I'm not sure where the appropriate place to post this would be, so it goes here for now. Okay. I have an idea. I'm not going to give details on the actual idea/concept for fear that someone will mimic it. However, I will say this: it would be big. Not only would it have the potential to attract a very large amount of visitors, the site would also have an unusual amount of potential for advertising revenue. Sounds like you hit gold, right? You thought of this idea and stayed up till 4 a.m. contemplating it and consider your options. This is not just any idea - it's a great idea. Not quite revolutionary, but definitely a blockbuster. It's not discovering electricity, it's creating the 1st refrigerator. You have a concept for a site that, if created and marketed correctly, will be as big as myspace or google in it's respected field. You're baffled that this hasn't been done before and fear someone may happen upon the idea and develop it before you. So there is a sense of urgency. There's a problem. This type of site would require extensive programming skills that you don't possess. It would require intellectual (programming knowledge, people connections) and physical resources (money, servers) that you don't have. It would take several people to develop this new idea, but you currently know no one capable or skilled enough for the undertaking. To solve this, you could hire a team of people and start up. However, you don't have the (monetary) resources for this, either. Bad enough, right? Now rewind. Say you have this idea, but you're young. Late high school or early college age. So you certainly don't have the resources if you're enrolling in a private university next fall, which - you guessed it - you are. You have a great idea, are dirt poor, and lack the other necessary resources. But you know this is a fantastic concept that will very likely make it big. What do you do? How do you reach the goal of developing this idea? Do you wait until after your 4 years of college, develop the skills, save the money, and hire the people - while knowing that doing this you're loosing time, money, and that someone else might fall upon your concept? Or do you go a different route? What would you personally do? I'm looking for serious responses on this. Thank you very much.
You could go into a business partnership with someone that can fund your idea so it can come to fruition. The best people to bring your idea to life is through guru.com Talk to me on MSN. You can trust me. Your idea would go no further than you and I. Col
a. Find a partner, preferably a web designer/programmer. b. Find an investor, like Google did when it first started. c. Apply for a loan at a bank if the idea would be so successful. d. Wait until you have the ressources to do it yourself.
whats the back up plan...how do u pay off your loan...if it doesn't work...what happens with the investor...do they loose out totally?
First thing Make anyone you come in contact that will know your idea sign a nda... talk to your family or a banker and a notary. Than hire me as helper jk lol kinda
Collaborate, I'd be happy to help, I design and code (php), I also run a couple of servers and a small hosting company too, which could also contribute. Still, $$ is always an issue. Add me on msn if you're interested at all: nick [at] thoughthacker.com or gchat: pointlessrambler [at] gmail.com
Obviously, these are my primary options. What I'm wondering is what would you do in my situation, and why? Finding someone to invest is going to be very difficult, and finding a bank that will loan you thousands of dollars at my age, especially with the upcoming college loans will be nearly impossible. On my to-do list. While it's productivity, it doesn't really bring me any closer to accomplishing the goals. Good advice. The NDA is a must in a situation like this, I think. Thanks for the offer, but I'm not interested in partnering up with a total stranger that lives a good distance away. I've had some bad past experiences with this sort of partnership. Moreover, a face to face meeting/relationship has a stronger promise of productivity. If you live in Illinois by any chance, that could be a different story.
Incubate your idea, write it down, get all the details figured out. Write a business plan, then start networking your butt off. If you have any friends that have the expertise/resources to help you launch this venture, talk with them. Chances are high that no one you know has the resources you need, otherwise you wouldn't be posting here. This being the case, it's time to start asking your friends who they know that they could recommend for you to go to regarding your endeavor. Once you go to college, though, your networking opportunities should amp up tremendously. Work the system. See if there are any small business development workshops/centers in your area and solicit advice from them. Often they have a listing of local entrepreneurs who are interested in helping an "up and comer" to make their mark. That could potentially take care of your financing problems. For programming expertise, I would either network, or use the financial resources you obtain from whomever and hire out a freelancer to take care of that end of things. Check out eLance for help in that regard. Overall, your strategy should be to network, aiming to get an entrepreneur mentor/financier and a coder in your social circle.
I'm in the same position, but slightly different, I can program it, but I don't have money to promote it or buy a design. I made a bad attempt at a design and decided to live with it - design can come later. I have hosting for a year to use, but that was paid for with a good chunk of my savings so far. I'm still reluctant to tell anyone my idea even though it'd be smarter to get another programmer or so onto it, but I'm paranoid as shit. My plan was (not saying this is any good) to get some sort of basic site up and going to more or less have while I work on it. Any publicity etc while its being built would re-enforce that I thought of it first. I'm going to have to try and come to terms with the fact someone will steal the idea at some point (or one of my other ones). That said, here's hoping my idea isn't identical to yours ;D
Thank you. This is probably the most logical choice. If I did that though, I'd be afraid someone would steal it before I got it developed to has good as I wanted it. If someone sees your idea, does it better, promotes it more than you, then they get the credit.
You should check out http://www.cambrianhouse.com/ It is a community of people set up to help turn ideas into realities. It will of course require you to share your idea with the world, but that might not be a bad thing as they are set up to offer some real help if your idea is worthy. On another note, you mentioned that you live in Illinois. I am graphic/ web designer living in Chicago. I could probably help or find help for everything you need(design/ programming/ marketing and possibly financing)... Drop me a PM if you want to talk more.
Thanks, everyone, for your responses. What do you think one would need to start up a large scale website (i.e., myspace, facebook, ign, wikipedia, yahoo) as far as skills and funds go? (i.e., programming (in...?), marketing, money for servers, fees, etc).
Get to know some programming gurus. Look for them on forums and on Guru.com, as well as other places. Then, when you feel like you've met some good ones, draw up a contract to split the profits from the site with them, which will give them the motivation to actually work on it without upfront payment. Also, draw up a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) and have everyone sign it. This will protect you should they decide to try to take your idea. I don't see any other way of bringing your idea to fruition, unless you are willing to wait 4 years and acquire every bit of programming knowledge necessary or find a loan that'll cover the expense of hiring programmers.