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THE MAKER MINDSET
It probably feels safe to spend time and energy on the aspects of your idea that you can grasp. The technical challenges are often much more visible and well-known. It’s tempting to skip ahead and spend time “solving the big problems,” such as developing the right algorithms. But why do that?
THE MYTH OF “BUILD IT AND THEY WILL COME”
When you’re by yourself or with your team, it often feels exciting (and quite safe) to riff all day on your ideas. You’ve probably spent countless hours, energy, and brainpower on the “coolest” details of your idea. When you’re a technical person, or part of a technical team, you probably even start heading down the road of how to solve the technical challenges of your idea before you’ve even explored how to test the idea itself.
We do this because the things we know and can figure out on our own, without having to step outside of our box, feel comfortable, and frankly, they are often rewarding personal puzzles to solve. Hence, we’re tempted to skip ahead and spend time “solving the big problems,” such as developing the right algorithms, distribution channels, or manufacturing systems.
While solving puzzles is fun and can create lots of energy on its own, when it comes to customer-facing products, there simply are no shortcuts. You must figure out how to solve the toughest challenge: will this idea resonate with customers? There is no point in solving future problems if you haven’t solved today’s problem first. Start at the ...
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