Startup Camp

Last week I took part in an internal Startup Camp. The goal was to take an idea for a spin for a week, and prove if it is worth further investment or not.

I didn’t have my own idea, so I joined an existing project. We proudly called as co-founders, even in fact we were just learning basics.

Lessons learned

Idea is nothing without execution

I’ve heard it multiple times, but until you start doing something you might be blinded by the absolute awesomeness of your idea. It is only when you start digging deeper you discover all its hidden sides, and may ultimately come to a conclusion that nobody needs it.

It is necessary to believe in the idea, but it is sometimes as well important to let it go when everyone tells you it is not needed, and research confirms it.

You can talk to random people on LinkedIn

During our research, we contacted 50+ people on LinkedIn each. And some of they answered! We did numerous interview just in few days, talking to former employees of competitor companies and potential and current users of similar software. This helped us a lot to understand our problem understanding wasn’t aligned with the reality.

We dropped the idea, but the spirit lives on

We had an opportunity to continue working on the project if we could have proved it can be successful. Nevertheless, it was also an important experience to close the project before we invested too much into something that can’t be profitable.

One out of fifty

They say that only 1 out of 50 startups survives and is profitable. Well, I need to try just 49 more times.

This is ten percent luck
Twenty percent skill
Fifteen percent concentrated power of will
Five percent pleasure
Fifty percent pain
And a hundred percent reason to remember the name

Remember the name by Fort Minor

Just do it!

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