Too many good ideas fail
My mom died too young of a cancer that my doctor friends say shouldn’t have killed her.
Ten years later I started working with a company that might have been able to save her life. But now I know she almost certainly would have ignored them if she’d come across them back then.
It’s not that my mom didn’t want to live. It’s just that, like all of us, she was terrible about knowing what to notice and what to ignore. There’s just too much stuff out there.
And this is the fundamental problem for anyone offering anything new. Too many good ideas fail, not because they can’t create their new thing but because they can’t attract the attention of the people who can put their good idea to use, even if it would help them. Even if it might save their life.
This drives me crazy.
Since 2002 I’ve helped more than 100 companies and not-for-profits succeed by attracting the attention of the people who can put them to use. A lot of these make people’s lives better. Some have become big organizations. A few even save lives. When I can bring attention to worthwhile ideas, it feels to me like the reason why I’m on the planet.
Because smart startups shouldn’t fail for stupid reasons.
Mapping the unknown
Imagine you’re an entrepreneur. You just spent three years creating your new thing. It’s been at times exhausting, ultimately exhilarating. After all the trial and error of getting it to work, you have it. It’s ready.
This moment, as you’re about to bring your new thing into the world, is when you’re most likely to fail. And it comes as a cold shock.
After all the work of putting your thing together, you’ve done it. Here it is! The solution to the problem! And shockingly, no one cares. In fact, you can’t even get them to pay attention long enough to see what you have.
“But wait!” you want to say. “Just look at what this is, what it can do for you! If you would just take a minute to listen, you’ll see how this makes your life better! Just look!”
But they don’t. Why not? What’s wrong with them?
How to bring a new idea to market is the great challenge in introducing anything new, after the actual creation of the thing. Most companies fail within their first few years, and the #1 reason why is because they couldn’t find a market for what they do.
Let’s fix that.
How Not to Fail
1 No one eagerly awaits your message.
2 Answer the question they’re already asking.
3 You’ve got a better message than “How It Works”.
4 Attention is not rational.
5 Think of your creation as the tangible expression of a deeper value.
6 Design is a force multiplier.
7 Companies don’t make decisions. People do.
8 Customers move toward you step-by-step.
9 Build your message on human truths.
10 You can tell when you’re getting it right.
