Loading...
Answers
MenuThe lure of executing multiple ideas at the same time? Is it good, bad, or dangerous for all of the startups?
Everyone knows idea worth a dime but having how many are too many? Also, should we serve multiple ideas at the same time? What are the things you would watch going down this path? tactics to stay laser-focused, product and efficient with 30% shared resources among ventures, but having independent developers, UX/UI per startup.
I am executing three ideas at the same time!!!
Answers
Simple answer. Yes. Do less. Kick ass at the things you do.
I too was very much a doer of everything when I started out, and learned the painful way that one of the most successful traits I see across the successful entrepreneurs I meet daily is FOCUS.
Try to start with the big questions. What problem are you solving, for who? What are your own personal goals (do you want to sell the company? reach a certain revenue level? etc) Then work backwards and work out the minimum things you need to do to achieve that. Then say a firm no to everything that comes your way. Its hard, a lot harder than saying yes but saying no is a highly underrated strategy that is well worth investing in.
Cut out all pointless calls. Cut out all pointless meetings. Free up your calendar so you have time to breathe and think, and to focus on the (real) priorities.
Don't fool yourself into being busy. Working hard doesn't actually achieve success despite what media mumbo jumbo will try to tell you. Working smart does.
Happy to share more in a call including some practical tips and tricks I've learned along the way from a fairly unfocused entrepreneurs to a much more more focused one.
Short answer: lean methodology. If done correctly, you can do a market validation test/MVP in a matter of days/weeks for each of the 3 ideas and at a minimal cost. Based on the results, you should decide which idea to invest all of your time on.
Here's a link to a past answer I gave explaining how to do market validation: https://clarity.fm/questions/6423/how-do-you-do-market-research
If it's too hard for you to let go of the other two ideas, and can't delay them, recruit a founder who will be the CEO (not easy relinquishing control, but better to have a part of something than a part of nothing). But only bring in another founder if you're the type of person who can 'let go' - if not, you're just going to be sucked in and eventually find yourself working on all 3 ideas.
[I'm curious to hear what the ideas are. ]
I've successfully helped over 300 entrepreneurs and would be happy to help you. After scheduling a call, please send me some background information so that I can prepare in advance - thus giving you maximum value for your money. Take a look at the great reviews I’ve received: https://clarity.fm/assafben-david
Indeed a very good question, I will try to keep my answer simple.
Lets consider an example, suppose you have 1 Kg of raw material for baking cakes. You can either make two cakes of 500 grams each of 4 cakes of 250 grams each, or at max 5 cakes of 200 grams each.
You want to make many cakes as you don't know which cake customer will like. Let's keep the sales price of cake as $100 per Kg, assuming the cost of cake to be $60. That gives you $40 profit on total sales.
The more cakes you bake, more efforts you have to put in, there may be a case that you end up spoiling all the cakes as you may not be able to focus.
Case 1: Suppose you made 5 cakes of 200 grams and customer liked 2. You will get $20 per cake, that equals to $40 total. You will end up with a loss of $20.
Case 2: You made 2 cakes, customer liked only one, you get $50 bearing a loss of $10.
Case 3: You made only one cake, you focused and devoted all your time in making it best. Customer bought it for $100 fetching you $40 profit.
In each case reward is linked with risk. I would recommend you to execute only one idea at a time. You can filter out all the ideas and choose the best, then execute it. Believe in yourself and take risk. Even if it fails, it will give you a lot of ground for the next idea.
All the best.
Related Questions
-
What is the average series A funding round at pre revenue valuation for a enterprise start up w/cutting edge tech on verge of our first client.
With all respect to Dan, I'm not seeing anything like that. You said "pre-revenue." If it's pre-revenue and enterprise, you don't have anything proven yet. You would have to have an insanely interesting story with a group of founders and execs on board with ridiculous competitive advantage built in. I have seen a few of those companies. It's more like $3m-$5m pre. Now, post-revenue is different. I've seen enterprise plays with $500k-$1m revenue/yr, still very early (because in the enterprise space that's not a lot of customers yet), getting $8m-$15m post in an A-round. I do agree there's no "average." Finally, you will hit the Series A Crunch issue, which is that for every company like yours with "cutting edge tech" as-yet-unproven, there's 10 which also have cutting edge tech except they have customers, revenue, etc.. So in this case, it's not a matter of valuation, but a matter of getting funded at all!JC
-
How was SnapChat able to grow so quickly?
