1. Usually Trent’s articles are better — he is the one who has set the high standard. Everyone who commented expected more because often they get more. We know he likes criticism so it’s worth our time to comment.

2. We should not lower our expectations because TSD is free. If something is free but not helpful, better to not read it, or write it.

Other things that don’t qualify for intellectual property protection of any kind: chemical formulas, recipes, fashion designs.

(the above applies to the US only)

I think the point of Trent’s comments was basically to help someone decide IF they should try to do it for profit or give it away (but even then could be expanded) and give some general comments.

here’s the thing. This is a personal blog…and yet you all expect Trent to do the work of a fully researched article, the kind that publications (on and offline) have to pay people to write. (And you have to pay to buy the publication, in one form or another.)

So perhaps Trent, the real issue is to just make it clearer that everything you bring up, you can’t go into detail on. Nor should you. And that sometimes, you’re just floating something out there.

And FYI: Most people who have blogs? They either “subsidize” it by their daytime/other jobs or have some form of advertising, sponsorship, etc. (as you do) to have some of the costs covered.

Personally, I would pay for some of the blogs I read. Others, not even worth my time. Trent, I’d pay for yours!

And Trent, I don’t expect you to put the time and research into everything since you are NOT getting the funding to do all the work you do already.

People, there’s only so much anyone can give away for free and Trent already, IMHO, gives away a lot.

i heard barry speak a few years ago and he was great. honest tea is his idea that he actually executed.

My idea has evolved so much since I saw the PA that most of it is no longer relevant :(

Second, consider the open source concepts floating around these days. If your idea is truly exceptional (which is rare, but not impossible), then there are lots of businesses being built upon giving the idea away, but providing resources, support, and the product itself. Relatively few people want to steal your idea to make money themselves, but lots of them will buy your product either as a whole, or products to help them build a version of your product.

You do have the right idea of performing research first. I have helped several businesses/individuals research their “million dollar idea” only to have major pitfalls come up or realize they had a big oversight. To me, this was excellent money and time spent on their part to prevent a big waste of $ later on. Often the inventor is blinded by their own brilliance and overlooks common sense…it’s just human nature!

Just my 2 cents.

Entrepreneurship is scary. It is not for everyone, and frankly, it is a small number of the masses that will take an idea and make it see the true light of day. The commitment and risk holds people back, therefor the idea sits in their head (or in a FedEx envelop they sent themselves), until eventually someone DOES come along who is willing to act on it or something very similar, that they came up with.

There are countless articles out there espousing the idea that really you should just share your idea. If it’s that great you’ll find help along the way. If it’s not, you’ll have at least acted and found out. The danger isn’t in the sharing, because so few people are willing to take the risk and put forth the true effort involved in bringing something from the idea stage to the reality stage.

Go forth and share your ideas – I personally believe it will only help you in the long run.

“Make the right long-term decisions, not the ones that give you $10 and some gummi bears
Next time you have some opportunity, STOP THINKING ABOUT HOW TO MAKE MONEY OFF IT IMMEDIATELY. PLEASE!!!!!!!!!”

http://www.iwillteachyoutoberich.com/blog/on-greed-and-speed/

1. Start with a great idea.

2. Flesh out your idea. Give it form and a some substance. Write down some pages about the idea, do some work to see what you would do to get that idea from the draining-board to real life.

3. Talk to other people about the idea, to see if they can see good things about your idea and maybe they can highlight problems that you have not seen. If you are afraid of getting ripped off from your idea, then either flesh it out more for yourself, or only talk to close and good friends. Note that others contributing to your idea is not always a bad thing, having two people interested in one idea is more than twice as effective as working alone on the idea. It is very helpful to discuss ideas with other people, and when one person gets stuck the other person can help get that person going again.

4. Steadily expand your idea getting more people interested it in it. Do some preliminary thinking about how viable this project is in the long run. Is it something you should do or is the cost-benefit calculations wrong (although it might not be beneficial in monetary terms, you could maybe create something that you were proud to show future generations).

5. Expand the idea into it takes on a life of it own (it is first at point 4 or 5 that you should think about patents, lawyers, etc.)

Trent: I agree with the others that you could have worked harder on this idea. Please also put up a list of 1 to 5, of the steps to develop the idea. My list 1 to 5 was just a quick draft, but I would love to read an expanded list. You have so much experience, you went from one small idea and now you are living your dream of writing. Give the rest of us a list of how to develop our ideas.

I did the research to see what it would take to create it and realized it was too much work for very little payoff (if any). So I abandoned the project.

However, it is very cheap to start a business these days and network with others. I’m surprised that Trent didn’t mention much about modern networking tools… blogs, Twitter, etc.

However, implementation, selling, and marketing are usually more important than the idea.

-JP

In our limited experience (<10 patents) patents are expensive, hard work and rarely provide the basis for direct revenue.

There are always exceptions to the common place, particularly in the innovation space.

What matters is execution – you need to raise capital, sell, build a team… most people don’t have a clue.

Yes, but the write already said “I’d like to be able to make some money from this idea, but I think more than anything I’d just like to see it executed. Do you have any suggestions about what to do?”

Trent’s advice basically amounted to “Decide whether you want to make money from it, or if you just want to see it executed, and then ask someone who knows what they’re talking about.”

I don’t mean to offend or anything. I’m just leaving my opinion.