Ask HN: Moving balls to the wall on a fantastic idea?

[whalesalad]

Howdy HN. I've been sucking on an idea for the past few weeks that seems to get exponentially better and better every time I discuss it out loud. Tonight's conversation with my girlfriend is what inspired me to go absolutely batty with it.

All of us have felt this way one time or another. The thing preventing us from executing or going all-out on it always comes down to a handful of things.

1) It's a brilliant idea that we came up with all on our own, but it's been done before, sometimes better, and sometimes worse. 2) We don't have any time. We're too busy with X, Y, or Z gig that is paying the bills and is therefore more important. 3) We don't have the resources to execute on it. 4) A combination of all of the above.

I'm stuck with items 2 and 3 in the list. I'm a freelancer who is working hard right now to support myself. 20 years old, skipping college, writing my own ticket. I've managed to do pretty well.. but my client work consumes me. The third item, the lack of resources bit, is also slightly a problem. Initially my idea would work as an AIR app (it's fairly simple, the value is in the service not the application). Adobe AIR is cross platform and fairly easy to pick-up for (what I would at least consider myself) an advanced JavaScript programmer. After this evening's discussion, the touchscreen interface of the iPad would be a perfect target for this concept. I need to get up to speed on iPhone/iPad development, Obj-C, etc... Also, this idea of mine will ultimately require (simple) custom hardware. I'm not good in those departments. I'm a designer with a good mind for development. This will sound cocky, but I like to think of myself as jack-of-all-trades. However, I know where I am not an expert, and this leads to my next point.

I'm a resourceful individual who is going to go full speed on this no matter what... but where does one begin? I'm going to bootstrap the hell out of this, but I am terrified that someone will come along and scoop it up. I want someone to work with on this, but after being jaded so many times by partners, I'm worried that will never happen. I want investment money to get the right people for the job. I know that the chances of that happening are once in a blue moon. I know that I can do this on my own, but at what time expense? Hiring the right people will make this a synergistic effort, and the ship will sail much quicker. I'm not one to sit on my ass and wait for things to happen, but at the same time (and I think this is true for most smart individuals) I tend to second guess myself a LOT. In the past, trusting my gut and sticking at something even when I was afraid of failure has tended to prevail.

How do you guys cope with this? I know the short answer is: focus, focus, focus, and just start hacking. But... is there any other wisdom out there? Part of me is also seeking individuals who might be interested in collaborating on this. I'm definitely one to share the wealth, but only with trusting individuals (a difficult thing to come by). I live in Honolulu and will be moving back to my homeland of Los Angeles at the end of this month.

I've answered a lot of my own questions in this post, but nothing beats the wisdom of my fellow hackers here on HN. Feel free to contact me via the email in my profile, or <my HN username>.com. But, above all of that, please comment here and let's get a discussion going on this :)

[mkeblx]

First: what's the idea? It's kind of important to know in terms of giving feedback on how to proceed. Being terrified that someone will steal your idea is common but counter productive and most likely misinformed. Sharing your idea here might get you a partner or at some good specific feedback. Most people here are too busy with their own ideas they hold in high regard to try and take yours and run with it.

[iAinsley]

1) Yes, someone has already thought of your idea. It doesn't mean they plan on executing on the idea. It's the execution, not the idea that matters. It's execution that defines success.

2) Having a partner/co-founder or someone you can bounce ideas off of (besides your bias girlfriend) provides impetus and motivation for someone consumed with the day-to-day of living. If you're having a problem prioritizing your idea along with all of the gotta-eat stuff, then bringing someone in to bounce ideas off of is essential because time is literally fleeting and non replenish-able.

3) Engage other people. Most ideas fail in just this way, because the founder is afraid to share the idea with others. Thinking that person will run off with the idea. The odds of this happening are slim. Most people operate more ethically than that.

[gfodor → iAinsley]

"It's the execution, not the idea that matters"

This oft-cited bromide is a huge pet peeve of mine. The truth is, some ideas are much better than others. If you have a really good idea, often the ship will right itself on its own no matter how badly you execute. Your worst fear in those cases are other competitors beating you to the market, not your inability to draw customers.

[marknutter → gfodor]

I think you're not getting why people say the execution is more important. First off, how do you know an idea is so great until it's become a huge success? Secondly, I run into people all the time who have "great ideas" but no technical expertise to pull it off, and they always believe that coming up with the idea is half the battle. Often times, the best ideas are the most obvious ideas, and of course the most obvious ideas are the ones most likely to have been thought of already. What sets people apart is their execution.

A ton of effort on a half baked idea is always worth more than no effort on a great idea, IMHO.

[vpdn → gfodor]

This is only true if you have

a) a cure for cancer b) a solution for world peace

For any other idea, there's execution.

[snitko]

Dude, you got a girlfriend, she likes your ideas and supports you. I wish I had that, because it would be how I coped with all the difficulties. Seriously, it seems to me now, that a girlfriend is more important than a co-founder (pg should include this in the questionnaire).

