It is as routine as sunrise, a new company is founded on a product idea, believed by the Founder to be eagerly embraced by the market. After 6 months has passed, with little revenue produced, the Founder, investors, and employees are crushed by debt. You can see them in the coffee shop lamenting their situation and wondering what happened.
Not only is it routine, it is so very easy to believe your idea will be successful, so much so you, your friends and your family invest money. Yet your belief was never tested, no studies were done, no competitive analysis was done, no alpha tests were done, etc. Just as Edison invented the light bulb without substantial market analysis, you too thought “If I build it, they will come.”
In the forest of business, the floor is littered like leaves with failed companies, examples of the flawed belief that “if you build it they will come.”
If you had an idea, built the product, and the market showed up and bought it in volume; you are incredibly lucky or smarter than nearly everyone else. The odds are incredibly stacked against you.
If you catch yourself building unsubstantiated belief in an idea, ready for investment, STOP. Take the odds and do so serious work testing your idea. It may take a little while but the cost of testing an idea is a fraction of the cost of a failed company.
Other Related / Recommended Posts:
