Early in my startup days, I used to sometimes wonder — am I doing something real or am I just fiddling around, fooling myself? How do I know this is not all in my head?
The ONLY real way of knowing whether you are doing something real (and meaningful) is — revenue.
I learned this from Rashmi Daga. She might not remember this conversation but in the early days of HabitStrong, I was telling her about the programs we were piloting and the fantastic feedback from participants.
Her blunt advice was, “Start charging money. Until then, you have no idea if your product is any good.”
I think this applies not just to startups, but to practically to anything where an idea is involved.
To know whether your ideas are real, there is one way — the rubber has to meet the road. Release the prototype. Launch the product. Sell your service.
Yes, it is scary. Because what if nobody buys?
Then you are back to square one, and you start again. That is how you innovate — ideate, test, fail, repeat.
And someday, when you get lucky, you start making money 🙂
– Rajan