Hackers vs. Consultants: How not to find an idea (Part 1 of 3)
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Hackers vs. Consultants: How not to find an idea (Part 1 of 3)
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Re: Hackers vs. Consultants: How not to find an idea (Part 1 of 3)
#2The premise is interesting, but there isn't anything conclusive about part 1. Part 1 is also incredibly short. It left me wondering why the story is even divided into parts at all.
I felt as if I started watching a 30 minute TV show and "TO BE CONTINUED" happens 10 minutes in.
Re: Hackers vs. Consultants: How not to find an idea (Part 1 of 3)
#3The idea of starting a company and THEN trying to find an idea is just so utterly foreign to me that I doubt I'll ever understand it.
Re: Hackers vs. Consultants: How not to find an idea (Part 1 of 3)
#4The premise is interesting, but there isn't anything conclusive about part 1. Part 1 is also incredibly short. It left me wondering why the story is even divided into parts at all. I felt as if I started watching a 30 minute TV show and "TO BE CONTINUED" happens 10 minutes in.
Hey, thanks for the feedback. We understand where you're coming from, but we wanted to present the "business side" as it's own independent view. And while you're correct that Part 1 is a bit short, it was much too long to condense into one readable post.
Ultimately, we're still learning and we'll keep your points in mind for next time.
Re: Hackers vs. Consultants: How not to find an idea (Part 1 of 3)
#5The idea of starting a company and THEN trying to find an idea is just so utterly foreign to me that I doubt I'll ever understand it.
The entire premise of YC is investing in a team first and idea second.
Re: Hackers vs. Consultants: How not to find an idea (Part 1 of 3)
#6The idea of starting a company and THEN trying to find an idea is just so utterly foreign to me that I doubt I'll ever understand it.
The entire premise of YC is investing in a team first and idea second.
I can agree that a good idea with a bad team is a bad investment, but I wouldn't invest in either without the other.
Re: Hackers vs. Consultants: How not to find an idea (Part 1 of 3)
#7The idea of starting a company and THEN trying to find an idea is just so utterly foreign to me that I doubt I'll ever understand it.
The entire premise of YC is investing in a team first and idea second.
Yes, but a (big?) part of what makes a team fundable is some ability to come up with a viable idea. The market may not always agree with the founders' and PG's idea of viability, so good teams can pivot, but if you don't have any ideas or your ideas don't have technical and business merit, best-case you're left with a couple of really great employees.
Re: Hackers vs. Consultants: How not to find an idea (Part 1 of 3)
#8The fear of being an entrepreneur if you don't have a great idea is our biggest handicap. Everyone thinks they need to have everything ironed out before they can leave their "career". If more people just started viewing entrepreneurship as a career path of its own (as it is), a lot more cool products and business models would be invented.
I definitely agree with the notion "Team first, Idea second". Good ideas are easy; execution is the hard part. Put together a good team, and good ideas will come -- the support for this is the existence of many serial entrepreneurs.
Re: Hackers vs. Consultants: How not to find an idea (Part 1 of 3)
#9I naturally had some very tech-heavy ideas (e.g., new approaches for mobile / social / local, new hardware devices). I found it hard to get my co-founders to react positively, even after spending hours trying to convince them of the opportunity.
I can spend hours explaining why an idea was a better technology than what's out there, but for some ideas, it's just tough to fully appreciate if you don't understand the technical details.
Dangerous thinking. People don't use/buy something because it's "better technology"... e.g. the tech-specs-as-the-major-selling-point Android tablets vs. the iPad.
Mind sharing some of your "technical" startup ideas? Maybe I'm misunderstanding.
Re: Hackers vs. Consultants: How not to find an idea (Part 1 of 3)
#10I naturally had some very tech-heavy ideas (e.g., new approaches for mobile / social / local, new hardware devices). I found it hard to get my co-founders to react positively, even after spending hours trying to convince them of the opportunity. I can spend hours explaining why an idea was a better technology than what's out there, but for some ideas, it's just tough to fully appreciate if you don't understand the te…
"for some ideas, it's just tough to fully appreciate if you don't understand the technical details."
This is also called "sales". If one can't sell their team members on the premise, then it will be exponentially hard selling the market on the idea as well.
Doesn't mean the idea is invalid, just that the pitch needs to be improved.