A note to everyone waiting for the right idea
What I wish someone told me before I started.
Let’s start by addressing my audacity to write about “business success” like i’m some guru (which I’m clearly not). I didn’t raise millions or build a billion-dollar company, and I’ve never been to Silicon Valley.
If you’re here for rocket-ship stories or “change the world” advice, you’ll be disappointed.
I started my first startup six years ago during my final year of university. Today I run two bootstrapped businesses with two co-founders doing $60K+ monthly recurring revenue (MRR), and a third business is in the making.
Along the way, I did the most stupid shit, but figured it out by staying in the game. If you’ve been thinking about starting your own thing but haven’t moved yet, this is for you.
You don’t need the right idea
I speak to so many friends who always tell me they want to start a business, but I know that’s never going to happen. They’re always waiting for “the right idea”, which won’t ever appear (and they like their lease car too much).
There is no such thing as a “right idea”.
Six years ago I started with a stupid idea: a marketplace to connect students with internships. In itself the idea wasn’t stupid; we were.
We didn’t validate anything (or even talk to anyone). We didn’t bother to figure out if we were actually fixing a problem. We went in head-first, because we just wanted to start our own business and this seemed like a good idea.
Ideas don’t exist. Just problems in search for a solution - Confucius if he was running YC
The three years that followed felt like forcing a square peg through a round hole. There was no product market fit, no traction, and very little cash. It was always one step forward, two steps back. We lived off savings and whatever little the business made.
We worked day and night until I burned out and quit.
I didn’t have a plan but I just wasn’t ready to give up yet, so I tried again.
You just need two things: You need to get going. And you need to stay in the game.
You need to get going
I very much believe this: Everything apart from doing is procrastination.
(Read it again!)
Reading The Lean Startup? Procrastination.
Listening to business podcasts? Procrastination.
Creating a pitch deck? Procrastination (and just wasted time in general).
I’m not saying it’s wrong to read books. Just take it as inspiration, and remember it’s doing nothing to get your business off the ground.
I read and listened to all this shit before I started, but when time came to finally hit the ground running, none of that prepared me for anything.
Entrepreneurship is learning by doing. You need to fail. That’s part of the process of understanding what works and what doesn’t. This can’t be taught in a book. You need to experience it yourself and the earlier you do, the faster you can move on and improve.
Start moving. Start doing. Start building.
You need to stay in the game
You’re probably familiar with the statistic that “9 out of 10 startups” fail. That might be true, but it’s not the full story. It’s 9 out of 10 attempts that fail.
You will probably fail and become part of the statistic at some point. That will happen. What matters is what you do after.
Most founders fail because they quit too soon. The first idea almost never works and your first company almost never survives. But if you take the hit, learn, and try again, you’ll eventually land one that does (I promise!).
You don’t need the perfect idea. You just need to keep going long for enough to find something that works.
That said, finding out what works takes time and care. Don’t quit just because it’s not making money after a month. The hard part is knowing when to keep going and when to kill it.
See our Growth trajectory for Simple Analytics below. It did only $2K per month after a whole year! (Adriaan survived working as a freelancer part-time).
… give it time. At some point you’ll feel you’re on the right track …or pulling a dead horse. Then go all in or kill it.
Final Thoughts
I used to think I needed to change the world to be a real founder. That’s not true.
You don’t need a grand idea or VC funding. You also don’t need to be in Silicon Valley. You don’t need anything really. Just you + laptop + coffee and your drive to survive.
Don’t get overwhelmed by the grandiose stories that are all over LinkedIn and X. Start somewhere, doesn’t matter how stupid it is. Get moving, stay in the game and you’ll figure it out.
Life is good ✌️✌️
Cheers,
Iron
If you feel like this article could help someone who is just starting out, please forward it to them. My stupid ass wished I would have read this six years ago.
Thanks man! Sometimes we indeed too blinded by the success stories on X and it feels like everyone else’s winning except you.
Good to have that reminder to give it time.
This was a very helpful and inspiring write-up, not too short and not too long either. Thanks!