A common excuse for not starting a start-up or building a product is the perceived lack of the Big Idea. This is nonsense. Ideas are the easy part; it’s doing something with them that is hard. Let me illustrate.
I was on my way to a client meeting recently and wanted to take my trusty notebook with me – you know the traditional paper kind. It was only a short commute by bicycle and since I was carrying only one thing, I decided to leave my backpack behind.
However as any cyclist can tell you it’s no fun riding one-handed. The A5 notebook wouldn’t be squeezed into my pocket either, which left me wondering what to do with it. The solution would have made MacGyver proud – I sticky taped the notebook onto the bike frame.
And there’s the idea:
Why not create a notebook bag that has easy quick-release attachments to hook it onto a bicycle frame?
I decided to do some research and here’s the concept brief I put together that afternoon:
However, that’s the fun and easy part. Saddlepod is still nothing tangible; it’s just an idea. All I’ve done is compose a brief and send it to a few potentially interested parties. But that’s not enough – if I truly believed in the idea I would have to really work it.
Got a great idea? Get to work and make it a reality.
Ps. There is fewer than 50 results on Google for Saddlepod and although the .com is gone I call first dibs on the name 🙂 Also, if you decide to design and put something like this into production please let me know!
Further reading
- Seth Godin: Big ideas
- Seth Godin: Where do ideas come from?
- The Online Journalist Review: One lesson from Facebook and ‘The Social Network’: Ideas are worthless
- Derek Sivers: Ideas are just a multiplier of execution
- Rob Morris: Ideas are worthless
- Alan Cooper: Innovation is a waste disposal problem
- Mark Pollard: The big idea versus small idea debate is dumb. Here’s why.
- Alan Cooper: You can’t save your way to innovation
Update 11 Aug 2011: Added links to two more great posts by Sivers and Morris.
Update 24 Aug 2011: Added links to relevant posts by Cooper and Pollard.
This post was originally published on the Volkside blog.
