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Puritan work ethic infection detected.
Life and Time aren't split into "work" and "wasted". Sitting back and thinking, pondering how things might work, dreaming about great results aren't "wasting" time, they're pleasant ways of passing time.
When the time you have that should be spent doing things that build your company, or put food on your table, etc, are instead spent pondering, wondering, etc,. there is a danger that you won't create things., which is my point. It is rewarding to create. Even the painter has to put his/her brush to the canvas at some point. Or usually does at least.
I expect everyone to keep close guard of a lot of leisure time and to use it for all sorts of things, like pondering how things might work.
And in case anyone is wondering I'm in the middle of that pain right now, it's been 18 months, zero outside investment, zero returns, and a lot of sleepless and work filled nights. If I can suggest ANYTHING to anyone out there that believes they have 'THE BIG IDEA', it's not going anywhere without hard work, real hard work.......
In "The Medici Effect" the author discusses the difference between successful people and those who are not. Both have the same success/failure ratio. The successful people just try (and fail) more often.
Man, I love the promise/potential that something like Google App Engine indicates for the future. In 2 years buying your own servers will be totally antiquated and obsolete.
Hardware is going digital and it's sweet.
I don't think that a lot of new startups realize what a massive headache that was. Total pain.
There won't be a "big idea" just lots of little ones, and we like the users' ideas better then the ones we dreamed up.
Our only cost is our own time and sanity. There is really only one good and honest reason for not creating; "I'd rather be doing something else." And that is totally fine, but not for us.
Supremely true post. Now time for some analogies. Exercising(in your case running) and start-ups are the same thing. You are not going to suddenly get the body of your dreams -- or company -- overnight. It takes commitment and steady work to do it, plus adopting to whatever is thrown your way, like injuries, or even progress. What matters most though is that you get off your ass and do it; that you get up and go to the gym and make it happen.
Cheers.
P.S. As for running. I am a runner myself and there is nothing better the iPod +nike. That thing is the real deal. It measures the distance you run(don't worry you don't need the special shoes) and will pipe voice updates of your progress right to your headphones, and you get nike athletes like Lance Armstrong congratulating you. That thing makes all the difference.
Gates had no clue his software would be sitting on millions of desktops around the world. He had an idea and found a few people that would pay for it. From that point on, it was sweat equity and years without a vacation.
Conclusion - Stop thinking you are going to find one great idea that is going to take the world by storm. The difference between an idea and a great idea is directly proportional to the amount of blood, sweat and tears you pour into it.
Plenty of PhD's that can barely makes end meet. Plenty of immigrants that don't know what to do with all of their cash.
Regards,
George
Perhaps I should start a running blog ;)
oftentimes, the pondering is *the excuse* not to do something, because while you keep pondering the thing remains ambiguous and uncertain, and you remain disengaged and unempowered. just do it.
to the art/craft school comment earlier - absolutely spot on. any studio-based or applied program isn't about the thing that you make but learning the discipline and process to make it real. and that takes lots of practice. you need to start somewhere.
I figured I'd create 5 different ideas and see which one takes off.
http://www.mygasmileagelog.com is my first attempt and it's been over a few months and it is still not complete. It's difficult to try and maintain the speed when you are not very attached to an idea.
http://www.mygasmileagelog.com has been sitting in a state of incomplete for over a month and only required a few more days worth of work.
Running with an idea is good as long as you complete it. I'll be trying to complete this as soon as I can now.
There is another issue related to just-get-started - know when to stop. I learned this myself the hard way wasting over a year on something that I did know (deep down) wasn't going anywhere. It wasn't the idea that was the problem but the execution / partnership. The underlying psychology of course is that until you "stop" you haven't had to admit to the world, and yourself, that you "failed"
Learn to kill dead-ends, with extreme prejudice, and and move on to the next possibility. To amplify your point Jevon another deadly consequence of just thinking for too long, without executing, about stuff is that you build a huge mental/emotional investment that's hard to let go. If you start executing that investment is smaller and not as painful to walk away from.