What's in an idea?

The first step to starting a startup is coming with an idea, right? As I have been meeting with the dozen or so guys that are interested in working in the project, I've been amazed that this is a common theme among almost all of them. They can't understand why I'm focusing on getting the right people, instead of finding the right idea.

Everyone seems to think that the key to a successful startup is that "million dollar idea." However I would bet that most of us wouldn't even recognize a truly great idea when we saw one. For example, if someone came to me in 1999 and told me that (the then novel) blog would revolutionize the web, and Blogger.com would lead this revolution, I would have thought they were crazy. Sure, blogging sounds cool - but it would have been hard to predict that Blogger.com would be one of the 10 most popular websites. After all, anyone who wants a blog can make one on Geocities - the only thing Blogger.com does is make it easier. Same goes with Google, when they started, there were already several search engines out there. The market was mature, and no one was asking for another. Yet google turned searches upside down, and the world will always be different because of it.

So I guess my point is, why are you waiting for that million dollar idea, when its likely you wouldn't even recognize one if it was right in front of you?

In my opinion, the only way to tell weather you have a great idea - or just a good one - is to try it out. Get your hands dirty, develop a prototype, see if people use it. And that's what, it turns out, a good idea is all about - people. All we can hope for is to come up with the best idea possible, and execute it well. But to do either, we need a passionate and brilliant team - which is why my primary focus right now is finding the right people.

In conclusion, why obsess about wasting your time on the wrong idea? Hey, I've spent three months of my life doing worse, and who knows - we might just stumble across something that changes the world.

Starting a startup

So there's alot of advice out there on how to start a startup. This has always been something I've wanted to do. I love the idea of working with a couple other brilliant guys in an apartment somewhere, till 3 AM, such hacking away at some code and blasting music.

But, even though I've already started a company, it hasn't turned out that way... It's been mostly a "one man show." This tends to get a little bit lonely after a while. Think of working where ever you work, but subtract all the social interaction with your coworkers. Trust me, it sucks.

On top of this, the stuff I'm doing @ OdioWorks, like selling dinars and fixing computers, isn't really what I'm passionate about. I'm much more interested in creating a website or application that changes people's lives. Something along the lines of Google, Yahoo, Blogger, Craigslist, WikiPedia, etc.

So, with that goal in mind, I've decided to recruit a couple other guys and found a tech startup. If you're interested in reading about our experience, I've started a blog here.

Blogging in shame...

So, after stubbornly resisting the "bloggersphere" and dismissing it as a passing fad, I have shamefully decided to join in.

I hope this blog will give someone somewhere some sort of insight. However, it's mostly a tool that will serve two purposes. It should help me organize my thoughts, and it should give me the practice I desperately need in communicating them to others.

I expect this blog to mainly cover these topics:
- My experiences (principally, in entrepreneurship)
- Thoughts about technology
- How a better understanding of economics can lead to a better world
- Other random musings