You’ve got an idea. An innovation. An epiphany. It’s pretty amazing,
if you do say so yourself. But when you try to explain it to a couple of
your friends, they just stare blankly. Or worse, they immediately begin
listing off all the reasons it won’t work.
So where did things go wrong? Is your idea really that terrible? Was
your explanation inadequate? Do you need to upgrade your class of
friends? Assuming that you’ve already examined all three of these
possibilities, there is a probable fourth issue. You began by trying to
explain your idea.
You began by talking about it. You didn’t demonstrate it. As long as
your epiphanous innovation languishes in the field of dreams, it goes
nowhere. Even for you. Unless you’re ready to show what it looks like in
action, you have no convincing skin in the game. You can speak
articulately and argue convincingly, but where’s the risk? Really.
Derek Sivers founded CD Baby by accident. He was simply an indie
musician who wanted to market his catalog. He was chasing his passion
and a few of his friends and fellow musicians asked if he could help
them do the same. He didn’t set out to revolutionize the way people
access artists and their music. He was just stubborn enough to believe that
indie artists could connect directly with their potential audience. In
the face of the music industry giants and their distribution monopoly,
he had a crazy idea. Change the rules. It turned out to be a $22 million
crazy idea.
Why did it work? He didn’t begin by talking about it. He began by doing it. And providing the opportunity for it to catch on.
You may have an astounding, game changing idea. How much do you really believe in it? How crazy are you? Crazy enough?
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