Comments on: 6 things NOT to do when starting a business – Part 1

By: Infinity

Infinity — Mon, 02 May 2011 15:07:55 +0000

And I thought I was the snseible one. Thanks for setting me straight.

By: Staysha

Staysha — Sat, 30 Apr 2011 03:16:03 +0000

Great tinkihng! That really breaks the mold!

By: alexboudreau

alexboudreau — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 20:13:04 +0000

It’s not easy to align everything appropriately: ideas, interests, market, timing, context, etc. It’s almost like the alignment of celestial bodies!

One other thing I’ve learned recently is that in the process we also have to be careful not to chase “unrealistic perfection” – a Utopian ideal of what we would like a startup to be.

cheers,

Alex

By: Antony

Antony — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 20:07:21 +0000

Hey Alex,

I heard you in there.. I’ve worked and dropped many ideas in the last 2 years. Some I regret but their were clearly not a good market for them, and others I was not passionate about..

let’s keep in touch
antony

By: alexboudreau

alexboudreau — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 20:12:51 +0000

Vy, thanks for sharing your thoughts!

By: v.kim

v.kim — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 18:58:11 +0000

I agree with you guys. We have to know ourselves before starting a project based on a spontaneous idea. I learned this from experience.

By: alexboudreau

alexboudreau — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 17:58:20 +0000

Serge, I absolutely agree, we need to have a good understanding of ourselves to be able to identify what our passion is. Like I mentioned to a friend recently, even though you’re good at something, it doesn’t mean its your true passion. That was actually my mistake for the past few years and just realized that it sidetracked me from my true talent and passion.

Thanks for sharing your insights!

By: Serge Labelle

Serge Labelle — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 17:51:31 +0000

Brilliant piece of work Alex, thanks for sharing.

Like Malcolm Gladwell would say in his book “Outlier”, context is key.

History of success is made of 3 components:

Context + 10,000 hours of work + Average talent

Regarding the 10,000 hours of work (3-4 years approx.) you need a key ingredient: Passion.

I am always astonished by the lack of passion in most people.
The main is reason is a lack of self-knowledge.

What do we want out of life? This is the first question we need to ask ourselves! Yes, it seems cliché but do we step back, breathe and then get this AhAh moment.

THEN, if you have an entrepreneurial mind, figure out what kind of business is the most suitable to you based on your passion (brand?).

We need to do our own “life market research” other than that, we will inevitably quit even if its the best product and best market.

Thanks for sharing. Looking foward for your next post. À suivre…

By: alexboudreau

alexboudreau — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 17:39:50 +0000

Interesting statistics. According to this blog http://exomarketingintegre.wordpress.com/2009/11/16/l%E2%80%99importance-de-la-recherche-marketing-dans-le-processus-de-lancement-de-produit/ between 70 and 95% of products fail in the technology industry from the lack of customer focus. That’s what I call a reality check!!!