Too many ideas
People tell me I have too many ideas and that I need to focus. I think I just need more time and resources to execute them! A small army and more money might help too. I think the issue is that I am always sharing my ideas with people. Especially when the idea is new and fresh in my head. My family is used to listening to me, my grandmother knows more about profit margins then most people I’m sure, but other people might get a little confused as to where my focus is.
My friend Brian in Japan is an “idea person†too. He had an idea to sell gum in gumball vending machines in Japan. It probably sounds like a really silly idea reading it and most people dismissed him but some people, “idea people†thought it could work. By sharing his thoughts he built up a network of idea people who helped him import his first gumball machine into Japan. Granted it cost him $10K! But he made that money back in 6 months. He’s since imported a lot more at much lower prices and spends most of his time thinking about other ideas and with his family while the cash just rolls in.
Martin Varsavsky has taken the concept of using idea people to another level. FON is entirely built, shaped and developed by idea people. Nearly every step he takes in building FON is posted on his blog with the question “what do you think I should do?†And generally the majority wins! The latest question is should FON support Skype or SIP by default.
To the casual observer it might seem as though he can’t make up his mind or that he has no focus but he has masted the art of using “idea people.†You can’t become successful if you arent willing to break from the dailygrind and explore an “I wonder†idea. The key is being able to execute the ideas that work and trashing the ones that don’t. Lucky for me I have a life time membership at the garbage dump.
December 2nd, 2005 at 8:14 am
I wouldn’t spend too much time supporting Skype, as their developers refuse to use open standards. Although SIP has its faults, it is a protocol that seems to be fairly easy to support, and is built upon an open standard. Packages like Gnomemeeting, AIM, and a plethora of other apps support SIP too.
December 6th, 2005 at 12:36 pm
FON: Wifi by community
No sooner do I return from ICANN Vancouver and the spotty Internet access of travel than I find blogs bristling with talk about FON, Martin Varsavsky’s project to bring wifi sharing to the masses: Open your wifi access point to the FON-using public, a…