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Ideas Without Time/Money - How Can I Make Them Happen?

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Re: Ideas Without Time/Money - How Can I Make Them Happen?

#11

Post by joeguilmette »

kljensen wrote: post #2

Give them away to friends -- ideas are generally worthless, execution is everything. Be wary of your wife's laments, problems at home will sink your start up(s) very quickly.

I've had at least 10 ideas that i saw others pursue to great success. I'm not unique. We've all had such ideas. It's not the idea. How many sub-optimal ideas have you seen turn into successful businesses with multi-million dollar payouts?

Like many other smarter people have said - it's not the idea. it's what you do with the idea. and it sounds like, as is the case with 99.9% of the population, you're not in a position to do much with your idea.

so come up with an idea that you can execute yourself :)

Re: Ideas Without Time/Money - How Can I Make Them Happen?

#13

Post by mbyrne »

Your wife wouldn't be angry at you if your projects made money. Your track record so far is spending a lot of time on projects that you don't complete, so why wouldn't she be angry?

Pick ONE smaller project that adds enough value to a user that he will pay for it. Drop everything else. Try to find the right partner, but don't wait around. Have a timeline and income projections you can show to your wife (and yourself). As long as you meet your targets, then everything will be fine. Actually finish it without quitting. Make money. All else is denial.

Re: Ideas Without Time/Money - How Can I Make Them Happen?

#14

Post by zotron »

I highly recommend that you read "The 4-Hour Workweek" book by Tim Ferriss: http://www.amazon.com/4-Hour-Workweek-Expanded-Updated-Cutti...

I was in your same situation. Once I managed to find a way to work remotely now I'm able to organize my time more efficiently and find time for my side projects/ideas.

Re: Ideas Without Time/Money - How Can I Make Them Happen?

#15

Post by kjksf »

You don't have time and money problem. You have priorities problem. You do have time, you just choose to spend it on things other than turning your ideas into products (for one, you're reading Hacker News).

You claim that some of those projects could be done by 2 people in 3-6 weeks. So 1 person (e.g. you) could do it in 6-12 weeks.

Guess what, I've been working on my side project, on and off, for 4 years. I have exactly the same amount of hours in a day and a full-time job.

If you can't muster the energy and will power to sacrifice your other time consuming activities and focus for 3 months on finishing something, then no amount of additional time will help you. You're just not made for this game.

If you can't convince yourself that your "very good ideas" are worth a little bit of sacrifice to finish them, then why should anyone else believe that? Why would any investor believe that?

Re: Ideas Without Time/Money - How Can I Make Them Happen?

#17

Post by jasonmcalacanis »

Ideas are not important, execution is.

Everyone has good ideas, and most of the smart folks i meet have a million-dollar idea a day, and a $100M idea every month.

You're overvaluing your ideas in all likelihood.... which makes you think you're missing some opportunity. You're not, part of being an entrepreneur is selecting between multiple GREAT ideas, or pivoting between them.

In terms of risk, you miss 100% of shots you don't take....

.... and most folks over-estimate the down side risk. Save up $50k, quit your job and try for a year. If it doesn't work out then you go back to being a working stiff for another year or two while you save up another $50k and try again.

If you ask investors for money for your idea they won't give it you... you have to create something with potential, show it to them and ask for advice. If it's good they will then give you money.

Re: Ideas Without Time/Money - How Can I Make Them Happen?

#18

Post by kapauldo »

This is why web startups are mostly done by single 20 somethings. They're mostly lottery tickets and most fail. I suggest you only work on projects that make money right away and leave the twitter type ideas for the young bachelors. Wives are far more tolerant when you're making money. Best of luck!

Re: Ideas Without Time/Money - How Can I Make Them Happen?

#19

Post by IdeaGuy »

Actually there is this very fresh website. http://www.thinksharebuild.com which may solve your problem. Basically, you drop your ideas off, and other people can work on them with/without you depending on your preference.

I hope it can help. Although its still in its infancy.

Re: Ideas Without Time/Money - How Can I Make Them Happen?

#20

Post by woid »

Prepare for sacrifices and it will hurt. You need to re-acquire your time back. That is your capital. We all have 24hrs/day, right?

My story: I'm 31, I left comfortable game-engine programmer seat at AAA gaming company because I wanted to build my own products (have been already hacking on browser extensions during evenings for past 8 months). Had savings just for 3-4months. Reduced my burn rate by moving to a very cheap rent. Started doing web-dev freelancing to save money, my goal was to have at least 1 year of runway. After 8 months of cheap life, I finally stated working on my own startup idea (it was basically http://about.me, but with more technical page builder). My GF left me after 2 months and after next 8 moths I started to have some disputes with my co-founder and few weeks later I gave up. I started to work remotely for SF-based startup. The goal was to learn how to "do it right" and to earn money for my next trial. It took it to me next 6 months to recover financially (and socially a bit). After then I started hacking on TotalFinder during the evenings and one year later finally I made it.

You may read about my last year here: http://blog.binaryage.com/the-second-year-of-binaryage

Unfortunately I have to add, that with non-entrepreneurial spouse it would be probably much harder to take it off the ground. It makes sense. Most women expect your time/money investment into partnership/family. Also most of them is averse to risk taking. Why she should stay with you when she would do better with fine salaried non-stressed guy who works 8to5? Better he hates his job, because he will be rushing home for recovery.

You need to make your wife co-investor/partner in building your product, she must invest at least your time she acquired by marriage or she has to help out other way to make similar contribution. So we reduced this problem to the problem of looking for the right co-founder, which is very hard problem to solve anyway :-)

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