If I Only Had A Million Dollars…
Tell me if you have heard this story before. I got a message from a friend recently looking to get together, so I suggested we grab a drink in the neighborhood. After some de rigueur banter to catch up on life, sports, and the state of the union, he got to the real reason for getting together. He launched into his idea for the next big tech thing, practically jumping out of his chair by the end of his exhaustive pitch. Once he sat back down and composed himself, he asked me what I thought.
Once I wiped the spittle from my face, I considered the idea. Obviously he had given this idea much thought and was in the right industry with the right skills to pull it off. On the surface it seemed like the idea could be something. After hashing it over and asking more probing questions, I said he should go for it. His whole body seemed to deflate at that moment. Surprised by the sudden turn in mood, I asked what the problem was. He said he would love to get started…if only he had the money.
I have had my fair share of conversations where someone tells me of their world beating idea yet laments their lack of funds. Even in this era of easy seed money, crowd funding everywhere, and incubators practically throwing money at entrepreneurs, there are still plenty of people complaining about money. Despite the fact that technology is about as cheap and accessible as oil in the 90’s (anyone remember gas for under $1 per gallon) and the means to market and promote your idea is near zero cost, it is insane that people could even say this with a straight face. These are not people that are working the register at Wawa either. These are folks that went to Ivy League level schools, scored high paying jobs out of school, and have little to no financial or family obligations. For a person in such a situation, the world truly is his or her oyster.
If you believe that the only thing holding you back is money, then you are not an entrepreneur. A true entrepreneur overcomes those limitations. If you think that money is the main input required for launching a business, then you will never operate a successful business. Money is not the starter. The ingredients that ignite your idea are the passion and work you put into turning that idea into reality.
This is not to say that money is not important or that starving is next to godliness. You need money to take care of food and shelter and other personal life necessities. There are some costs to launching a web or mobile business. If the tech is patent worthy or requires manufacturing, there are significant costs associated with the process. Then there are ideas do in fact require expensive upfront capital outlays, particularly in energy or biotech related areas where equipment is costly and the regulatory procedures are nontrivial.
If anything money is an accelerant that can propel a venture towards an outcome. That outcome however could be positive as in the case of early investments made into Facebook or Google, or negative as we saw with Webvan and Pets.com. If your idea is idiotic or your execution shoddy, money will certainly expose and amplify those flaws. Money is not a determinant of success; it just assures you will get to your eventual outcome a lot faster.
The moral of this story then is to not stop when you come to the question of funding. That is not the obstacle. The only obstacle is your determination to make money a non-issue and focus on developing the idea. There are lots of choices and means to fund something these days. There are near limitless ways to take cost out of the equation or bring in revenue even before you have a complete product. If you are still skeptical, then ask yourself how someone like Sara Blakely became a billionaire.
What about my friend with the grand idea? He is still sitting on the sidelines doing nothing waiting for leprechauns to magically drop money bags onto his lap. Do not be that person! Be the person that says what the hell, barrels through the door, and does what it takes to turn vision into reality.
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