From idea to gadget. The story of a startup

Many of you have thought at least once about creating your product, which will tear the whole world and bring you millions and carefree life under palm trees until the end of days ...

In two posts I want to tell my story. How a student developed and promoted his product. What rake attacked, what conclusions did.

Now being an entrepreneur is becoming fashionable. I will try to take off my rose-colored glasses and share my experience of success and, most importantly, the experience of failure.

A few words about yourself

Surely you had the question "Guy, and who are you actually?", I would definitely have)
I am an entrepreneur and engineer, I am 23 years old. The project I’m going to talk about is a digital altimeter for parachutists, at the moment the company's turnover so far is 1.5 million rubles a month - a small figure, but after answering the question “Who are you?” The question usually arises “How much do you earn?” about as much.
')

The beginning of the way

I was born in Irkutsk, a poor family, after school I entered MIPT at the Faculty of Aerophysics and Space Research. At school, I could not understand what to do in life - as it turned out well, everything I undertake. But after a while many things bored, so I reasoned that rockets are a union of the advanced knowledge of mankind - and I will do it.
Almost immediately I understood - how decadent we are in the rocket and space industry and that all the fairy tales that were told to me at the school "You will do, finish, and then you will be torn off with your hands ..." complete nonsense, you should not hope for a crust .

First projects

I got into programming, then electronics - I started with analog circuits, watched on the Internet, did and understood how they work. The complexity of the circuits grew, the qualification also, at some point I realized that analog circuits do not allow me to implement all my ideas. Then discovered the microcontrollers.

Do not look for ideas for projects somewhere far away - solve problems at arm's length, what is important to you .

In parallel with their study, he implemented his first project - an automated system of access to the common laundry - in order to be washed it was necessary to find a house attendant during working hours, sign up for a magazine, bring 30p, then remember, find it to open the door, then in order to pick up things, etc ... And considering that couples at the institute from 9 to 19 - it was easier not to wash).

With the introduction of the system, everything has become much better - you can erase around the clock, record on the site, receive SMS reminders, pay with electronic money.

Then I realized that I could influence the world around me - for this you don’t have to reinvent the computer - it’s enough to decide the pain of the people around you.

Improve your skills, you will not create a competitive product, if you are not an expert in this - in the end, your story will end with a file. It is better to spend this time for pumping qualifications

Then there was work, study, sessions, freelancing projects - a typical student life, except that by the 3rd course I earned 100k a month, worked in good companies, was a sought-after specialist. At the same time, I clearly began to feel the ceiling at 120-150k, and to rise from 100k to 120k required an order of magnitude more effort than from 40k to 100k.

Since from the 2nd course I began to actively jump with a parachute - the story is expensive, to spend 20k over the weekend for jumping is nothing. So this situation did not suit me and I began working on my first product.

Soberly assess your real place in the world.

Hoping that I will come up with something fundamentally new that no one else has done is very naive and arrogant. Instead, it is better to think - how can you penetrate into a market close to you, which you know well. As a paratrooper and electronics engineer, the toad has always stifled me to pay 30k for a digital altimeter (considering that I imagined their cost price).

Therefore, for a long time I was jumping with a mechanical altimeter, the accuracy of which was 100m, against the digital 2-5m. When piloting a modern parachute, this is very critical.
The idea of ​​a product was born out of our own pain - you need to make a simple but accurate electronic altimeter and occupy a price niche between very simple mechanical and heaped electronic ones.


At the very beginning you will be alone - do not look for like-minded people. The project must be on the strength of one person.

I had to step over my inflated ego — I was used to working in steep, complex projects, and this thing seemed to me too small for my level. But at the same time, I clearly realized that I couldn’t be able to realize a complex product just physically, there would not be enough man hours.

A team from the very beginning is a fairy tale, a team will be formed in the process - people will come and go. Some of them will remain, but they still need to pay something! And there are not so many people willing to share risks with you, invest money and sleep for months without your sleep over your idea. So - most likely you will be alone.

At the very beginning, you can only rely on yourself - you and the developer, you are a loader, courier, manager, collector, who zabuhal and framed the entire company.

It is better to implement a small project than not to realize a large one. Do not hesitate to do simple projects.

It is very important to think about how you will enter the market.

This is the moment that needs to be very carefully and soberly thought out - the case when you need to think first and then do. Perhaps you already have a vision of your ecosystem, product line. But all this will not happen if you enter the market with the wrong product.

As I reasoned:

If I get into the market with a functional product, then selling it at a price slightly lower than the competition will fail. Why buy an unknown brand when you can pay a little extra and buy a famous one? Therefore, why should I do extra efforts, creating a product superior to competitors, if you still will not be able to sell it at an adequate price? It is better to create a much cheaper product, with the corresponding functionality for this price.

Investing at an early stage will kill your project and you, as a person capable of doing something in this world .

An entrepreneur is a person who can make a product out of nothing. If you have not done anything at the moment, it means that you do not know how to properly manage resources. If these resources will be more - the essence of this will not change. Only the illusion that you deserve it will appear. Spending someone else's money is easy.

After a while, life will put everything in its place. Even with a good product, sales, revenue - you will have problems, packs, crises. If you make a journey from scratch once - you will never be afraid of falling to this zero again - you know that you can repeat it. If you skipped this stage at the expense of investments - the very first crisis will mow you down. You will either become a depressed loser, or a slippery type running around a start-up party showing beautiful presentations, from time to time getting money from venture funds.

To assemble a prototype on arduinka on a table, and to create a finished consumer product is not at all the same

The first working prototype that measured the height was made in the evening. Ready for sale product appeared after 2 years. The devil is in the details. 80% of work is not electronic at all.

Therefore - your qualifications should be up to par, you will have to acquire a whole bunch of other competencies - materials, methods of processing, production, industrial design, marketing, sales, etc. ... If you still have misunderstandings with your core competency - you simply do not have chances.

And now - finally you have finished, the product is ready for sale.
If you think that after the start of sales and the flow of orders your problems will end - I hurry to upset you - everything is just beginning).

Permanent stress and a state of uncertainty are an integral part of the entrepreneurial life - so think about whether you need it. It is better to be a good paying specialist than a non-entrepreneur.

Actually - about what problems you have to solve when creating and launching your product in the next article (if you are interested or have something to say - write comments, put likes and all that).