Quantcast
Channel: Rutgers Center for Management Development - Entrepreneur training
Viewing all articles
Browse latest Browse all 2

Stealth Mode

0
0

Stealth Mode

by Braun C. Kiess

You just had it. The BIG idea.  The, “Oh my God this is the greatest thing since electricity” idea.

Next comes the question that haunts every entrepreneur in his or her sleep. Whom should I tell? If I tell person x, will he steal my idea? “Maybe,” you tell yourself, “I mean this idea is so great that perhaps I’d better keep it a secret while I develop the business.” 

You have just entered what is referred to as “stealth mode.” Right now, all over the world, there are startups operating in stealth mode--telling no one, living in the shadows, posting jobs for Chief Technology Officers (when they really need developers, but we’ll save that for another discussion) with cryptic business descriptions for fear someone will abscond with their brilliance.

I think stealth mode is a mistake. I would propose that immediately upon having “the BIG idea,” you should start talking to everyone you know. Here are three reasons why:

REASON #1: IT’S A RACE– Realize that when you just had your BIG idea, so did a dozen other people. There was something in the environment, a confluence of things going on in society that caused that idea to percolate to the surface. From the moment you have your BIG idea, the race is on, and in most cases, it’s winner takes all (or at least most).

Now, most people will never act on their BIG idea (as I’ve mentioned in previous blogs, most people are very risk averse). But some, maybe 3 or 4 of that dozen people who had the same idea you did, will. It’s them you have to worry about. So act. And act quickly, because you need to bring a better product to market faster than they do, or you’re toast; and guess what, it’s hard to bring a better product to market without lots of customer feedback.

REASON #2: YOU NEED THE FEEDBACK– so start telling everyone you know. Lean startup methodologies are now in effect and product development will never be the same. Today bringing products to market is all about rapid design iterations with as much customer feedback in the process as quickly as possible. Remember--the riskiest thing you can do is build something nobody wants. And how can you know if anybody wants your something if you never talk to anybody? You should be doing the opposite. You need to collect feedback from anyone and everyone (see Job #2 - Relentless Self Promotion, in my December 2013 blog) and incorporate that feedback into your product design/business model. So don’t go stealth; go sing from the rooftops!

REASON #3: THE NETWORK EFFECT– You never know who is going to be your white knight. You never know who is going to have access to whatever scarce resource it is that you are searching for. I have a friend who ended up raising money from the 2nd cousin of a person she met at a cocktail party. I know many other entrepreneurs who have met their CTOs through mutual friends and business colleagues. How would these people have ever connected with what they needed, as quickly as they did, if they hadn’t been telling anyone and everyone who would listen about their BIG idea?

Now, let me add one caveat here… The above assumes there is nothing patentable about the idea you just had. If there is, then that is another story. Shut your trap and file a provisional patent first, because as of March 16th of last year (2013), the US patent office is operating on the First Inventor to File (FITF) system--and guess what, you know those three to four other people who just had the same idea you did? Well one of them is a patent attorney. Game on!

STAY HUNGRY. STAY FOOLISH.   

Braun C. Kiess, MBA is a serial entrepreneur, educator, and investor. He is an Adjunct Professor of Finance and Entrepreneurship at Rutgers Business School.  He also teaches in the miniMBA programs at Rutgers Center for Management Development.


Viewing all articles
Browse latest Browse all 2

Latest Images

Trending Articles



Latest Images