These series of guest posts are written by the teams attending the Tetuan Valley Startup School 2011 Spring edition. This post is from the VoiceU team, formed by Iuri Aranda, Joan Casas, Miquel Las Heras and Miquel Puig.
Here is the text that appears in the icon of the MacOSX application TextEdit. This comes from an advertising campaign that Apple Inc. made in 1997
Here’s to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently. They’re not fond of rules. And they have no respect for the status quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them. About the only thing you can’t do is ignore them. Because they change things. They push the human race forward. And while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do. – Apple Inc.
This speech is very suitable for our situation, mainly because it is very encouraging and inspiring. When I read these lines I found myself full of hope and willingness to build something great! This may sound “happy” or too optimistic, but some of the greatest startup ideas were considered just silly ideas at the beginning.
Everyone can have a great idea, it may be a 15 year old boy or an 80 year old gentleman. The great ideas do not depend on the age of the person who creates them. Ideas do not appear while you are lying on the coach. They appear when you are doing an activity and you think about a way to improve it. Although many people tell you that your idea is crazy or useless, you must not worry because it´s enough to trust in your idea to be able to make it come true.
Maybe today, nobody is interested in your idea, but do not worry because your idea can be succesfull in the future.
Most of the entrepeneurs who have succeeded have had more failures than triumphs, so if you fail you have to learn and move on. Think about ways to improve and try again.
We believe the following advice is useful for entrepreneurs: firstly, your ideas must be easy and simple. These usually are the ones which revolutionize the world. There are many examples that are in this group of ideas which are very simple. You can buy Chupa-chups everywhere, and everybody cleans their house with a broom. The simplicity is the key.
If you want to have a successful idea, think about a daily activity. These ones have more chances to triumph on the Internet. FaceBook is similar to having a beer with your friends in a pub, speaking about your lives and sharing some photographs. Nowadays, you don´t even have to speak (here is VoiceU‘s opportunity!).
The most important advice would be not to restrict your mind. Restrictions for your ideas will be obstacles in the future to achieve your objective. When we were little boys, we were taught to have limitations and when you are an adult it is very difficult to open your mind and to THINK DIFFERENT.
