Ask HN: Moving balls to the wall on a fantastic idea?
All of us have felt this way one time or another. The thing preventing us from executing or going all-out on it always comes down to a handful of things.
1) It's a brilliant idea that we came up with all on our own, but it's been done before, sometimes better, and sometimes worse. 2) We don't have any time. We're too busy with X, Y, or Z gig that is paying the bills and is therefore more important. 3) We don't have the resources to execute on it. 4) A combination of all of the above.
I'm stuck with items 2 and 3 in the list. I'm a freelancer who is working hard right now to support myself. 20 years old, skipping college, writing my own ticket. I've managed to do pretty well.. but my client work consumes me. The third item, the lack of resources bit, is also slightly a problem. Initially my idea would work as an AIR app (it's fairly simple, the value is in the service not the application). Adobe AIR is cross platform and fairly easy to pick-up for (what I would at least consider myself) an advanced JavaScript programmer. After this evening's discussion, the touchscreen interface of the iPad would be a perfect target for this concept. I need to get up to speed on iPhone/iPad development, Obj-C, etc... Also, this idea of mine will ultimately require (simple) custom hardware. I'm not good in those departments. I'm a designer with a good mind for development. This will sound cocky, but I like to think of myself as jack-of-all-trades. However, I know where I am not an expert, and this leads to my next point.
I'm a resourceful individual who is going to go full speed on this no matter what... but where does one begin? I'm going to bootstrap the hell out of this, but I am terrified that someone will come along and scoop it up. I want someone to work with on this, but after being jaded so many times by partners, I'm worried that will never happen. I want investment money to get the right people for the job. I know that the chances of that happening are once in a blue moon. I know that I can do this on my own, but at what time expense? Hiring the right people will make this a synergistic effort, and the ship will sail much quicker. I'm not one to sit on my ass and wait for things to happen, but at the same time (and I think this is true for most smart individuals) I tend to second guess myself a LOT. In the past, trusting my gut and sticking at something even when I was afraid of failure has tended to prevail.
How do you guys cope with this? I know the short answer is: focus, focus, focus, and just start hacking. But... is there any other wisdom out there? Part of me is also seeking individuals who might be interested in collaborating on this. I'm definitely one to share the wealth, but only with trusting individuals (a difficult thing to come by). I live in Honolulu and will be moving back to my homeland of Los Angeles at the end of this month.
I've answered a lot of my own questions in this post, but nothing beats the wisdom of my fellow hackers here on HN. Feel free to contact me via the email in my profile, or <my HN username>.com. But, above all of that, please comment here and let's get a discussion going on this :)