Separating a Good Idea from a Bad One
August 15, 2007 | by brett | Permalink
What separates a good idea from a bad one? I have focused on this question over the course of my travels, and this post is based on the conversations I’ve had with many entrepreneurs who’ve had their fair share of ideas. It’s meant to give you some questions to ponder in hope that you will be able to separate the good ideas from the bad.
1) Where is the idea coming from?
Matt Flannery, founder of Kiva.org, came up with ten business ideas during a quarter-life crisis. He flirted with a number of odd plans, ranging from DVD vending machines to an online luxury clothing rental company to creating robots that connected to the internet for video content.
The problem with these ideas, Matt said, “was that these ideas were negative reactions against my current state. They weren’t proactive movements towards something I love.”
2) What are your interests?
One night I took pen to paper and wrote down all of my interests. Travel. Learning. Writing. Having meaningful conversations. Baseball…
I took these interests and applied it to a question, “what the hell should I do after graduation?”
I was able to unify these interests into a simple idea called Pursue the Passion.
3) What makes your idea special?
“Brett, people come up with these ideas every year. There’s always someone traveling around getting guidance, or wisdom, or whatever. The point is, your idea is not new. It’s not special. There has to be something more than the idea, and that’s the person behind it. They have to be passionate about what they are doing to make the idea special.”
These are the words of Aaron Matos, CEO of Jobing.com when I first met him to discuss possible sponsorship of Pursue the Passion.
4) Feedback
“A good idea will receive more negative feedback than a bad idea,” said Matt Flannery, the entrepreneur discussed in paragraph one. “Groundbreaking ideas have a contrarian nature, they contradict common wisdom and common sense. That’s why no one else is doing it. No one else thinks it’s feasible. If it’s a great idea, a lot of people won’t think it’s feasible. And that will make it a good idea.”
It’s important to get feedback on your ideas because it will give you a feel for how good the idea really is. Just remember to keep the quote above in mind.
5) How deep do I really care?
I believe this is the last question you need to ask yourself before investing time and money to an idea. It’s a tough question to ask. But a necessary one.
For me, the quote that I have on my home page is “half of the American work force is not satisfied with their job.” Every time I read this quote I think back to when I was an auditor, working in this beaten down building with thousands of employees that had the same beaten down look the building had.
So when I start to doubt my idea, I think back to that scene. And then I remember why I do this.
« Previous: The RV- A High-Risk Workplace Environment? | Next: Las Vegas, here we come »
THERE ARE 2 RESPONSES TO THIS INTERVIEW
Steve Says:
August 15th, 2007
GREAT article. Your ideas and writings keep the fire lit of so many people. Very inspirational. It’s great to see or read you doing what you preach. Your writings are like a clean, cold, refreshing glass of ice water with a lemon wedge each day.
Parisa, Director/Host of Eat This! Says:
August 15th, 2007
I can testify that all of the above ring true to my experience with this show and production company. Keep up the great work guys, don’t forget to stay hydrated and eat lots of antioxidants (fresh fruits and veggies) so you don’t get sick. Can’t wait to meet all of you in Atlanta in September! Good article Brett, thanks for the post. Here is one of the quotes on my desktop:
“Great minds discuss ideas. Average minds discuss events. Small minds discuss people.”
RESPOND TO THIS INTERVIEW