Need an idea for a million bucks? Think up or steal it!

I would like to express my opinion on the current fashion trend of creating startups. In particular, about the quality of the ideas that underlie these initiatives. Written based on the work with several startups.

You are now 20-25 and you are rushing from a bunch of ideas of what can be done. This is cool. I am serious. When you are gushing ideas - you are lucky. However, as practice shows, the ideas themselves are quite small.
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- How?
I see this question in the eyes of all adherents of their own genius, who believe that all their thoughts are divine revelation. Alas, any idea without its implementation is only a mental bunch in the bathroom. Yes, not everyone can do it, but the significance of this event does not change.

First thought: Not only the idea itself is important, its practical implementation (feasibility) is also important.

Ideas are expensive, only when they are trying to implement, and even better already implemented. Good ideas and their excellent implementation are very expensive.

In our country, a huge number of thinkers who have never done nothing worthwhile. They generate countless different thoughts and ideas.

Suppose I came up with the following: “But it would be great to sell advertising space on the moon. Several mars rovers (moon rovers) scoop up sand, apply some kind of reflective coating. And even better create it on the spot by sintering the rock. Then I’m illuminating individual squares with a long-range laser from the ground, thereby forming an image. ”

So what's next? As an idea may be nothing, but with realizations full of seams. It is necessary to clearly distinguish between the ideas themselves and their abstract representation, and business ideas and their practical implementation.

When I was writing my Ph.D. work, absolutely brilliant business ideas came to my mind. I recently opened my notebook dated 2005 and counted about 6 ideas that were implemented several years later by other people. And now they make millions of dollars, but I don’t. And yes, it is not envy, then it was a great time.

Your idea without its implementation is only a second reaction of neurotransmitters .

Tip one:

• If you get the idea, take at least 2 minutes to record it. Recorded? Re-read again, try to answer the following questions within 5 minutes:
• If I started to implement it now, how would I do it?
• What prevents its implementation right now?
• What would I start with, what was the first step I took to implement it?
• What should be the result? What is the final product, service?
• Who could use it besides me?

Come back to her in a week, if she is still good, try working with her. If not, then maybe you will return to it later. But be sure to write it down.

The older we get, the less ideas come to our mind. This is due to office slavery, well-established life, routine and banal laziness. Save what is in your head. This is by the way a leitmotif for writing this article.

Thought two: No idea - steal it, but think twice whether to steal its implementation

Disclaimer: The author lives in a fantasy world, therefore HIS theory, which works in HIS world, needs to be tested in real life.

Your idea is certainly brilliant, it is radiant with intelligence and beauty of reasoning. Each time your adrenal glands eject the lion’s share of dopamine when, mentally caressing your eyes, you run through all the curves of the premises, hypotheses, theories and conclusions.

-Hey! Will you prolong?

At this stage, as a rule, everything ends. Make a step from conclusions and thought experiments (in particular with a young mulatto in a champagne bath on the occasion of earning the first 1M $) to practical steps break 90% of all future Tesla and Zuckerberg.

Want a million bucks after tax? Be smarter. Take as a basis what is already working. I seriously: "Steal ideas!".

Look around. In the 21st century a lot of things were created. A lot of intelligence is invested in what surrounds you now: smart phones, cars, furniture, buildings, etc. All this was created by the efforts of the human brain and labor.

Save yourself at least time on ideas, spend it on practical implementation. You can go the way of hardworking China and make one to one you like the product or service.

And you can make smarter.
A successful idea and its successful business implementation clearly indicates to you the satisfied need of the buyer. In other words, the person who bought some thing or service needed (explicitly or implicitly) it. What does this give us? And this gives us potential buyers of our future product.

For example, take the Apple iPhone. A really awesome thing. A bunch of patents protect it. But what ideas underlie?
There are several:

• Device control using natural gestures;
• Compliance with the laws of simplicity and visualization of information;
• Creation of an organic and closed techno ecosystem for the consumer;
• Harmonious design;
• Surely something else - I'm not a fan of Apple.

Many companies stole these ideas from them and offered their implementations. For some, it worked out quite well, but periodic courts for plagiarism are, so to speak, the prose of life.

Tip two:

1. Identify the target product or service
2. Try to outline the circle of users of this product. Who is its consumer.
3. Try to make a decomposition of a successful and working product or service. It is required to go to higher conceptual levels, to formulate the main ideas that underlie this particular implementation.
4. Formulate the basic ideas underlying the product. You can ask yourself questions: “What does this thing do? How does she do it? How is it used? etc."
5. Think about how you can go down - to the level of application, with a different implementation.

In other words, we first rise up - from the product to the main ideas, instead of moving down from the idea to the product.

The advantage of this approach is that you transfer the problem and the focus of your attention from the plane of abstract ideas to the plane of technical solutions. Often it is much easier, if only because there are certain established approaches and methods (TRIZ for example). And how to come up with a brilliant business idea of ​​techniques damn little.