Have you ever had a great idea? Have you ever told someone your idea, and they told you that your idea was stupid?
Maybe they looked at you like you were nuts. Maybe they thought you were a little bit of a weirdo. Maybe they told you to stop daydreaming and get back to work.
Jack Dorsey, the creator and co-founder of Twitter, had the idea for Twitter brewing in his head since he was 15-years old. When he first used the service, at a preliminary stage with his friends as test subjects, they were annoyed.
“That’s great Jack, keep playing, but I’ve got work to do.”
You can watch Jack talk about the idea and creation of Twitter below. One of the key points is that very early-on, he was able to move a very rough drawing of his idea out of his head and onto a piece of paper.
One of the very first blog posts I ever wrote was called “Why you shouldn’t start your own business!” Looking back, my writing and blog quality has come along way, but the idea is the same. There will always be an ample number of people telling you how stupid your ideas are.
Most people will disagree and tell you to get back to work. They’ll tell you it’s too risky or it’s the wrong time to start a business.
Is it ever the right time?
There have been so many other stupid ideas before yours. For example:
Apple will never be successful with the iPod.
Lots of people said, and still say, “Twitter is dumb. I don’t get it.”
Your friends that once said, “I’ll never carry a cell phone,” are probably texting you right now.
Your friends that once said, “I’ll never join Facebook” are probably posting their fifth album of vacation photos this week.
The point is this:
- It will never be the right time.
- Your ideas will always be stupid to some people.
- Those same people will probably talk about you and your wacky ideas behind your back.
I say – “proceed.”
