Watcha think of my idea?
About Chris
Chris Lyman is the Founder and Chairman of the Board at Fonality. Fonality creates innovative and affordable phone systems for small and medium businesses. Our products include PBXtra, trixbox Pro, and trixbox CE.
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Watcha think of my idea?
The rantings of a serial entrepreneur as he wins, loses, and doesn't pull any punches in describing both...
Watcha think of my idea?
For 10 years now people have approached me with business ideas, and asked: "What do you think of my idea?"
I guess they ask me because I have had three business and all three have been successful thus far. My last business had 100 employees before I turned 25. I barely finished high school, yet by the time I was 26, I had been acquired by a $3B publicly-held company and became a Vice President there and within months was acquiring other companies for $20 million dollars. So, people ask me for my advice. A lot.
And I have always taken their "What do you think of my idea?" very seriously. After all, asking for an opinion on something that you have labored over is difficult - it's a moment of vulnerability as you open yourself up to a potential battery of cerebral criticism and intellectual pugilism. It's not easy ...and I know this.
Thus, I listen to their pitches, I read their business plans, and opine. I try to give thoughtful advice on the "what-ifs" and the "how-tos" and I introspectively incant my "lessons learned."
But, it never sits right with me. And, slowly I have come to hate this question. And, finally I know why.
The entire act of questioning before leaping is fundamentally opposed to the true spirit of entrepreneurialism. Being an entrepreneur is about doing something NEW that has NEVER been done before, or doing something old in a totally NEW way. You just don't build a bad-ass business by being a me-too. In short, you gotta bring the NEW to outdo the OLD and the NEW can never be known because it hasn't happened yet and therefore ANY attempt to discuss the new as if you know what the hell you are talking about is an ego-trip and I don't want a ticket to that ride.
Let me illustrate my own idiocy at predicting the future:
In my last company, I had a Director of Sales named Jon Venverloh. One day, in late 1998, he showed up to work and said he was moving up north to take a sales job at Google. I laughed at him and asked him why the heck he would go to a company with no revenue and no revenue model. Remember this is 1998. He said: "I like Northern California better and I can ride my bike." Believing he was making a lousy career move, I wished him luck. Well, I just googled (hehe) Jon and he is currently listed as an Executive in charge of Federal Sales for Google, Inc.
Go figure. Nobody knows who is going to be the next Google. Least of all me. And the mere fact that you are asking means that you are doubting yourself and doubt is what you CANNOT have as you strive to create the NEW. Don't let the opining and the opinionated slow you down.
Sure, we can give you advice about fund-raising and about hiring practices and how California labor law and in-office nudity are in stark opposition. But, whatever. You will learn that stuff if you have what it takes.
Trust yourself and trust your idea and don't bother getting advice on either. But, I do have advice on YOU.
If you want to do this idea of yours, then REALLY do it. Expect to give it a minimum of 5 years of your life and perhaps shorten your lifespan by a few more. These won't be casual years and you can't half-commit. These will be five years of HELL as you are tried and tested and twisted and contorted and challenged to the very core of your being as you create the NEW from the ashes of your doubters and your family and your friends and your spouse. It will be 14-hour-per-day-hell and during the entire process it will rarely be obvious that you are winning, because from the inside the trench, all you will ever see is mud.
But, my friend, if you have the COURAGE to give 5 years of your life then you WILL be successful.
It's not about the idea. It's about YOU.
--
Chris Lyman
Fonality CEO & Janitor
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When you work enough
When you work enough concerns and doubt start melting away. You become too occupied in the present to doubt the future. As time passes so do obstacles many times without notice. As one is overcome a new goal creates another perhaps making the "mud" Chris talks about.
Oh man you are so right
Chris
I hear you, 3 1/2 years into a IP Communications startup and the mud is thick, then every so often it clears and clarity returns. Good article.
Good Advice
There comes a time when you have to stop asking if you should do something to change your life, when it becomes time to act on a vision and pursue a goal to create something from nothing. When I was younger I jumped on path after path, fearlessly, and learned some really good lessons on what to do and what not to do. While I have not enjoyed the same definition of success you have Chris, I do know that it takes courage no matter what it is you choose, no scratch that, it takes courage to finally pick a time to seriously start and just GO! A little older I may not have the same fearlessness, nor do I have the same opportunity to accept failure. Aren't less options sometimes better than more?
Thank you, I know it is time for me to GO!
Matthew
Half of direction is momentum
Matthew,
This is really an inspiring comment you have written. I could not agree more. I have always told my friends: "half of direction is momentum". By this I mean that by *simply* by making the decision to GO FOR IT you have catapulted your odds of WINNING.
See, if you don't make *the* choice then you are guaranteeing that you will *not* be successful. So what is worse: to *not* try (and thus implicitly fail) or *to* try and perhaps fail? The great thing about failing *from* trying is the experience you gain along the way - you will undoubtedly lay the endoskeletal blueprint of your future success just by DOING.
