Rule number one for any thing. Never take advice from spectators or from MACs.(Mutual Admiration Club) members. Those are the folks that give each other awards. If u aren't building ME2s(where funding is easier), bootstrapping is a different game that needs a different outlook.
Rule number two, its good to dream. Put the dreams in a box & chase them once you have the money. Before that, ask yourself the small data question"what can you build now, Iteratively?" that will add value to an existing market. Optimize your current resources & build for the now
Dont misconstrue passion for profit. Look for the unsexy,(industries/verticals) thats where the real jugular of profit taking is. While the(VC) money is solving sexy and sophisticated problems you need to focus on the low key low hanging stuff where simple is king.
Today if you look around there is tons of money to be made on reliable simple services like cleaning , supplies, removal of junk, storage services, maintenance, laundy, organized gardening, retainer based handy wo(man) etc.Stop chasing the apps & the block chain. Be the odd 1
Make your real project your passion project, 0-60 meaning start making a return on your time and money in 60 days, start small, focus hard, calibrate and execute. Not every things needs a soft loan from Soft Bank. For simple stuff u dont need validation, its a wild goose chase.
Competitions existence is validation enough. Instead of validation start looking at the quality of the competition. 9/10 you’ll often find that the market is saturated with a tons of bad players, who make a lot of money even with bad products/svc. That should be your gold mine.
A bootstrappers dream in my view should be a market that with incremental improvement allows you to displace incumbents because the service trajectory or quality of product you introduce improves the lives of the players in the market & once you achieve demand shift
People typically dont go back to the old vendor, because they feel cheated for having a low end/service or product. Once you break that barrier you can rule the roost.Instead of building insane business plans & decks take a piece of paper &draw two lines split it into 4 sections
List what you have, what you can build, what the market needs, how you will deliver. Every thing else will come in the 60 days you go play the game. Business plans=analysis paralysis, do it, fail fast, fix fast, move fast & be done with it.Start by asking if ppl are making money
If they are making money in that space & the barriers to entry are low, then go play. Add your own magic to it in delivering a better mouse trap, but u wont know till you execute. BE ON YOUR OWN TEAM! Dont scare your self by thinking of all that u don't have. Focus on winning.
No one can steal your ideas, ideas like equity stink when you hold on to them, you will eventually launch & ppl will find out, there is no secret handshake business & not like consumers wont know. Your ultimate win is when every one knows about you. So stop holding ur self back.
If you cant compete you shouldn't start. Contrary to popular belief, first mover advantages are costly, who wants to pay to educate customers? Better to be late & liquid than be first and f**d. If you focus on passions you limit your natural ability to a small field. Be open.
Work on problems with great margins. App downloads dont pay bills, neither do likes and awards. Focus on the greenbacks only. Dont over complicate life, simplicity wins. If you cant explain it to a 5 yr old you already lost.Starting small is ok,your 1st startup doesnt have to win
You cant be a chef by reading cook books, you have to cook. Likely you wont win master chef either the first time around so why paralyze your self to never cook thinking u wont win, or expect to succeed in your first startup. Dont pressure your self. Only trying leads to success.
All else collects dust and get parked in to the "regret" chapter of your life's un written book. @rebootdude @jehan_ara @raza_matin @SaadGH @TalhaIzhar @YusufJan @Ash_Kalim @ZMoosaPK @FaizaYousuf @TheNestiO @id92_pk
