I wanted to bring together a discussion about this topic because it's so important, and there's likely many of us who've fallen to this fallacy and lost a lot of money in the process.
You're sitting at your job.
All of a sudden you get an idea for a business.
That idea totally riles you up and you're absolutely convicted that this idea is going to work.. No matter what!
So.. You start executing..
But not in the right way.
First, you reason "I see this problem happening, it's definitely a good idea!"
So.. you immediately log into Upwork and start searching for mock designers and full-stack developers.
You talk to a couple developers, and ask them if what you want done can be done.
They tell you "yes it definitely can!", and you get even more excited.. And even see this developer's ability to DO what you had in mind.. As proof of concept.
So you go to the mock-designer, spend $100 on a figma diagram, and then $500 to get a mockup design..
You feel like an entrepreneur.. you're innovating! You don't want this feeling to stop!
Pretty soon you're going to have an amazing product.. That you already KNOW people want because you reasoned with yourself that this is something YOU need!
The momentum keeps you going..
You get back the mock designs after a week, and then you go to your coder who tells you the project will cost $7,000 and one month to complete.
You deposit the $7,000 into your upwork account, sit back, and wait..
A month later, you have what you think.. is a KILLER product.. Your fastlane.. Your baby!
And on top of that, you're feeling like an entrepreneur because you went through this process of getting this innovative minimum viable product built, and now it's time to expose it to the mass of customers that you KNEW for sure.. Will buy your product!
Now that you've ran out of things to do, and things to wait for such as the developer asking you questions in order to complete the project - that feeling of being an entrepreneur kind of stalls..
You realize that the only thing you can do now is get people to give you money.
So for the first time, you start looking for congregations of your future customers in order to expose them to your market.
You post in an active group with 10,000 people... You have VA's send out e-mails to people.. You try running facebook ads..
Absolute silence..
You can't seem to get ANYBODY interested.
$1,000 spent on facebook. Not a single e-mail captured.
$700 spent on a reddit forum that congregates your target market. Zero emails captured.
You start to feel less and less like the "entrepreneur" you were feeling like when the developer was building your innovative product.
Now you're almost $10,000 in the hole (which was 40% of the money you had in your bank account).. And you don't have a single customer or even potential customer.
It turns out, the narrative you had in your head about how great this product was, was based on your personal opinion and your upwork developer's opinion of which he just tells you what you want to hear because.. he wants more of your money.
What is it that happened here? What is the mistake?
Well, you remember back to when you were beginning this project. You were reading chapter 40 of Unscripted which was explaining the 7 P's of process..
Plan.. Proof (soft) Process Path.. Prototype.. Proof (hard).. Productocracy.. Propagation
But.. Because you thought your idea was already so good and you could skip steps, you turned it into..
Plan.. Process Path.. Prototype.. Proof (hard).. Productocracy.. Propagation
What? Proof (soft) was my mistake?
"Wait.. Why the heck would I spend a bunch of money and time on ads, landing pages, group posts, etc "testing" my idea before having anything to give them.. It doesn't even feel real to me if I do that.. Plus what if nobody responds?!" You reason..
The real problem is actually that you know that if you expose your idea, which you reasoned was brilliant, to a group of people who would be potential customers of that product.. You might not get any response..
On top of that, you might "lose money" because nobody responded to your advertising.
AND... If you go this route you get to feel like an "entrepreneur on your way to the fastlane" LESS than if you just go and spend $10,000 developing the product.
So instead of having 1-2 months of anticipation, you have maybe a few days, or a week.. Which fizzles out after you realize no one wants your idea.
What is the point I am trying to make?
All of us who are ambitious wanting to develop products and go fastlane.. Need to understand the following:
Spending money on gathering soft proof is IMPORTANT. Dropping our ego when it comes to our products is IMPORTANT.
We need to stop reasoning that it's a better idea to spend $10,000 on something that doesn't work rather than $500-$1000 on something that doesn't work.
The $10,000 spend just takes more time, feels more real, and allows you to avoid the confrontation of knowing that you're going to have to find an actual need that people want..
Which entails spending time and money on getting soft proof.
$10,000 spent on gathering soft proof on 10 potential needs > $10,000 spent on one idea you think is brilliant, but in actuality is not
-
PS:
Yes, I've done this so many times.. And that's why I wrote it.
You're sitting at your job.
All of a sudden you get an idea for a business.
That idea totally riles you up and you're absolutely convicted that this idea is going to work.. No matter what!
So.. You start executing..
But not in the right way.
First, you reason "I see this problem happening, it's definitely a good idea!"
So.. you immediately log into Upwork and start searching for mock designers and full-stack developers.
You talk to a couple developers, and ask them if what you want done can be done.
They tell you "yes it definitely can!", and you get even more excited.. And even see this developer's ability to DO what you had in mind.. As proof of concept.
So you go to the mock-designer, spend $100 on a figma diagram, and then $500 to get a mockup design..