I have many friends who have had massive failures in personal and business life, but who took risks and who *have* won their 2nd or 3rd time around. In fact, in my current business, I told my close friends, the day I started this business: "There is a 70% chance this is the wrong model, but the right industry." As it turned out, six months into our first model (consumer VoIP based on Windows ala Vonage) we ended up ditching it and re-launching with a whole new model (IP PBX based on Linux). Totally new model, same burgeoning industry. Note: I did *not* tell the other 3 co-founders that our original model might not work out, because I knew they couldn't emotionally handle the risk of not "being sure".
As a CEO I am forced to make horribly non-obvious strategic choices every day. When people ask me about it. I tell them: "In business, once it is obvious it is too late." So if it feels risky, it is supposed to. Risk is always that punk sitting on the other end of the seesaw, staring your reward cooly in the face...and winking at the both of you.
Great comments by everyone
Great article and great comments by everyone! I am now at my 7th year and am successfully running upwards of 5 enterprises and growing. I have also been through my ups and downs and can directly relate to just about every comment given in this article and replies. Now finally (after much perseverance and at times what feels like insanity) every one of my enterprises are growing at an exponential rate. I have finally reached that hallowed time of prosperity and great reward. I say to you all: It is worth the fight, it is worth the wait, it is worth the pain and sleepless nights, the discouragement, the despair and the hardship, and all of the other mud that life can muster and throw onto your newly painted wall. The difficulty of our journey is worth every second for all of the freedom, sense of accomplishment and fulfillment that is experienced when you can look back and look ahead and say with all confidence that you have committed to "a job well done". To all of the other CEOs of the world I say: hang in there and enjoy the ride and roller coaster of your life. It is well worth it! Every penny!
Thank you
As i was reading the introduction, I was planning my own "So, what do you think of this idea?" email, hoping that you would actually reply!
And then I read "And, slowly I have come to hate this question." and my heart dropped!
But as I read on I began to understand why I have never made anything with my ideas, I never took to leap!
Thank you, I am now planning my leap instead of looking for my own ego boost!
Thanks,
Derry
I Returned to this Thread for Inspiration
I'm still fighting to get where you guys are with my own business and business ideas. Looking to gain a little more momentum and in general need of a pick-me-up I reread all our words, originating in Chris's solid advice and track record.
May I return again with shared success. Thanks again Chris and company,
Matthew
Mathew, good luck
Mathew,
With perseverance you will most certainly move forward - your ultimate
destination unknown, but having the courage to walk will definitely move you
farther down the path.
Good luck, sir.
../chris
Awesome words
Great words Chris. Really needed to hear that. I've been toying with starting my own business for years. I recently came accross a business plan that I wrote in '99. I was kind of sick that I hadn't acted on it all the way back then. Well, I'm finally doing something. My first ad hits today so today is my official "grand opening." The business consists of myself right now, and it's run out of my home. I've spent a total of around $1000 from personal savings. I am very aware that it's not going to be easy. It is nice to hear some positive words though because most of what one hears when starting a business is NAYSAYERS. DO NOT LISTEN TO THE NAYSAYERS! Get a plan, get a vision, and act on it. Then, keep up the "BIG MO" (momentum). In summary: IGNORE THE NAYSAYERS.
Entrepreneurialism is doing that which has not been done before
Mike
Bravo! I started my first venture backed business on $2,000 in 1996. When, I tried to get my grandmother to invest $30K, after the fourth time she asked me to explain what the "web" was I gave up, thanked her for breakfast and went back to my basement. I worked in that basement for 3 years before going out to raise money again. By that time, I had 35 employees and a multi-million dollar profitable business.
Lesson learned: nobody will even believe in that which does not yet physically exist. That is saved for churches, not for businesses. If you believe, that is enough.
I had the same problem with this business, even AFTER being a proven entrepreneur.
Good luck, Mike! Keep us posted on your progress!
Build it and they will come. :)
../chris
How To Win Friends (Or Not)
with the wonderful, supportive comments here, i feel pretty guilty about my comment below. but i gotta be honest-- and a de-vil's advocate.
funny thing, i don't need anyone to tell me if my ideas are good-- i know my ideas are awesome. besides, i don't want someone with more resources than me to ste-al them!
rather, i seek the wisdom of other's experience at implementing (which is why i read Chris Lyman and Tim Ferriss), the benefit of their business contacts, and their material resources.
is that cra-ss? true or not, is that attitude unlikely to win me supporters? or will my stealthy confidence impress the right people? that latter, i hope.
chris, i thought 'build it and they will come' stopped being true after the high-tech bubble bur-st in 2001.
(one of the hyphenated words above tripped your spam filter. was it devil?)
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