[F_J_H]

Get some partners – you will need them.

One thing I learned with our startup is that so little of it is about the technology (i.e. “the app”) and the idea, but instead it is all about getting your idea to market. To do that, you need people with good business heads, proven experience, relationships and yes, money. This is typically why first timers are so protective of their ideas where those with a bit of experience realize that there is more value in sharing the idea than there is risk in someone else taking it and running with it. (see comment by mkeblx.) Again, because the idea is not the most important thing, execution is what is important.

Take the computer mouse for example. Doug Engelbart came up with the idea 20 years before it ever came into mainstream use. Engineers and technologists like us seem to inherently believe that good ideas will naturally rise to the top, when really what often makes ideas reach the top has to do more with timing, marketing, and the confluence of many other events that are ancillary to the idea. Was VHS better than Beta? Was Windows better than Apple? Was Word better than WordPerfect?

So, as others have recommended, get some partners. Get other people as excited and passionate about the idea as you are, don’t worry about who gets the credit, and you will accomplish amazing things.

And, how much start-up capital do you need?

[messel]

If you can do all the business planning, hiring, technical work, and fund raising you don't need a partner. Sometimes follow on successful founders pull this off. I suggest a partner for a first go of it, and the only way you'll find that person is if you keep sharing your idea (risky yes, necessary I think so).

[whalesalad → messel]

I honestly think that I can.. but I feel like things would be so much better if I had a partner to help. I tend to work "lone wolf" because I've had interesting experiences in my past with others. I feel like a company (or at least a small team) can be birthed from this. I definitely enjoy sharing the idea and getting feedback. It's a double edged sword. I applied to this past YC with a friend (on his idea, not mine) and made it to the interview stage. I'm kicking myself for not submitting this idea (although, it wasn't even close to this mature, then), because I am convinced that something like YC would be the exact bit of inertia necessary to push this thing straight into a hail mary.

[iisbum]

Been in the same situation as yourself before ... If you have the necessary skills, depending on the idea, it could just as long to define exactly what you want to build to someone else than actually doing it yourself.

I think its definitely better to get something you can show people, makes its a lot easier to people involved with the project if they can click around and see what you're trying to do. So if time-to-market is not a big factor just do it whenever you can fit it into your schedule.

I'm more of a developer than an designer and find its easier for me to just build out my ideas in a basic skin, and then have a designer (or myself) re-skin later.

If you're more of a designer, it might be better to add the primary functionality and focus on the UI. Then you can have a developer work to add more features later on, or even recode what you've already built if necessary.

[wallflower]

No idea give-away. Let's start guessing.

Custom hardware, value of app is in service, Adobe AIR

If the value of the app is in the service, then that almost certainly means a crowd-sourced and/or community-driven service.

The custom hardware makes me immediately think remote IR blaster (e.g. iPad app with TV listings mashed with real-time friend chat, real-time ratings (take that, Nielsen!) and maybe even video streams that can change the channels [and records this attention metadata to a shared global db]) or custom hardware to link to restaurant POS terminals (interactive menus with full-motion video, previous diner recommendations) or hardware to link exercise bikes to a virtual exercise community (imagine peddling up virtual Tour de France with avatar bikers) or...

The point here is ideas are cheap - it's the selling of partners and ultimately customers on it that makes it valuable.

[Mankhool]

I carried a web/mobile app idea around for a year, looking for seed funding before posting about it here on March 30th. The HN community were amazing in their support and motivated me to create a minimum viable product. But while I was out on oDesk trying to find a crew to do that, something amazing happened. I found not one, but two very talented, intelligent people, both of whom are busy with their careers, but interested enough in my project to particpate as co-founders. I encourage you to put your idea out into the world and see where that leads you.

[Mz]

Maybe you could 'free up' some time in your schedule by working on it with your girlfriend? Then it could be part and parcel of building the relationship instead of just another time-burden interfering with your relationship.

Also, I have found that sometimes not having adequate time to "work" on something means there is more time for it to simmer on the back burner and develop to more maturity as an idea. That isn't necessarily a bad thing. In the mean time, work on solving other problems (like the money issues) so someday you can focus more on this.

[fjabre]

So if there's a hardware component you're going to need capital which means at least that you'll need to talk to a few angel investors..

The fact that someone's done your idea is a good thing. You want to make sure you have product/market fit. You should obviously put your own spin on the idea.

BTW, there's a way of telling someone your general idea without giving away the secret sauce. If you can't do that then you might want to refine your idea some more.

[petervandijck]

"Tonight's conversation with my girlfriend". Yes, well, you know what they say about ideas. Most likely, it's ok-ish at best :) Why don't you share the idea here, or better yet, execute a minimal version and then share?

[coryl]

Do you really need to hire people just to get it started? Hiring the right people isn't easy, and is time consuming itself.