I'm answering your question assuming that you hope to be able to replicate it's own success in your own mobile app. There are a couple of factors responsible for it's growth that are instructive to anyone building a mobile app. "Leveraging the intimacy and privacy of the mobile phone." We now have an *intimate* relationship with our phone like no other device in the history of technology. Every internet company that started before around 2010 has built their core interactions around "the old web" one which was accessed primarily via a browser on a computer. Companies that start with a clean slate, should be building their interactions around how to do whatever the app is supposed to do while leveraging what is unique to people's relationship to their mobile devices. Photo-sharing has become a core part of the way we communicate now. Snapchat built something that provided an experience that leveraged the feeling of privacy and intimacy that is unique to mobile. "Provided an escape from the "maturity" of other online services." Too many parents, aunts, uncles and other "old people" have encroached into the social networks of teens and young people. As a result, they've had a desire to find places to express themselves in places inaccessible by older generations. An important distinction is that it's not just parents and relatives that young people are trying to avoid, but also employers & colleges who are increasingly using "mature" social networks to review applicants. "Leveraged PR even bad PR" The fact that the app got so much press about it being used to sext was perfect PR for the company, as it essentially reinforced the brand experience that it has today. Essentially, "if it's safe enough to send a sext, it's safe for any kind of communication I want to have." And although the safety and security of Snapchat is actually not as advertised, it still enjoys the reputation of having less impact than any primarily web-based service. Building a successful mobile application is one of the hardest challenges to face designers, programmers and entrepreneurs in the history of writing software. Happy to talk to you if you're considering building a mobile app, about what I've learned about the "table stakes" for success.TW
-
I have this social media idea,but no coding skills. How do I get someone to do the coding (cant afford to pay them) and not give away half of my idea?
Dilip was very kind in his response. My answer might be a bit on the "tough love" side. But that's for you to decide. My intention, just for the record, is to help you (and those like you) on your path to success. And that starts with having a viable philosophy about entrepreneurial-ism and business. And I'm going to answer this because I get asked some form / version of this question very frequently from newcomers to entrepreneurial-ism. The scenario goes something like this: "I have a great idea. It's amazing, I love it, and I just KNOW it's gonna make me a ton of money. But I have no money right now so I can't afford to (fill in the blank with things like "to build it / create it / market it / etc" or "to hire the required staff needed to work in my business to sell it / develop it / etc"). And I don't want to tell anyone about my great idea because I'm worried someone will steal it and make MY million / billion dollars. But I can't afford to legally protect it either... So how do I launch without the skills to personally create the product AND no money to hire anyone else to do that either??" The answer is ... You don't. Look - let's be honest. All you have is an idea. Big deal. Really. I'm not saying it's not a good idea. I'm not saying that if properly executed it couldn't make you a million / billion dollars... But an idea is NOT a business. Nor is it an asset. Until you do some (very important) initial work - like creating a business model, doing customer development, creating a MVP, etc - all you really have is a dream. Right now your choices are: 1. Find someone with the skills or the money to develop your idea and sell them on WHY they should invest in you. And yes, this will mean giving up either a portion of the "ownership" or of future income or equity. And the more risk they have to take - the more equity they will want (and quite frankly be entitled to). 2. Learn how to code and build it yourself. MANY entrepreneurs without financial resources are still resourceful. They develop the skills needed to create what they don't have the money to pay someone else to do. 3. Get some cash so you can pay someone to do the coding. You'll probably have to have some knowledge of coding to direct the architecture of your idea. So you will likely still have to become knowledgeable even if its not you personally doing the coding. (This is not meant to be a comprehensive list of options... And I'm sure some of the other experts here on Clarity have others to add - and I hope they do) To wrap up - Here's my final tip to you that I hope you "get"... It's FAR more valuable to have an idea that a very specific hungry crowd is clamoring for right now - One that THEY would love and pay you for right now - Maybe even one they'd pre-order because they just have to have it - Versus YOU being in love with your own idea. [Notice I didn't say "an idea that some as-of-yet-undetermined market would probably love"] I wish you the best of luck moving forward.DB
-
Whats the best way to find commission sales reps?
This is not my specialty, however, I have been in your position many many times -- maybe this will help. If the product is in-tangible, then look for JV partners on the Internet. Try to find an expert that deals with these JV opportunities (like me). If the product is physical, then look for sales organizations that have networks of sales people across the country. You do the deal with the organization and the independent network of sales people sells your product. It's a sweet setup if you can negotiate a margin that works for everyone. Hope that helps - Cheers - NickNP
-
What does it mean to 'grandfather you in' in the tech world?
It stands for allowing someone to continue doing or use something that is normally no longer permitted (due to changing regulations, internal rules etc.)OO
the startups.com platform
Copyright © 2025 Startups.com. All rights reserved.