Some time last year I decided to follow my instincts and begin the journey to founding a startup. Businesses have always been easy for me. As an entrepreneur growing up hustling chickens, rabbits, dogs, calligraphy, art, sculptures - to raise money to fund other ventures was an everyday thing.
Fast forward 20 years to present day and the same instincts that would lead me to successful ventures only grew stronger. My achilles heel I would realize over time was the eventual overwhelming work that required more of me to be done before I sustained quality help to do it.
To truly understand my journey you have to be trapped between two time zones. Never fitting in one or the other because of the same reason - not being enough of "this" or "that". I was born in a different world and moved around as a young grown man so my experiences are uniquely unfamiliar.
A long time friend of mine and I began seriously working together about 2yrs ago to combine our minds for a goal dear to both of us.. a startup. The first thing I did before I even approached her was search. There are tens of companies out there doing everything but what I envisioned so I was surprised and mad that no one had thought of it - yet. Before we get into all of that let me take a step back and lay out the landscape of what I want to say.
Problem = Pain
" Pain is your friend, your ally.
It keeps you alert and angry..
It reminds you to finish the job
And get the f*ck home"
We all know pain. That constant nagging that just won't go away. That is the beginning of every successful company. Studies developed by Stanford professors have proven there is a blueprint to making successful startups and the most successful case studies proved that the solution to a problem lay at the core of their business.
Okay, back to the story..
The "problem" really became MY problem on a random night with the most memorable surroundings and people. The conversations were laced with good food, music, and booze. Over time as the seed sunk in and grew its roots in me, I began to do serious research with promising results.
Know Thy Customer
"Please be honest with yourself.." Burning Spear
THE worst thing anyone can do is assume they know anything about what another human being is thinking as pertaining to money. Assumptions make an a** out of You and Me so don't do it. What you CAN do is your homework on the subject and make your best calculated risk move based on the amount of data that you have to bias your decisions.
If you do not have a problem that needs fixing, if you do not know who this problem affects besides yourself, if you cannot gather information about the relationship between a problem and its pain on others, you will not have a successful startup.
So the professor said..
I will chronicle my journey through this process with my followers. At current time we are significantly ahead of my writing. Which is how I want it. You will all know after events happen.
Thanks for reading
