Seek mentors, not validation
30th September 2011 · 3 Comments
When my son joined a pee wee football league a few years ago I noticed an interesting phenomenon that perfectly parallels entrepreneurial startups today. At the first practice I found myself befriending one of the player’s dads. His enthusiasm and excitement over the upcoming season was borderline infectious. When his son declared one day that he wanted to be quarterback, it became clear that he wasn’t just another enthusiastic dad on the sidelines-he was borderline obsessive. Utterly convinced that his son was destined to be a superstar on the field he decided to do everything in his power to make that happen. He immediately went on-for lack of a better word-a bender, purchasing everything a ten year old quarterback could possibly need. Helmet, face mask, name brand top of the line cleats (that his son would outgrow in a matter of months), limited edition color mouth guard, and of course no quarterback worth his salt would be caught dead without black grease balm under his eyes.
I’m sure most of us have experienced this phenomenon with our kids in one way or another. Parents have an innate desire to support and affirm their children; likewise, children thrive on the approval of their parents. To the young quarterback hopeful nothing could be more encouraging and exciting that his father giving him everything he could possibly need to succeed-everything that could be bought, that is. While we all know that sporting the right gear might make you look like a champion, it won’t (read: didn’t) make you play like one. Unfortunately, the only awards the poor kid won that year were “best-dressed” and “dedicated benchwarmer”… The latter quite possibly because the coach was sick of his father’s constant backseat coaching.
Inexperienced entrepreneurs often find themselves falling victim to the same phenomenon. They have a business idea they are convinced will be successful, so naturally they turn first to family and friends to get the validation they so desperately need. Family and friends are conditioned to offer support and affirmation, which is exactly the response they give. And so begins the dysfunctional capital fundraising initiative.
Don’t get me wrong, I am in no way judging those seeking support and validation for their own company from the 3 F’s: family, friends, and fools. My sole intention is to impress upon startups that the best way to launch a successful company is to get your validation from experts in related fields. For the vast majority of us, this thoroughly excludes family and friends.
Take your idea, be it product or solution, to someone who has experience within a related field. Even better if that someone is either an entrepreneur themselves or has proven startup experience. This is critical when it comes to exploring ways to monetize the business idea.
Recently I made the recommendation to a startup to take their idea to a competitor. After they got over their initial horror and revulsion, they asked me to explain why on earth they should take their brilliant idea and hand it over to their competitor. Number 1: because the competitor needed their solution to take to market. Number two: the entrepreneur had put absolutely none of his own money into the project. Number three: no one in his family had money to invest, not to mention the fact that they were rather unenthusiastic about the idea in general. And the kicker, as if the above-mentioned wasn’t enough, because he was at heart an “idea guy”-with zero practical experience running a business.
Business is hard. Startups in particular are a difficult beast to tame. No matter what you do or who you decide to talk to, don’t start with family and friends simply because you could really use some of that love and support they are always willing to give you. Trust me; you don’t want to drag them through this with you. Think about it… Do you really want to make them feel like they are your own personal investment bank? Do you really want to blur the lines between blood, friendship and business? Do you want to explain to your investment banker or venture capitalist that they have to be impossibly delicate with Aunt Edna when the time comes to take her out of the deal so you can move on to the next phase? Trust me and not only will you save yourself the granddaddy of all headaches, but from being relegated to the bottom stack as well.
With the realization that there’s no fast buck fundraising in building a successful venture, and that success is never guaranteed-you can enhance your chances by choosing to work smart.
Michael,
Thoroughly enjoyed your piece and the solid advice it offers for those about to try and “tame the beast”. Through the eyes of a retained exec search consultant I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve seen enthusiastic ‘entrepreneurs’ quickly accumulate all the trappings of a successful business before getting traction in their targeted market. Always a sad but predictable outcome…
I might also add your advice fits nicely for those who aspire to be a writer. Since true friends are rare, and it seems they are the most likely to offer constructive criticism on a story idea, manuscript, etc, when a writer absolutely needs the brutal truth from someone they trust, finding another writer with nothing invested can be a lifeline for a fledgling writer.
You offer good advice and guidance…keep it up!
Michael,
So true. However, would you suggest to not have the first line of idea validation of the (at least the first 2F’s)? If the FF’s don’t support the idea, what chance do you have in the marketplace? Assuming it is a consumer oriented idea.
One other question is whether customer interviews before a product/service is ready are any good? We have conducted customer interviews and they were glowing. However actual selling was much tougher (as expected). However, we didn’t receive the response that the interviews indicated by even a small fraction. After gaining more ground, it appears that the only validation is to build a minimum viable set of product/service and begin selling it. Your thoughts are much appreciated.
3 F’s are friends, family, and fools. If you have a consumer based idea you want to monetize you can use all 3 F’s. However, that does not make this significant market research. Go out and test it on campus. Solicit within a network (not everyone is a network is a friend, although they may be friendly). In that market research you must know two things from talking to 50-100 people minimum for consumer based. Would they buy it today? How much would they pay for it? In that research, pay attention to details such as demographics, profile of the case, income level, lifesty, age… etc.
Yes, interviews and focus groups are an important part of the overall marketing and pricing strategy! Still, they are only one aspect of a much more important effort, which is solicitation. Like direct mail, you only gain a fraction of response from your effort. You must do many things to capture a market share. Once you do, there is then a sales effort that must take place to monetize the venture.
If you did your research and you ended up with no results, perhaps you had the wrong audience, asked the wrong questions, or missed an important step in the selling experience. Our firm can help you with these matters.
Best of luck!