My 27 year old son, Ally, and I have long relished in crossing swords over ideas or that 'stoke of genius' that one of us so forcefully wanted the other to rate more than the discovery of gravity or far more useful than electricity.
We do this at least once a month... and I'm always the one with more to say... because I'm dad.
So far... those ideas have been 'archived' for that day when one of us would say... 'I thought of that first...'as my best friend always says once he's done ordering with Deliveroo or whenever I board a flight equipped with Bring Your Own Device (BOYD) entertainment system.
I bet there is an entrepreneurial gene in us (and please quote me when some clever spark gets the Nobel Prize for the discovery) but a few weeks ago, Ally decided to go beyond the "dad! got an idea"and properly test his concept for employee benefits platform, Juno, and make sure he's got a viable investable business and not just "a great idea that 'everyone' would love to buy into...". He was kind enough to use my Startup Assessment Tool as a quick litmus test and seek out any red-flags before leaping forward with Juno. The tool is a 10 minute quiz I have carefully designed for my clients to test their startups or new enterprises for suitability of their team, bias in their decision-making, understanding of their market, financialand legalreadiness.
However, the project needed deeper expert input which at this stage of the project would mean pitching to investors after you've exhausted the patience and interest of your family, friends and, perhaps a few fools along the way.
This is 'grownup' time when you must truly own and defend your idea, your baby, your passion and, sadly sometimes, your obsession against the diligence of those who's job is not to waste other people's money on another SearchMe.com ($43m up in smoke) or Boo.com ($135m up in smoke)
Professional investors are only interested in one thing, and don't believe any other spin... A successful veteran investor has seen it all before and would only be looking for a healthy and sustainable return on his/her clients' money; as any bank would. Yes, expert investors would be looking for other spin-offs and synergies but only after they've established that your idea is an opportunity they can put in front of the board of other hardened veterans.
Stop wasting your time on 'features and benefits' or how much you 'love' your idea, or worse, how 'everyone' loves it but then 'everyone' turns out to be mostly your family and friends... as an investor, I would worry that you're the only one who knows how to debug the code if the software crashes... or that you've forgotten to include the extra cost of hosting video content for your new media platform that you say will grow by 200% in Q3.
Whether you've come up with a fun idea for a beach towel or a cure for the common-cold, you will still need to satisfy yourself (before anyone else) on;
Your decision is not inherently biased; i.e. why are you doing it? ask yourself at least 3 times as if you're a 5 year old in the back of the car asking your mum about the point of wearing seat belts... You need to be clear as to why you're starting up on your own and why your idea will be such a hit.
Your market has been diligently researched for competition according to sciencenot late night chats with friends; keep in mind that most startups fail, not always because they're bad ideas but because they're not good enough compared to the competition. It's fierce out there and no matter what idea you may have, there's always the risk of someone else doing the same but in a bigger market or started a few weeks before you with funding from their father-in-law...
Your skills, are you/your team up for it? do you really have the skills for the job? are you all fully committed or are there other projects that could critically sideswipe you or your team?
Your numbers; have you done your homework? what happens when you run out of money in 6 months time? is your monthly cash burn rate accurate and realistic? have you included cost of your contractors, staff and other overheads?...and at every stage of development? Business plans and financials won't ever predict the future but are essential for anyone risking their time and money, starting with YOU!
Your home; if you're truly committed to an idea, you will be spending your time and money for months before seeing pay-back and, sometimes, never. Do you have a decision point when you switch to Plan B? can you get a job if you run aground? what about your loved ones or family? What support network do you have for and from them?
If you feel like a chat or have questions, please email and we can arrange free consultation by online or phone.
We do this at least once a month... and I'm always the one with more to say... because I'm dad.
So far... those ideas have been 'archived' for that day when one of us would say... 'I thought of that first...'as my best friend always says once he's done ordering with Deliveroo or whenever I board a flight equipped with Bring Your Own Device (BOYD) entertainment system.
I bet there is an entrepreneurial gene in us (and please quote me when some clever spark gets the Nobel Prize for the discovery) but a few weeks ago, Ally decided to go beyond the "dad! got an idea"and properly test his concept for employee benefits platform, Juno, and make sure he's got a viable investable business and not just "a great idea that 'everyone' would love to buy into...". He was kind enough to use my Startup Assessment Tool as a quick litmus test and seek out any red-flags before leaping forward with Juno. The tool is a 10 minute quiz I have carefully designed for my clients to test their startups or new enterprises for suitability of their team, bias in their decision-making, understanding of their market, financialand legalreadiness.
However, the project needed deeper expert input which at this stage of the project would mean pitching to investors after you've exhausted the patience and interest of your family, friends and, perhaps a few fools along the way.
This is 'grownup' time when you must truly own and defend your idea, your baby, your passion and, sadly sometimes, your obsession against the diligence of those who's job is not to waste other people's money on another SearchMe.com ($43m up in smoke) or Boo.com ($135m up in smoke)
Professional investors are only interested in one thing, and don't believe any other spin... A successful veteran investor has seen it all before and would only be looking for a healthy and sustainable return on his/her clients' money; as any bank would. Yes, expert investors would be looking for other spin-offs and synergies but only after they've established that your idea is an opportunity they can put in front of the board of other hardened veterans.
Stop wasting your time on 'features and benefits' or how much you 'love' your idea, or worse, how 'everyone' loves it but then 'everyone' turns out to be mostly your family and friends... as an investor, I would worry that you're the only one who knows how to debug the code if the software crashes... or that you've forgotten to include the extra cost of hosting video content for your new media platform that you say will grow by 200% in Q3.
Yes, investors are very interested in you, your passion and your idea but more interested in what else you've done before, your successes and, importantly, how you recovered from failures. They want to see a well-constructed argument for the risk you are proposing.
Whether you've come up with a fun idea for a beach towel or a cure for the common-cold, you will still need to satisfy yourself (before anyone else) on;
Your decision is not inherently biased; i.e. why are you doing it? ask yourself at least 3 times as if you're a 5 year old in the back of the car asking your mum about the point of wearing seat belts... You need to be clear as to why you're starting up on your own and why your idea will be such a hit.
Your market has been diligently researched for competition according to sciencenot late night chats with friends; keep in mind that most startups fail, not always because they're bad ideas but because they're not good enough compared to the competition. It's fierce out there and no matter what idea you may have, there's always the risk of someone else doing the same but in a bigger market or started a few weeks before you with funding from their father-in-law...
Your skills, are you/your team up for it? do you really have the skills for the job? are you all fully committed or are there other projects that could critically sideswipe you or your team?
Your numbers; have you done your homework? what happens when you run out of money in 6 months time? is your monthly cash burn rate accurate and realistic? have you included cost of your contractors, staff and other overheads?...and at every stage of development? Business plans and financials won't ever predict the future but are essential for anyone risking their time and money, starting with YOU!
Your home; if you're truly committed to an idea, you will be spending your time and money for months before seeing pay-back and, sometimes, never. Do you have a decision point when you switch to Plan B? can you get a job if you run aground? what about your loved ones or family? What support network do you have for and from them?
Do yourself a favour, park your passion for a moment and stop reading Mother's-Kitchen-to-My-Yacht biographies or spending your savings on a jolly to Burning Manor SXSW, none of it will get you far if you haven't invested in getting you and your idea ready for business!
If you feel like a chat or have questions, please email and we can arrange free consultation by online or phone.
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