Common misconceptions in project management

When I worked as a programmer, I was often approached with a request to help make the project a share. In some I participated. But very few projects took off.

Over time, I became a project manager, and people still fit. And they make startups around. Units take off.

Why so?





Getting rich quickly and sailing to your own island is simple, alas, only in dreams.



The answer, alas, lies not in the idea, implementation, or even in the market. It is only in the head of the startup creator. Or rather, in the myths with which it is full.

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It is the myths that make you think wrong, lead to failure. And the more a person believes in them, the less he is able to change his thinking, to evolve - the higher the chance of failure.



In this article, I have gathered some of the most common myths. And I wrote their refutation, together with real cases, how to really think and act.



These tips can save you from a couple years of wasted time and hundreds of thousands of dollars. Just read, but remember that to know - this does not mean to apply in life. The fact that you need to wash your hands before a meal, many people know, and make a few. With the harm of smoking and alcohol is the same.

In a startup, the most important thing is the idea.

Two questions that cut amateurs from professionals

- What is most important in business - the idea or implementation?

The idea is the wrong answer.



- And if you look for a niche, which one.

Unoccupied is the wrong answer.



I will explain from the point of view of statistics, and then an example from my life.

According to statistics, up to 80% die. Often because their idea does not find a market.

At the same time, startups are still dying in new, emerging markets. For the second reason, the market may not be ready yet, and a startup simply cannot afford to invest in client preparation for the market.



In fact, an idea is a necessary condition. The implementation is sufficient, EVERYTHING depends on the implementation details.

It is much better to take an oak idea and come to a market where there are already competitors (which means there is money). And there to squeeze out a part of the market. Having earned something, it is already possible to open an experimental department for launching startups to take off / not to take off, but with money and with the experience of a businessman.



Of my startups with unique ideas, not one took off. With a non-standard one took off, we transferred the idea from one sphere to another. And typical ideas, such as an outsourcing studio and the development of complex custom-made applications, where there are competitors, have been fed for several years.



Actually, the advice here is simple - you need to look not for an idea, but for a client. And work with the client. And the client (in a broad sense) will already give you ideas from which you will make products.



See the article “Yes, but who said they would buy it?” .

Need to find an unoccupied niche

Another myth. There are no unoccupied niches. If the market is not busy right now - this does not mean that as soon as you open a successful startup, the competitors will not keep you waiting.



It is much better to immediately prepare for a fight with a competitor, assess your competitive advantages, plan your strategy, taking into account the arrival of competitors.



Real case. We launched a directory and search engine for documents that should be opened by law, but were clamped by one firm. The handbook has become a mega-success and has become a market leader. A year later, it was downloaded by competing forums, and attendance dropped. We did not take into account such a risk, as we were young and green.



Advice - you need to immediately prepare for the fight against a competitor - current or future.

See the article “True Unfair Competitive Advantage,” which I translated. Very sensible.

Need to do everything right right away

This is what I ate the dog on. Not a single startup rested in the Bose due to its creators being covered by this myth. A perfectionist disease, briefly.



Almost everyone who makes a startup is somewhat professional: a marketer, programmer, designer. And, trying to protect themselves intuitively from failure, licks up a lot of work: a business plan, design, code, and so on.



Real startups work exactly the opposite. And I am glad that this is already penetrating the industry, but still bad. You need to do MVP - the minimum efficient prototype. And further, on living data to evolve.



We did a city portal for the city of Mytischi in due time. Cool and perfect. At the same time, competitors made a shitty prototype, made patty sites around the cities of Moscow region, evolved faster. And now they make good money on advertising.



It is necessary to overcome the idealist in oneself, and make it simple, by shitting, govnoustka. Quickly start. Simply - because it is fast. Govncode - because in 100% of cases it is necessary to redo it, changing, and govnokod is easier to throw away, and make it faster.



This is a paradox at first, but it works.

When we launched ates.ru , we had a goal - applications from the site. We started with a simple template, without texts on the site. Once 10 have altered the section special offers. They killed 2 weeks for a bunch of different options to drive traffic. As a result, even now the site, six months later, is not perfect, but applications from travel agencies from it went on and on.



If we did it for half a year, it would be too late.

I can lead several projects

This is also a fallacy. Just imagine that you are not much smarter than others. And while you lead projects A, B and C, you will compete in those who work only on one project. Therefore, entrepreneurs work so hard - time really plays a role.

My calculations are correct

See the point about doing everything right away.

There is a passive income from a startup.

In some cases it is. But for the most part, the project is like a bicycle - it either drives or falls. You must constantly develop it.



As an example - seo. Once, 7 years ago, my friend picked up 50 pieces from links without straining. Today this topic is dead.

Competitors will not let you be bored.

I know the market because I am a user

In general, you need to be very careful here. Yes, it often works. But it is also often the case when a person is mistaken. And he makes an ideal product for himself, which then, it turns out, does not solve any other problems.



I somehow wanted to write a visual megaORM. But polls on Habré and communication with programmers revealed that there are already solutions that I simply did not google (they are part of libraries). A couple of days of communication saved half a year of programming.



After all, when you are blinded by delusion, you do not listen to anyone around. And the precious time and effort that could have been spent in more promising areas was spent forever.

You just need to copy from a competitor / West for success.

Russians are very different from Europeans and Americans. An example is freelancing. If, for example, in the West are willing to pay for software, for SaaS, then our greedy customers from freelance exchanges have entered the legend. Similarly, there are many professionals on the Western stock exchanges, then our students and govnodery are also talk of languages.



The difference in mentality, culture, average income, the authorities are doing their job. The buyer here is one, in the west - the other.

Their start-up IPOs are normal, because there is a nutrient broth for growing. We have the same desert, where cancer is fish.



The myth is common because people see successful stories, but they don’t want to think, just want to copy.



I don’t even want to talk about copying from a competitor - this is elementary. You need to understand that everything determines the history of development. The pursuers will always lose - while the competitor is working for the future, you are trying to repeat, not even understanding what is behind this or that element.

Traffic is most important

Many people think that simply seo is enough for the success of the project, or there it is direct and links. Of course, this is nonsense, but if you have never done projects on the Internet - at least learn Internet marketing.



The most important thing is the right traffic and the right conversion. You must lead potential customers, and strive to ensure that the entire chain from coming to you to the purchase is short and as efficient as possible. Look, Habré also has a competent analysis of traffic sources, advertising channels, and what percentage of applications or orders it gives.



As an example - my two sites. There are 200 hosts on one, 1500 on the other. On the first, Edsens is clicked very well, on the second - once a day. Just because the traffic of 200 people is one audience, clear, transparent. And 1500 - trash, mixed.

I fit the recipe for success man N

Another common theme is to try to follow someone’s success story. Firstly, success is often unclear - and people think that one thing led to their success, and in fact, another.



Secondly, people are different. If you try to repeat the success story, for example, Kaspersky, and you yourself are not a programmer and math, viruses, and so on, you will not be a rod - you will fail.



And, by the way, almost no one writes their own packs, and the correct conclusions leading to the result are most often taken from failures.



I myself tried to follow examples from books, when developers became leading, then architects, then consultants, and so on. But as a programmer, I am very average, I just always took it through perseverance. But, as it turned out, I have organizational skills, ability to sell, ability to communicate, and so on. And when I began to use my abilities, and not try to follow someone’s successful example, things went uphill much faster.



Great book in the subject - "Startup without a budget . "

Fakapa will not

Fakapy and errors will be. By this, too, you just need to be ready. It will be important only the speed with which you realize where you pissed away something. And the number of correct conclusions per unit of time, compared with competitors.



I wish everyone success, and I hope the foregoing will allow at least a couple of people to spend a couple of years and hundreds of thousands of oil in a better direction than I did for a long time without a more or less adequate understanding of project management.



I want to finish with the words of an outstanding project manager, businessman Steve Jobs: “Stay hungry. Stay foolish. ”