As readers of my last blog post are aware, an amazing team and I are starting a business, MunuWhiz, this summer focused on the gifting of virtual goods. Approximately, one month since my last post, the excitement and work continue to mount.
The Internet and CJBS library are flush with texts highlighting considerations to make when starting a venture. Numerous frameworks on how to contemplate strategically positioning a new business are available in books by academic authors. A quick Google search identifies thousands of downloadable PDF files highlighting the steps to grow a start-up (and at times what services “must” be purchased) by governmental agencies, consulting firms, and software publishers.
These texts have assisted me in the formulation of my summer venture project. Nevertheless, few writings have captured the core of the start-up experience. As such, when I came across a text which seemingly captured the reality of new venture success , I felt the readers of this blog should know:
A quote from 37signals, a web application development firm:
“To me ideas are worth nothing unless executed. They are a multiplier. Execution is worth millions.
Explanation:
Awful-idea: -1
Weak-idea 1
So-so idea: 5
Good-idea: 10
Great-idea: 15
Brilliant-idea: 20
No execution: $1
Weak execution: $1,000
So-so execution: $10,000
Good-execution: $100,000
Great-execution: $1,000,000
Brilliant-execution: $10,000,000
To make a business, you need to multiply the two. The most brilliant idea with no execution is worth $20.” (37signals 2006)*
Ven diagrams and graphics with multiple market forces may indeed help form a clever business idea; however, if one is not willing to work to turn this notion into a reality, a business will never grow. This summer has proven as much about doing (phone calls with graphic designers, drafting PowerPoint presentations, and meeting with valuable connections) as about thinking about business strategy. I expect more late nights to come; nevertheless the excitement of creating something new brings anticipation to “burning the midnight oil.”
Hopefully, my business partners and I (and entrepreneurial readers of this blog) will be able to performs the maths: idea*execution=venture value.
*37signals, 2006. Getting real. [e-book] Chicago: 37signals. Available through: 37signals website <http://gettingreal.37signals.com/> [Accessed 19 August 2012].