software, entrepreneurship, young-entrepreneursWhen you read about the founders of the biggest social media platforms today (i.e. Facebook, Snapchat) it’s almost always somebody with a relevant background or some kind of genius in general (take Mark Zuckerberg for example). It is never a regular person.
Keeping that context in mind, I have an original idea for a social networking platform that could connect people around the world in a fun way. I’m currently enrolled at a Dutch university studying pharmacy. I have no relevant background (I’m a fast learner though, so I could learn to program myself or I could build an appropriate team to do the job) and although I would consider myself smart, I wouldn’t go as far as calling myself a genius.
Assuming this idea of mine could blow up like Snapchat did if executed right, how big are the chances for a regular student like me? Is it likely for this person to build such a platform that would turn out successful without any experience in entrepreneurship?
The success is not necessarily dictated by how innovative the idea is, but rather the execution of it.
I’ve seen amazingly innovative ideas fail to become successful businesses because of, for example: the wrong investment strategy, the wrong team, hiring too late, wrong city, wrong economic climate, bad luck, bad advice, ‘real life’ changes, etc, etc.
I’ve seen businesses fail because of it being a bad idea too though, but thankfully very few of them get off the ground because they get spotted.
So, your chances of developing a successful social media platform? I’m not sure, it depends what how you define success. Your chances of being the next ‘unicorn’? very slim, But that is because if it was easy to create one we’d all have done it. Doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try.
However, test your ideas with people, go through it on paper and plan. It is far cheaper for everyone to fail on paper first.
Here is a simple way to become an outlier.
http://gladwell.com/outliers/the-10000-hour-rule/
10,000 hours rule - Mark Zuckerberg and the rest may not be geniuses and you too do not need to be a genius. The reason they succeed is because they accumulated hours doing one thing or another that led them to their current position.
Currently being a pharmacist you have a better chance at building a pharmaceutical firm that will be better than anything Mark or anyone else can build. Mark might not have a clue of where to start but I am sure you have a better clue than him.
That being said, I would advice you to NOT skip school and rush into a Software startup, but rather to start gaining some mileage on your 10,000 hours. Once you have gained around 2,000 hours, dip your toe into the idea and see what you come up with. By then I am sure you will be able to understand the tricks of the Software trade. It may not be a perfect demo but whatever you build will have less burn. Do not hustle yourself into building a look and feel like Facebook or SnapChat, they have thousands of engineers most of whom are top of their class. What you need is proof of concept. 2,000 - 5,000 hours can get you that.
There’s no useful way to predict the success of someone you don’t know on a personal basis. The past usually dictates the future. Only you know how good you are at making things happen and a startup or business is no different. Everything has nuance and finesse, including starting businesses. Most of the time, it’s not what you do, but how you do it, which is what execution is.
Try to picture your work ethic compared with obsessive guys like Zack or any other super successful gogetter you know. Do you see yourself out obsessing them and straight up out working them with your passion? Try it to see if you can do it wihtout making “quality of life” excuses for why things aren’t done yet. Actually, the real test is to see if you can make things happen with no excuses period. If an excuse comes up, you’re better off being a pharmacist.
Excuses are what set entrepreneurs apart. They don’t have them no matter what. They don’t mention their lack of training, knowledge, IQ, domain expertise,etc. They just make it happen without giving up and prioritize their goals over everything else. Family, security, friends, TV, etc. everything is secondary to hitting their goal. Break up the major things that you need to accomplish in order to make your idea a success, then attack each major thing, like your life depends on it.
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