Let me count the ways … I hate your business idea

Posted by Geoff on Jun 18, 2012 in Home | 17 comments

 

Several years ago I had the, er … pleasure … of pitching in a business idea to Domenic Carosa . It was the kind of pleasure you get watching a building demolished with explosives but then realise it’s your building that is imploding. He systematically dismantled my business idea in 15 minutes flat (in less time then I could drink my coffee – and not just because he talks incredibly fast.) Now, don’t get me wrong this wasn’t a fleeting idea I’d just come up with. My well thought-though concept had been developed over 4 or 5 months with the input from some very clever (and successful) contributors and had some rocking technology at its cornerstone.

It was in this frame of mind in which I approached Domenic. You’ll be pleased to know that what Domenic talks about in this video he practises himself – thoroughly. It wasn’t’ so much that he was shooting holes in my proposition but he was just effortlessly pointing them out. He made the flaws so clear that it surprised me that others had failed to point them out before. That’s where it became obvious that was the the biggest believer of my own hype. I’d successfully sold myself on an idea, and forgotten to go and ask a bunch of my potential customers what they thought.

 

The most important part of the entire process is what Domenic says in his last three words of the video. If you miss doing this – don’t’ even pretend you’ve been through the process. So what became of my business proposition I was pitching to Domenic? We ended up shelving it without having lost any money.  For that I owe Domenic a lot more than the cost of his coffee that’s for sure!