Returning to the scene of the crime

Today I returned to my old employer's office on a social visit.

The visit brought out mixed emotions in me. It was nice to see everybody but it was also a bit depressing to see everybody there, still going about their normal routine.

I went there to help an old colleague who is leaving to set-up on her own and also gain her help on a couple of my own ideas.

We spent some time chatting about what it feels like leaving, our different reasons for leaving and then discussed her ideas and plans.

Bizarrely enough, her main idea is in an area similar to one of my own, but with a different perspective. Her idea is aimed at an earlier stage to mine, and there could be quite a lot of synergies, especially around the marketing and networks we develop.

One of the things we chatted about was about how she should get after her idea once she left... passionately working on her own vs tailoring her proposition to the needs of the customers... Should she focus solely focus on her passion, bunker down for a couple of months, developing her own solution bouyed by her passion and then take it out into the big bad world? Or should she go out and see what people want and then develop something from that, which she might not feel that passionate about?

I suggested doing both.

Developing the outline of her proposition and then getting feedback from her potential customers and then in turn taking that feedback, developing it more and seeking more feedback so that by the end of it you have something which is relevant to the customer but also something she could be passionate about it.

I think & feel that she's got a great idea and will be able to offer something amazing for her customers and I look forward to seeing how it develops...