Failure to finish. I've had, to date, 7 ideas that, had I finished executing, I would have been first to market (in most cases, by years). I would have been beaten to market on one other product, and really close to tied with another few.
In imaginary-land, where I live, of the 7 companies I beat to market, 4 of them had million dollar + exits or acquisitions, so I COULD have been worth 45-55 million, give or take.
My number one challenge in doing anything is not having somebody else to motivate me, or even just tell me what to do. With almost everything I do, I solve the challenges first; the bits that otherwise make the product, or the bits that aren't obviously going to work... once I've built those out, the project is mentally done for me.
I will often fail to do the little things, the EASY things even, like building the change password page, or sending an email for account creation, etc. I'm so bad at it, even, that I will often stop after I have figured out HOW to solve the problems, without ever even bothering to actually implement.
So yeah, that's why I'm stuck with my 9-to-5. Good question.
Perhaps you can learn something from this. A software tester friend of mine couldn't figure out how to start a business doing software test, so he fell back on what else he knew: construction. He started a side business doing small jobs: small decks, internal walls, installing dishwashers & appliances etc. This was all stuff he could do in his free time after work and he hoped to move from that to larger construction projects.
The overriding complaint he heard from his clients about other contractors was not that their work was bad, or that their prices were high or didn't match what they quoted, but rather it was that they just never showed up!
Simply by making appointments and actually showing up to quote the job or to do the work, he got tons of business.
You have just described me too... Countless ideas started and very few completed or even got to a launchable status. I know exactly what's required in every case but struggle to wrap things up.
Funnily enough, I think I'd make a solid startup/side-project coach and it's exactly what I need, also. Would love to see a small group work together to motivate each other, like an online version of the YC dinners (going by what I've read of them on here).
I have the same problem. I find it difficult to keep up the motivation to do the boring work that makes the difference between cool side project and actual product. I think this in large part is because I do things alone, because I don't have a problem with day-to-day drudgery in my day job.
Of course, I wouldn't be fiddling around with new product ideas if I was satisfied with the day job either.
I'd definitely be into the small group idea - it would have to be quite a bit smaller and non-public than HN though :-)
Yes, a private group to share ideas and motivation could be useful and I'd be willing to be involved. Could be very low-tech too - just IM/email and some FrieNDAs.
I'd like to share two techniques I've found somewhat helpful (though not quite the ultimate answer, unfortunately).
1. While side projects often have no deadlines and thus less motivation, employees don't really have the same problems. I've delegated more components from side projects to my employees and the result is things getting done much faster. Now the progress block is things that are back in my hands - writing content, taking a working product and launching it for people to try.
2. A while back, an entrepreneur-type I know over the net and I did an experiment. We would both work all day and struggle with motivation to complete site-projects during the evening so we decided we'd each complete a small site project in one week. Each morning, we'd check in to show our progress. Failure to show progress meant the other person was to apply guilt trips were appropriate. Monday night as planning, Tuesday was fleshing out content, Wednesday was a skeletal site, Thursday was putting things together, Friday was polishing and making it live. Each night, the pressure of thinking you'd have nothing to show the following morning was enough to force productivity. On nights when I'd normally laze around or procrastinate at the desk, I'd cram 1-2 hours of work around or after midnight. It was enough to get a basic site rolling by the Friday that I would never have otherwise done. It worked for me but unfortunately the other guy didn't get going quite as well. Still, I'd do it again.
Comments
Failure to finish. I've had, to date, 7 ideas that, had I finished executing, I would have been first to market (in most cases, by years). I would have been beaten to market on one other product, and really close to tied with another few.
In imaginary-land, where I live, of the 7 companies I beat to market, 4 of them had million dollar + exits or acquisitions, so I COULD have been worth 45-55 million, give or take.
My number one challenge in doing anything is not having somebody else to motivate me, or even just tell me what to do. With almost everything I do, I solve the challenges first; the bits that otherwise make the product, or the bits that aren't obviously going to work... once I've built those out, the project is mentally done for me.
I will often fail to do the little things, the EASY things even, like building the change password page, or sending an email for account creation, etc. I'm so bad at it, even, that I will often stop after I have figured out HOW to solve the problems, without ever even bothering to actually implement.
So yeah, that's why I'm stuck with my 9-to-5. Good question.
Perhaps you can learn something from this. A software tester friend of mine couldn't figure out how to start a business doing software test, so he fell back on what else he knew: construction. He started a side business doing small jobs: small decks, internal walls, installing dishwashers & appliances etc. This was all stuff he could do in his free time after work and he hoped to move from that to larger construction projects.
The overriding complaint he heard from his clients about other contractors was not that their work was bad, or that their prices were high or didn't match what they quoted, but rather it was that they just never showed up!
Simply by making appointments and actually showing up to quote the job or to do the work, he got tons of business.
You have just described me too... Countless ideas started and very few completed or even got to a launchable status. I know exactly what's required in every case but struggle to wrap things up.
Funnily enough, I think I'd make a solid startup/side-project coach and it's exactly what I need, also. Would love to see a small group work together to motivate each other, like an online version of the YC dinners (going by what I've read of them on here).
I have the same problem. I find it difficult to keep up the motivation to do the boring work that makes the difference between cool side project and actual product. I think this in large part is because I do things alone, because I don't have a problem with day-to-day drudgery in my day job.
Of course, I wouldn't be fiddling around with new product ideas if I was satisfied with the day job either.
I'd definitely be into the small group idea - it would have to be quite a bit smaller and non-public than HN though :-)
Yes, a private group to share ideas and motivation could be useful and I'd be willing to be involved. Could be very low-tech too - just IM/email and some FrieNDAs.
I'd like to share two techniques I've found somewhat helpful (though not quite the ultimate answer, unfortunately).
1. While side projects often have no deadlines and thus less motivation, employees don't really have the same problems. I've delegated more components from side projects to my employees and the result is things getting done much faster. Now the progress block is things that are back in my hands - writing content, taking a working product and launching it for people to try.
2. A while back, an entrepreneur-type I know over the net and I did an experiment. We would both work all day and struggle with motivation to complete site-projects during the evening so we decided we'd each complete a small site project in one week. Each morning, we'd check in to show our progress. Failure to show progress meant the other person was to apply guilt trips were appropriate. Monday night as planning, Tuesday was fleshing out content, Wednesday was a skeletal site, Thursday was putting things together, Friday was polishing and making it live. Each night, the pressure of thinking you'd have nothing to show the following morning was enough to force productivity. On nights when I'd normally laze around or procrastinate at the desk, I'd cram 1-2 hours of work around or after midnight. It was enough to get a basic site rolling by the Friday that I would never have otherwise done. It worked for me but unfortunately the other guy didn't get going quite as well. Still, I'd do it again.
I'd also be interested in something like that.
maybe we need to make a new website? ;)
Hopefully none of the participants of this thread take on the task. ;-)
Are you spying on me ? :D