Idea Percolator

As I enter the next phase of the grand plan (Hang on! There's a plan????) I am filled with confidence, excitement, and shit scary ploppy pants.

What gives me confidence also gives me doubt.

I have a multitude of ideas. Fifteen at the last count... so if one doesn't work, then surely there's another one to try...

By the fact of having so many ideas also means that I can't get after one of them immediately with an all consuming passion. I worry that this means I won't put in all my energy to make any of the ideas a success.

But, to some degree by not getting after an idea with absolute intensity allows me to mull it over. It allows me to contrive "thought experiments" to understand the potential barriers and work out solutions before I invest a single pound. It's what I call my idea percolator...

Interestingly they're not all my ideas... Some of the ideas have come from friend's conversations, and they have sought me out, and I'm genuinely excited by that as I look forward to being the first person my friends turn to when they want to start their idea, using my expertise and, hopefully, capital.

Friends are either lying or are idiots (according to Scott Adams)

Over the course of the last few months I have let a few friends into my secret idea, partly to ease their curiosity and partly to gauge the levels of interest as consumers.

But how do I know if their response is because they're my friend or whether they're actually interested in the idea...

Well according to the creator of Dilbert, Scott Adam's, there's a simple rule to remember about friends and whether they're being disingenuous about your ideas (although in his context he's talking about writing a comic strip).

Don't listen to your friends who tell you your comics are hilarious. They're lying. Don't listen to your friends who tell you your comics suck. They're idiots. The only reliable feedback is the copy test, i.e. does someone want to copy your comic and show it to someone else who you don't know. If someone says he likes your comic but he doesn't ask to copy it for someone else, he doesn't really like your comic.

With that in mind I have a couple of friends who want to try out my idea and also I have a couple of friends I'd like to show my business buddy's idea to, as I think they'd love and are the perfect target audience for his idea and it would be great to get their feedback.

Perhaps these ideas I've been blogging on about actually do have legs then...