21–30 of 43 posts
How do we define an ambitious vs a non-ambitious idea? How many people here are working on ideas that may not seem ambitious on the surface, but with long-term goals that are very ambitious?
Tractionbook looks interesting, but there's a typo right at the top of the page: "traciton" -> "traction"
"Great post -- this is what my partner Ben and I have always believed. Starting a company is just plain hard. It's not clear that starting an ambitious company is any harder than starting a less ambitious company. Your points on market size and being attractive to the ecosystem (particularly talented employees) are dead on.
The other thing we find is that less ambitious startups in Silicon Valley are often built to appeal to an acquirer as an exit strategy -- the cliche of "we will work for two years and then Google will buy us for $50 million". The big problem with that is what we call the "then what" problem -- if Google doesn't buy you, then what? Whereas ambitious companies built to stand on their own two feet and succeed in big markets are both highly attractive as acquisition targets and are viable independent companies. "
The risk of being too ambitious at first is being unable to ship your MVP because it appears too narrow vs. the ambition you have in your head. I know many entrepreneurs that failed because of that. Great entrepreneurs can ship a great MVP for an ambitious idea and thrive from there...
Based on a lot of data, I'd say he's right. It's harder to work on an ambitious idea, but not proportionately harder.
To what data are you referring? Surely there are also tons of smaller tech startups (or other small businesses) that were somewhat stable while small, but that failed directly due to their ambition.
Probably all the data pg has gathered by funding a lot of startups?
How do we define an ambitious vs a non-ambitious idea? How many people here are working on ideas that may not seem ambitious on the surface, but with long-term goals that are very ambitious?
The size of the market and obstacles in the way. For example, K-College education in the U.S. is about a $1 trillion a year economy. Government and self-interested trade organizations stands in the way of disruption (they don't want to be disrupted they want to keep their jobs at the expense of everyone else).
Earlier quoted context omitted.
To what data are you referring? Surely there are also tons of smaller tech startups (or other small businesses) that were somewhat stable while small, but that failed directly due to their ambition.
>>To what data are you referring? Probably all the data pg has gathered by funding a lot of startups?
I have a big idea to take on the banking system, yes the banks.launched the MVP 2 weeks ago not wanting to be too ambitious at the beginning. Have two more features to add that will really challenge them. Plus we already know at this point that banks don't care about the disappearing middle class. http://www.cnbc.com/id/45899309/Why_Banks_Shun_30_Million_Am... http://www.businessweek.com/news/2012-02-29/jpmorgan-sees-cl....
For now, it is a fun way to save money with friends http://sou-sous.com . If you are not laughing by now and want to join this challenge or any advice, please let me know.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Would someone who had a mortgage, and kids to pay tuition for had that luxury though?
We have kids and a mortgage.
Think big. Plan in meticulous detail. Then shelve your plan and just do it. Come back to your plan a year later and see how you are doing. Business plans are great exercises for thinking through issues. However, don't let it stop you from picking up on important opportunities down the road. Prepare a new plan every year. Again, don't look at it during the year.