The essence of the trend the concept of "start-up"

Hello, %username%!
Today I want to tell you about such concept as "start-up". Only I'm not going to paint the life in pink. However, don't wait and gray shades. Unlike most of the inhabitants of "Habra" I have a professional education in Economics. And you know what "start-up" experience. And behind not only has a negative or positive experience. There are victories and failures. Not only mine, but my customers (worked for some time on themselves, but now closed company — from my limited Finance their business at the proper level is not yet implemented). This is what I want to tell. However, this article is, in particular, the "analysis" of events over the last two years from the point of view of a person slightly understand the economy. Let's start...

"Start-up" as a trend
For anybody not a secret that the "start-up" is today's trend, fashion trend. What amazes me, no one is trying to analyze why it happened. If you do, the %usename%, gathered to work on "yourself" and create a "project of their dreams", I thought — who you had this idea. The book of jobs, gates and other business tycoons? Then you are likely a dreamer, believing in pink ponies and rainbow beach. People who the truth for a long time work within any industry were there not so randomly as it seems. Any successful project there are prerequisites. Whether it's a brilliant engineer, a great programmer or the serious capital needed. Understand, with minimal cost and effort does not make you a legend. And if you're not a genius (as is most likely, once you read this work and/or is still not "shot"), and the friends you have are the same — you should think where to get money. The best option if you have a dad/mom/aunt/uncle/etc. have the means and you can ask them. There is nothing to be ashamed of. Many have started. Business is not for those who want to stay clean and constantly rejects help. It is for those who can quickly and profitably adapt. Remember one thing, once and for all! It follows from the very idea of capitalism: everything within the law, honestly and with dignity. Everything else is not important and doesn't matter. The ideal entrepreneur is not suffering from the revitalization of conscience or other nonsense, because if not you'll make it, then someone else.

Who else could provoke you to "do its thing"? Article, "sucess story of the ordinary people." Now think. They say only what was "good". But nobody writes about the fact that I had to work without sleep and how to feel. What I had to go to get every extra penny of profit. I'm sure many would like to live only at the expense of "their craft" and work "on the uncle". Now think — why "uncle" organize their work gets so much and gives you only what is owed to you for work. It works, unlike you 24 hours a day, his job is to be available for business at any moment of his life. By and large, for the first three years you do forget such things as healthy sleep, personal life or weekend. The price of success — failure from himself for a term of three to ten years. And possibly for life.

Now think — who cultivates this trend and most importantly — why. The answer is simple: economists themselves. The concept of "start-up" is very profitable for Russia. We have not developed a small business (actually it is not), and without its development according to the Russian economists to create a healthy economy. In fact, the main role of small enterprises in the same "States" — the service orders of large enterprises or the creation of products that satisfy a very small market (large companies is simply not profitable to work on it). But speaking about small business many people forget that the goal of any small enterprise is to become a monopolist. And let's say that monopolization is bad, that it will not create a healthy and efficient economy. That's not true. Monopolization is the natural state of the market due to many factors. Anyone want to become the "king of the mountain", isn't it?.. The constant appearance of the same "start-UPS" provides a profit to other players in the market (it is still not quite "free", you create a project). By and large due to their economists pose additional infusion of capital in firms larger than the creators of the projects. In other words, a simple Vanya, who decided to become the new king of "the Internet" due to his "cool project" is by and large "cash cow". On the market benefit only the big players. As Vanya's weak, has no support and money. By the way, this same system works Forex win in which the normal amount, only those who have a turnover with a sum of six zeros. Probably you have already began to distrust my position. Well, here is an example.
One of the first projects that implemented my company has been the resource of the banking machine WebMoney for one person. One and a half years engaged in microcredit and decided to automate the process of issuing. Naturally, like any normal "lender," he wanted to analyze their activities. I will omit all the technical details of the project (although issues with WM were many, both from the point of view of documentation and disgusting support, which was not able to answer very specific questions lead programmer), I will say only that "start-up" customer in a year failed miserably. The reason is simply lack of funds. Now the project is closed, the domain name is sold to another. Naturally we were approached with "claims" as "expected effect" could not be reached. After some simple analysis (through "activities" of the project, including advertising, PR and marketing strategy) found that promotion of the project the customer was not engaged — not enough money. He had a feeling that the project will bring profits and after a while it can pay for advertising and book promotion in search engine (we are not engaged in this activity our focus was purely technical implementation). Interestingly, the potential of the project was quite high. Our product was made at a higher level than most "competitors" of the customer. The source even offered to buy back for an amount several times more people with a good financial base (later abandoned — found a more attractive segment for investment). Maybe many will say: "what is there new?! This idea was initially flawed," or: "the fool to meddle in without money does not make sense". On the one hand you're right, but 99% of "start-UPS" meet those needs, and many existing products. And normal financing is rather rare (after all, we're not talking about projects such as "Habra" or "Vkontakte" and "home project" Wani, who created in the head analogue of the "American dream"). Market in such cases simply redistributes money from those who are "smart/naive" to those who are ready for the fulfillment of the desires of the "naive" to take the award. I note that when people refused to immediately order the promotion of the project in another organization (we advised him there would have made a 30% discount "on acquaintance"), but decided to postpone it for a couple of months after the conclusion of the project, I realized that the product "don't shoot". Say it is immoral and unethical to take money for it? Not at all. He learned a lesson (and a very good one, the work was not very cheap), and we get the money. If it did not we would anyone else.

