Everybody is looking for the killer app. Everyone wants the billion dollar idea, sell it to Google and sit back and just watch the money roll in. I got a question a couple a weeks ago on how much value I would be able to generate as a developer if I got to work 100% on developing new stuff together with one of the best guys in the industry. I have not worked for more than 4 hours focused the last couple of years due to enterprise architecture, meetings and family. My answer was:
If I get to work on something 100% for three months with skilled people I am sure I will be able to create a new religion.
It felt so absurd. Once when time was an infinite factor action was just something that came along. Now when time is finite and is competed for, a timespan such as three months is just absurd.
Whether you have 4 hours a week to focus or three months, there is only one hidden secret for creating great value and moving towards the billion dollar idea. Action. There are probably 1000 reasons for not being able to deliver the idea you have. Below I have listed a few, just to show that it is all about mindset. Dont take the items to serious, they are just examples of the 1000 reasons people use in order to not get things done.
I need a designer! - Solution: Call one and give him/her percentage on the product if you dont have any money
The pricing model is not set yet - Solution: Pricing and income should not be the key elements for building a product from the beginning, user expectations and experience should. Go with the first pricing model you have in mind, if you dont have one in mind, start without.
There may be legal problems with the product - Solution: Yep, there may be, do your best to find out, start, this will only be a problem if usage picks up, then you can hire people for this, of course you should avoid things that are illegal to start with, like selling drugs, offer online poker to americans or similiar.
There may be scaling issues if we get 100,000 users - Solution: If you have 100,000 users that is a good thing, fix it when you have 100,000 users, IF it is a problem (choose your tech solution wisely)
I will only be able to support payments in USD, I would like to offer a solution that works for all - Solution: Offer only payments in USD, prioritize other currencies in your product backlog after launch
I need to get me a computer with Windows XP and Internet Explorer and test that everything works - Solution: Do it or use your users. There are a lot of users using Internet Explorer, they will contact you if stuff doesn’t work, or be a pioneer and dont give a f**k about user of IE8 and below. You should build the product according to some development principle such as accessible, mobile first, graceful degradation or progressive enhancement, so this shouldnt be a big problem.
I have written inline styles, inline scripts and run business code in the view - Solution: Hell yeah! The thing with products is that the user buys the product not the components it was built of. Forget it, or fix it when you have the time and money to fix it. Sometimes problem solving forces ugly solutions, hard fact, so forget it.
There are someone who does the same thing online already - Yeah, as there is only one brand of cereals or toothpaste. Do your thing, find your niche and execute it better than the competition.
The important thing with the list is not the actual problems or the solutions, but the thing that there is always a way to move forward when you run into trouble. Think action and get things done. It is better to release a product that fails than not to release a product at all. You are not that smart that you can think it all out. Get it out there, let people feel it. If they dont like it, build something new. If you still believe in your product, keep building, but release often in order to be able to fail early. Sooner or later your product will be good, and if it is good you will gain users. The big problem is that a lot of people has to move away from the idea that the idea is the killer app, when it is action. Any idea is the killer application with action bundled into its implementation. Now go and build what you love and users will show their love.