I feel like my pitch are just terrible, because everyone I've pitched my ideas to says that they're too difficult/risky or cannot be done because it works X way right now and its too hard to compete with some of the players in the space.
Maybe I am naive but I've been trying to approach problems I have in my own life, seeing if others have these same experiences, and then trying to break down the problem into the smallest atomic bits so I can then figure out a "better way" in my mind. Side stepping a lot of the existing players by trying different things.
However, it seems that the people I want feedback or investment from aren't willing to entertain alternative ways to do something. I feel like in many cases, the reason innovation is difficult or hard to do is because people try to go after the small gaps in the process, but eventually that leads to more gaps because they're just patching solutions in place. I don't see the point in patches upon patches, it just means the whole thing is inefficient and sucks.
Sometimes, isn't it better to re-imagine a way to do something? Its not like I'm just coming up with ideas fresh off a mushroom trip. I've talked to people and come up with figures that are realistic and seem possible.
Maybe its hard to do X today because of many entrenched players in the space who have walled gardens. Okay. But if we have a problem in mind, and we break down the problem into as many sub-problems as possible, we can find a way around these entrenched players who are too busy defending their rathole.
Unfortunately I've only ever worked at bigger companies. At my previous job we were doing something the same way for almost 10 years (patches upon patches) to the point that customers were not interested in that feature and the company was fine letting it stagnate. I thought that if we could re-build that feature using off the shelf solutions to begin with, we could generate so many tie-ins into our existing product. Thankfully my manager believed in me and let me build a proof of concept, which was then demo'ed to higher ups in product and we ended up going all in. Today, that thing generates millions of dollars (100s I think) and brings a ton of value to customers and the business. But for almost 10 years, nobody cared or thought of doing it in a way that would actually work and fulfill its true potential.
I know I am naive but I can't help but think that people just don't want to think outside the box. I've encountered this in my career and now I'm encountering it in the entrepreneurship world. What am I doing wrong? Why am I so dumb to think I can just take something apart to its smallest bits and put it together in a better way?
Please help me because otherwise I'm just going to quit and go work at USPS or something like that and never think to innovate again. I feel so depressed and defeated.
Remember that the people you are pitching to are paid to, well, rip apart every possible problem. But that doesn't make it a bad idea. Hacker News famously had the worst take ever when Dropbox was announced. Read what they thought of Dropbox - which would later become a multibillion-dollar company, and it might brighten your day.
I think the “patches upon patches” is a really interesting way of formulating the causes and symptoms of some of the systematic and technological issues in the world. That’s why I vouched for this post, despite the title.
I don’t have advice for you except that you won’t succeed if you’re beating yourself up.
Something that depressed me back when I cared about entrepreneurship was how everyone I knew who was successful had some unfair advantage. Having lots of money, knowing some guy with lots of money, going to an elite school, etc.
I never met anyone like myself. I think in the early days of the internet people who cared about building cool products did well, but since the early 2010s I'd argue being a successful entrepreneur started to become more about being the kind of person who is fundable or has the money to self-fund. There are exceptions of course, but in general there was a clear pattern.
But worst still even those who managed to get funding generally failed. In once case I saw the failure of a business give a guy a mental breakdown. If you think you're stressed now, imagine having employees depending on you and potentially loosing everything you've worked on for years. I guess what I'm saying is that the life of the average entrepreneur is just an endless struggle.
I don't want to say give up, but I think these days if you want to be a successful entrepreneur you probably need a different strategy. You probably need to work for a successful startup and lead a product team or something similar. Then maybe after that you'll have the contacts and reputation to launch your own thing.
Personally I gave up on my entrepreneurial dreams a while ago. At this point I had been working my ass off at startups for almost a decade so that wasn't an easy decision. I felt depressed and directionless.
I still hold hope that one day an opportunity will come my way, but I see no realistic means of creating that opportunity myself.
Second, the vision may be so far away into the future that today it may not seem possible. That is where a genius comes in. But 99 percent are not geniuses. So it is ok that it is not possible or no clear path is visible right now. And people are going to tell you exactly that because they are honest.
Third, being an entrepreneur is more than just having vision. It is also about having connections with positive and technical people. And being able to use those people to come together and make something brilliant. And that brilliant may not fit that vision you have but it may be good enough. You need to appreciate everything you come across.
Lastly, your story really resonates with me. Everybody keeps telling you no and then this one guy comes along and give you a chance and helps you win. That’s vision. Keep at it.
People will resist change when the answer is right in front of their eyes and all they have to do is pick up a different object or walk through a different door. Getting them to change a procedure is even harder, and getting them to take another abstract route than last time is almost impossible!
The fact is that people don’t matter to ideas. Turn your ideas into reality, cultivate the values of hard work and idealism. This is much more valuable than anything you could sell at first. Creative and generative values lift everything. And there’s nothing wrong with a steady job while you build up and entrepreneur on the side. That’s what jobs are for.
That doesn't seem like long enough to me. Is it a matter of funds though? Going broke?
> I know I am naive
That should be the end of your post. How can you know to quit if you don't know enough?
> Please help me because otherwise I'm just going to quit
Nothing wrong with quitting. Quit things often. Find what you're good at.
> I feel so depressed and defeated.
Nothing wrong with that. That just means your self aware. Always a good place to start.
> go work at USPS
You just shot all my sympathy for you out the door. You know how hard they work? It's a great job. Don't be a classist douche.
Most people are not creative, nor can they predict the future or better ways to do things. Most of the time when you explain an idea, people won't get it, nor will they see the value in it.
I often think I have stagnated, that my ideas are crufty and that my best ideas are behind me. But then I go out into the world and I see predictions I have made come to fruition.
The weakness of entrenched players is that they are defending their rathole. Use judo and push them on their heels and they will fall right over.