Gil Rosenblum
Lawyer: Business, Tech, Corporations
Oct 23 2014
So you have an idea for a start-up and you don’t really know what to do now. I seem to run into people confronted with this quite often lately. Being involved in the start-up world for a while now, I want to give you my perspective from a bystander’s point of view. The first thing you need to do is ask yourself a few questions, and be honest with yourself:
Are you passionate about your idea?
Do you have a burning desire to see it through? Are you staying awake at night contemplating the details of your idea? Are you impatient to know everything about it? Does it interest you? Are you dreaming about it when you sleep?
If you answered OH YEA to one or more of the above, do it.
Are you in it JUST for the money?
Most likely you won’t be rolling in the dough anytime soon. In fact, this is an intricate and risky business; the chances of success are not great nor does success come fast. If it’s money you are after then you probably should do something else.
Are you good with babies?
This idea of yours is going to be your baby. The amount of love you are going to put into it will have a big impact on your success. It’s going to require some change of diapers and attention on your part. It will also keep you up at night. If it’s only cute when it is someone else’s, drop it.
Do you love your job?
It is not every day one finds a job he really enjoys. Being your own boss sounds like fun but it may not be as glamorous as you might think. There are going to be some out of pocket expenses, no one likes that. It is also stressful, uncertain and the money might not be as good as you think. At first, you are probably going to be able to keep your job, but running a start-up is very time consuming and at some point you’ll have to quit. If you really love your job, keep it.
Are you a hardcore corporate type?
If you enjoy corporate politics, long meetings, regulations, bureaucracy, protocols and performing a rather specifically defined functions, if you are a nine to five kind of person then a start-up is not for you.
Do you consider yourself a perfectionist?
Having high standards is undoubtedly an important trait for a founder of a start-up. However, as mentioned, this is an intricate business. It involves a lot of compromises and you are most likely going to make a lot of mistakes. So if not just you – but also your psychiatrist – consider you to be a perfectionist, you might want to seat this one out.