I’ve got a great idea, now what?
This post is intended to the participants of Startup Weekend Alexandria.
You’ve picked your idea and pitched it to a clapping crowd, you’re filled with all the energy and confidence that you will make it happen… don’t get too carried away and know this: what lies ahead of you is your biggest challenge and the essence of the Startup Weekend experience.
Having been down the path of prototyping ideas far too many times, I’m in some position to shed some light on what to do and what to avoid while you’re trying to create the best product and get a shot at winning the 1st prize (or any prize for that matter), here are some thoughts in no particular order:
1. Pick a passionate team: pick team members that share your passion for the idea and think it’s really cool! This passion is the only thing that will keep them going without rest or sleep till the product see the light!
Ask your potential team members: “what exactly do you like about my idea?” and their answers will give them away, whether they really care about it or just looking for a team to join.
2. No presentations: never ever EVER do a presentation of your idea! If you’re planning to use those 54 hours to work on a presentation of your idea, you’ve already lost and I’m afraid that you will learn nothing from this experience.
Startup Weekend is about creating something that works, period!
3. Demo something that works: don’t show people interfaces and narrate how they “should” work. Show something that actually works, where the audience can see you using the product. A mediocre idea that works will always beat an amazing idea that is described in slides.
If you picked an idea that’s too big or broad to be prototyped that quickly, then bad news friend, you’ve picked the wrong idea! But it’s not too late to dump it and work on something else, you’ve already got a team and time to do something.
4. Prototype the core function: you have a couple of days, so no one is expecting a real product here! All you have to do is to show the audience that you got something working that represents the core of your idea, it doesn’t have to be great and good-looking, as long as it works and people can see what’s happening.
5. Kill them all: do not - and I repeat, do not - keep any features that are not part of the core offering!
You might think that you have time, but trust me, you don’t!
You might think that those features are extremely important, they’re not!
Just show something that works well, which is the absolute minimal representation of your idea and you’re set!
6. Function over design: no one is expecting anything beautiful, they want something that works. Afterall, your audience is a bunch of geeks, and a barebones site that works will win them over a stunning site that does nothing.
Once you’re comfortable that your product works fine, you can spend whatever time you have left, making it look better, but not before that!
7. Plan for the worst: whatever can go wrong will go wrong: whatever time you plan for yourself, it’s gonna be cut in half, you might even lose some team members along the way… accept that and have a plan in place for them.
8. Practice your pitch: spend the last couple of hours honing your pitch and demo! Figuring out what to say, how to say it and what to show when you’re saying it! Try to practice on friends and mentors, their feedback always helps.
Even if you have the best product, if you stumble and choke on stage and don’t say the right things, you will lose the audience.
9. Relax: you did your best in the time you were given, so stressing about it in the last few minutes is not gonna change anything, it will only throw you off your flow. Spend the last 30 mins relaxing and clearing your head and you’ll do great.
10. Enjoy: the Startup Weekend experience is all about learning from the process, so keep an open-mind, don’t take things too seriously and most of all have lots of fun!
See you all soon!