You feel like an entrepreneur.. you're innovating! You don't want this feeling to stop!
Pretty soon you're going to have an amazing product.. That you already KNOW people want because you reasoned with yourself that this is something YOU need!
The momentum keeps you going..
You get back the mock designs after a week, and then you go to your coder who tells you the project will cost $7,000 and one month to complete.
You deposit the $7,000 into your upwork account, sit back, and wait..
A month later, you have what you think.. is a KILLER product.. Your fastlane.. Your baby!
And on top of that, you're feeling like an entrepreneur because you went through this process of getting this innovative minimum viable product built, and now it's time to expose it to the mass of customers that you KNEW for sure.. Will buy your product!
Now that you've ran out of things to do, and things to wait for such as the developer asking you questions in order to complete the project - that feeling of being an entrepreneur kind of stalls..
You realize that the only thing you can do now is get people to give you money.
So for the first time, you start looking for congregations of your future customers in order to expose them to your market.
You post in an active group with 10,000 people... You have VA's send out e-mails to people.. You try running facebook ads..
Absolute silence..
You can't seem to get ANYBODY interested.
$1,000 spent on facebook. Not a single e-mail captured.
$700 spent on a reddit forum that congregates your target market. Zero emails captured.
You start to feel less and less like the "entrepreneur" you were feeling like when the developer was building your innovative product.
Now you're almost $10,000 in the hole (which was 40% of the money you had in your bank account).. And you don't have a single customer or even potential customer.
It turns out, the narrative you had in your head about how great this product was, was based on your personal opinion and your upwork developer's opinion of which he just tells you what you want to hear because.. he wants more of your money.
What is it that happened here? What is the mistake?
Well, you remember back to when you were beginning this project. You were reading chapter 40 of Unscripted which was explaining the 7 P's of process..
Plan.. Proof (soft) Process Path.. Prototype.. Proof (hard).. Productocracy.. Propagation
But.. Because you thought your idea was already so good and you could skip steps, you turned it into..
Plan.. Process Path.. Prototype.. Proof (hard).. Productocracy.. Propagation
What? Proof (soft) was my mistake?
"Wait.. Why the heck would I spend a bunch of money and time on ads, landing pages, group posts, etc "testing" my idea before having anything to give them.. It doesn't even feel real to me if I do that.. Plus what if nobody responds?!" You reason..
The real problem is actually that you know that if you expose your idea, which you reasoned was brilliant, to a group of people who would be potential customers of that product.. You might not get any response..
On top of that, you might "lose money" because nobody responded to your advertising.
AND... If you go this route you get to feel like an "entrepreneur on your way to the fastlane" LESS than if you just go and spend $10,000 developing the product.
So instead of having 1-2 months of anticipation, you have maybe a few days, or a week.. Which fizzles out after you realize no one wants your idea.
What is the point I am trying to make?
All of us who are ambitious wanting to develop products and go fastlane.. Need to understand the following:
Spending money on gathering soft proof is IMPORTANT. Dropping our ego when it comes to our products is IMPORTANT.
We need to stop reasoning that it's a better idea to spend $10,000 on something that doesn't work rather than $500-$1000 on something that doesn't work.
The $10,000 spend just takes more time, feels more real, and allows you to avoid the confrontation of knowing that you're going to have to find an actual need that people want..
Which entails spending time and money on getting soft proof.
$10,000 spent on gathering soft proof on 10 potential needs > $10,000 spent on one idea you think is brilliant, but in actuality is not
-
PS:
Yes, I've done this so many times.. And that's why I wrote it.
Dislike ads? Become a Fastlane member:
Subscribe today and surround yourself with winners and millionaire mentors, not those broke friends who only want to drink beer and play video games. :-)
Membership Required: Upgrade to Expose Nearly 1,000,000 Posts
Ready to Unleash the Millionaire Entrepreneur in You?
Become a member of the Fastlane Forum, the private community founded by best-selling author and multi-millionaire entrepreneur MJ DeMarco. Since 2007, MJ DeMarco has poured his heart and soul into the Fastlane Forum, helping entrepreneurs reclaim their time, win their financial freedom, and live their best life.
With more than 39,000 posts packed with insights, strategies, and advice, you’re not just a member—you’re stepping into MJ’s inner-circle, a place where you’ll never be left alone.
Become a member and gain immediate access to...
- Active Community: Ever join a community only to find it DEAD? Not at Fastlane! As you can see from our home page, life-changing content is posted dozens of times daily.
- Exclusive Insights: Direct access to MJ DeMarco’s daily contributions and wisdom.
- Powerful Networking Opportunities: Connect with a diverse group of successful entrepreneurs who can offer mentorship, collaboration, and opportunities.
- Proven Strategies: Learn from the best in the business, with actionable advice and strategies that can accelerate your success.
"You are the average of the five people you surround yourself with the most..."
Who are you surrounding yourself with? Surround yourself with millionaire success. Join Fastlane today!
Join Today
