I got it, now what?

#1

Post by Galactica » Wed, Jan 18, 2012, 12:09 PM UTC

OK, I envisaged a new model to change the way advertising works, it looks like advertising’s biggest problem is relevance, sellers randomly target large numbers of to-be-buyers with their ads/spam on the hope that some of them will be interested, sellers still try hard to do more informed targeting but it is still broken; technology has advanced so much and I think we have the right ones now to do a hell of a lot better job than Google Ad-non-sense, only left is putting it all together and it will simply “change everything”, the model will simply render the word “Advertising” invalid and we should find a new word to replace it, it will serve everyone, from the 12 yrs old trying to sell his unused toys to large department stores.

I am a Microsoft dev guy by trade and I love Apple so much that I learned how to program for iOS, me plus other 2 devs we can do the whole thing within 12 months and with some marketing we will be able to yank this planet, I’ve read a lot about having a co-founder but after reading on both sides, I am convinced that having a co-founder is not a problem, at least now, all I need is funding to feed myself for those 12 months and pay for other 2 founding “employees” or simply just employees.

I’ve drafted a high level design of the whole thing and started the implementation but it won’t happen with me working part time, living in Australia, life here is more expensive than the US, with family etc, it is very hard to steer without consistent income for a long period.

VCs are fixated on having a co-founder because of statistical reasons, while for me having a co-founder is one more problem to worry about.

What do you think my next step would be?

Re: I got it, now what?

#2

Post by michael_dorfman » Wed, Jan 18, 2012, 12:38 PM UTC

Your next idea should be to get some external validation of your idea. A co-founder is a good way to do this.

You seem to think that "changing the way advertising works" is something that can be done by 3 devs is 12 months, and success (large enough to "yank this planet") will come "with some marketing."

Based on this alone, I'd suggest a serious reality-check is in order.

Re: I got it, now what?

#3

Post by padobson » Wed, Jan 18, 2012, 12:38 PM UTC

http://steveblank.com/2011/09/22/how-to-build-a-web-startup-...

Build something small. Learn something. Repeat.

Do this until you have enough knowledge of you market to prove your idea is viable. Once you do that, it should be cake to raise money.

No, you don't get to take VC and take a year off just for having an idea. An idea and an amazing resume will do the job, but if you don't have that, you're going to need to prove viability first to raise money.

Go get some traction, and then you can quit your day job.