a Selection of ideas
Put aside the conversation about funding (it is possible to grovel for hours), and we can talk about ideas and Ideas. Actually come up with something completely new in the framework of the existing technologies is impossible. It is also not possible to create a market without any new requirements or large capital in the creation of this need (Hello, Apple company! You are the best in this case!). So let's answer honestly to the question: "Can I come up with something worthwhile". Most often the answer is a categorical "no". Successful are only those projects which can use not only the Creator and hundreds of people. Really used projects become "guests" of the majority of users (how many people work with the same Evernote). So the audience of 100 people will not bring real profit. Of course not, if Your customers various MNC's and you're developing a highly complex system without which they cannot work. But to do that you probably can't, let's be realistic. Then what to do? To figure out how to satisfy the need for better competitor. For example, the same Windows is objectively easier to use the standard "hamster" than Linux; and Mac earlier and was objectively easier to use than the IBM PC with MS-DOS. People are lazy by nature and want to be entertained and make life easier. Try this. Immediately eliminated half of the ideas? This is normal. Large companies have whole departments engaged in "generation of ideas". Therefore, even a pair of "very bright" minds are not capable of "on the mountain" to give the idea of a masterpiece.
Do the same ", just like project" and "to multiply entities" to put it mildly does not make sense. You can't do better than a company with great momentum. Even with good funding creating a total copy of something, you can only bask in the remnants of the rays from a competitor. You know a lot of distros based on Ubuntu? If a dozen is very good. But hundreds of thousands of them. Their creators get something (fun, experience, donut), but they will never get this dozen. Also your project — if it will not use them thousands, it is simply not worth the investment in these efforts.

Probably you think: "Yes, he can recoup? Except that the host/artist/etc.". Unfortunately I want to upset — even if you have placed a website for free (well, let you gave it to a friend) the hosting and implementation do it yourself — still you incurred the expenses. Have you spent time that could be spent on something more useful. The cost of this time is never taken into account by the majority of Russian entrepreneurs and startups. The concept of "opportunity cost" is simply discarded by the majority with the words: "what could I have done more useful?" The truth is a lot of things. The list will be able to make for himself. And remember — the value of time is sometimes higher than the value of money (it's easy for you to prove any real businessman work hard from dawn to dawn). And this is not true for you now, soon you realize that.

But back to the choice of ideas. The bulk from the failed ideas can be separated very simply — tell me honestly, would you yourself use it every day, not only because he did it. For example, you hardly will use is sketched on the knee analogous to Notepad instead of Vim uyutnenko. Or is unlikely to be a success with the new "theme of the forum, only with hookers and blackjack", and your project over 9000. Ask often the question, why Clojure shot, NGNIX, Evernote, JetBrains, Facebook and why the relatively slow development of Google+ (my personal IMHO), not become the cake 4th "Heroes", slack sold the Apple Lisa and the monster NeXT jobs... Examples, you can pick up a lot. Importantly, the desire to dig in, analyze. Assume all completely delusional you threw. Now the most difficult — to understand that you may need person, a normal reasonable. In other words — don't try "interesting" ideas on his own. If you are able to implement your project, think of it to develop — you have higher knowledge of the majority. Therefore, it is necessary to understand clearly what you're working for — if your target audience is specialists, special problems with the development of complex software/service/services/devices will not, of course, if it will bring real benefit in the work. But if your target audience is "most average user" (or God forbid, students), be prepared for the fact that "customers" will not understand the complex idea. There is a concept in relation to consumers "information resource" (very rough translation from American literature, the closest is probably "resource perception"), it is the ability to process and perceive information. In other words — not everyone is able to master the Linux build from source, but almost any housewife will be able to put Microsoft Windows (we will not dissemble, problems installing the same 7 key virtually does not occur). Or look at the wild popularity of "Farm frenzy". But in its development it has been spent much less than in the same The Temple of Elemetnal Evil (Troika Games), although the return of the first game (purely casual) above.

Suppose you could take the idea. Now you need to bring it to the incarnation and not to throw halfway. To do this, not just fanatically "to do", and meticulously, efficiently to work out every detail. It's boring at first glance, the work will bring the greatest return. Until you're blue lick interface of the new program is not as interesting as writing the functionality, but it can be the deciding factor in your favor, even if the functionality is "slack". In order for the project drew attention — it is necessary to make it a "beautiful candy" to give it the features that just like the majority of potential users from the target audience. You're probably also, like most, do not use Tkabber'om, because "he's terrible, like all Tk!".
What else can you say about the ideas? Perhaps only that the selection of ideas need to learn from the best. The question arises: "How?" Unfortunately the answer I have. I do not have sufficient knowledge in this area. But I want to note that if the start-up rests solely with the desire to obtain profits through the creation of regular Dating — you should not waste time. I emphasize again — any successful project in one degree or another meets that need, which was not previously affected, is satisfied. That is why those Mac — PC "underdeveloped community" could not compete with the IBM-PC, Linux is still there, and going against it HaikuOS (edit five months after beginning work on the article: a haiku still can and will Win!, I just didn't understand the goals of the project; opinion changed after he sat on the subject four months) and ReactOS can't leave the state of "embryo" (note: opinion on the "react" was even worse — a feeling that the goals are not clear to the creators themselves).

the End?!...
But this is not the end. Work on the article has just begun. The text is only the beginning of a great work. What it will result — it is hard to say. But, to be continued.

Article based on information from habrahabr.ru