The #1 Hurdle for Entrepreneurs

Imagine: you’ve just come up with a great idea that’s going to change how life is lived on this planet forever. What do you do next?

If you’re as smart as we think you are, the first thing you would try to do is to get some validation. So, you tell someone. “I have an idea!”, you start. Your heart starts pounding from excitement - because this person’s head is going to explode after they hear what you have to say. Then, after five minutes of telling this person about your brilliant idea, you gasp for air (you had forgotten to breathe; you were so excited). And you wait for their praise. Instead, however, you get this blank stare - and your heart sinks. How could they not get it? You shouldn’t even have to explain how genius this idea is; and yet, you do. So now, the choice is yours: do you keep explaining? Or do you just go “oh, forget it”?

This happens everyday! We often work with entrepreneurs who have great ideas and yet fail to explain them in a way people can understand. We have seen brilliant kids, so infatuated with the technology they’re developing that they forget to draw the connection of how that technology impacts us, everyday kind of people. There is one truth we live by, here at the Presentations Workshop. And it is one truth many of our students have come to learn the hard way: An idea is only as good as the extent to which it is accepted.

Just imagine what would have happened to the first iPod if Steve Jobs had gone on and on about its technical excellence. As consumers, we would have been bored to death. Instead, this is how he explained it: “1,000 songs in your pocket”. Then, and only then, were we sold. He was able to capture our attention and gain our acceptance by effectively communicating the impact this technology would have on our everyday life. If he hadn’t been able to do that, time and time again, maybe Apple wouldn’t be the brand that it is today.

So, if you’re an entrepreneur working on the next big thing, we want to stress the point previously raised in this post: an idea is only as good as the extent to which it is accepted. Communication is such a huge part of this process. There are venture capitalists, angel investors, people in general who can’t wait to put their money on one worthy idea. But, the first step for them is to understand that idea. The first step for you, on the other hand, is to explain it. Einstein said: “If you can’t explain it simply, you don’t understand it well enough”. This remains an undeniable truth today. A lot of people, however, misunderstand what it is that they need to explain. Most try to explain how something works. But the reality is that people, in general, don’t care. Ask anybody about the mechanics of an automobile or the code behind their favorite application. Most people couldn’t care less. But they DO care about how these things impact their life. So, instead of explaining how your idea works, explain how it will impact someone’s life. The effectiveness of how you deliver this explanation will determine how far you will take your idea.