, the first question i always ask them after hearing their pitch is “Are you bold and ready to back up with your idea by giving up everything in order to make it work?”. One of the reasons the answer is not a resounding “YES” is because our culture and maybe our education (Asia) is not designed for entrepreneurship at its roots.
Your Idea may not be absolutely brilliant, but it has to solve a problem or a pain point your target users face today. Just by personal experience i think there is no shortage of good ideas and in general smart people around me were full of good ideas.
Apart from the idea itself , a strong conviction and determination is a prerequisite for anyone thinking of a startup. The next big question is “How are you going to fund your startup idea ? ” Depending on how smart you or your circumstances are you would not only need a 1-2 year financial cushion, but also the stomach to lose the amount of bootstrap money you would personally put into your startup. If you are not putting your own money into your idea, you are demonstrating lack of belief in your own dream!
Don’t necessarily believe the hype that “technology costs are coming down and i will run open source and everything else in the cloud” , since the fun begins after you are through with technology. And the “cloud” you are in will bring you back to earth with a “loud thud”
Note: you would still need to acquire and retain the talent required to pull off your idea. So beg , borrow or sell some of your unnecessary belongings, but have money behind you.
Once you have these prerequisites in place, the journey begins and your life and its priority changes.
I will be discussing the journey of our startup further in the upcoming series of articles. Stay tuned!
