Short version: How does one go about getting KNOWLEDGABLE mentors/technical help when one is starting out with an idea?
Long version: I’ve a bunch of ideas I’m trying to get off the ground but I’m stuck in regards to how to find the people I need to make it happen. Specifically I’m trying to find a mentor or at least some knowledgeable people I can talk to who might be able to give me the information I need to move forward.
The dilemma: I’m actually older than most entrepreneurs I’ve talked to (this is a second career for me – moved to the US due to wife’s work so I’ve got a lot of time on my hands) which has tended to make things awkward when I’ve tried talking to people using things like local business groups and meetups (the website).
I’ve found a LOT of information online but it’s almost too much. Having too much trouble separating what I need from it all.
The other issue is that since I’m not really looking for investors or funding (just want information on things like “next step,” “where to get technical help” etc), it seems to throw those I’ve spoken to off.
So, can anyone help me? How did you get the knowledge to get you to where you are?
Thanks!
One suggestion is to contact the SCORE Association. From the Wikipedia article, “It is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that provides free business mentoring services to entrepreneurs in the United States. The organization also presents business workshops and seminars for a fee. Business mentoring services are provided by both active and retired business executives and entrepreneurs who donate their time and expertise as mentors to assist new and established small businesses.”
I was a member of SCORE and I found my local chapter to be really “uneven”. If cptsquid were assigned me, for instance, he’d have been in great shape. But occasionally one member/mentor would e-mail the group and say “hey, I have a question from a client about an issue I’m not familiar with - anyone have any experience with X?” and some members would respond with suggestions as silly as “Maybe try Googling it?”.
Remember this was one supposed expert trying to help another expert by suggesting Google - not direct advice to a client seeking help. (I would never give a client such trite advice as using a search engine, but a lot of clients did need really basic help.)
But like I said, not to brag, but I gave fantastic advice to my clients and other chapters may well have many more members like me.
SCORE is a good resource to get you started. I suggest that what you want first is a part-time CFO or accountant that will help you get the books and incorporation paperwork started. That is, if you want to start a business.
The most important things to keep in mind:
it’s only business. When someone doesn’t like your idea, it’s not you and you shouldn’t take it personally as there may be 100 business reasons they aren’t interested (time to market, market segment, company focus, cash on hand, working with competing company).
You don’t owe anyone anything. (See #3 below) Walk away (not joking), if you have a good thing going, they will be there waiting if you want to come back to them.
Everyone has a motive to help you- try to understand their motive and what they want. You will have people coming out of the woodwork offering to help you get started. They will want a job once you get money, a ridiculous amount of stock in your future company, or for you to use their services when you get investments. They will introduce you to their network(s) of friends and people they have worked with before- choose your own team on your own terms. (accountant knows a lawyer they’ve worked with who has a respected banker who knows a good angel who has invested with this VC who has a sister who works in HR) They aren’t vultures and they do mean well, but there aren’t any true discounts or real entrepreneurial spirits in the bunch.
However long you think something will take, triple the time and make sure you can survive that long. Don’t invest your own money in your own company- try to limit your investment to your time, your ideas, your expertise, and your execution.
Be very clear about what your expectations are for your “helpers”. Keep a log/email of what you want and don’t want them to do.
We have ~10 people with some shares in the company that really should not have any as their contributions were minimal or quickly buried. Some of their shares still dwarf employee ownerships who have been here for 5 years.
What field or application or business are you interested in getting into?
Wow, and once again you guys follow through… awesome. I’ve talked to I don’t know how many people and spent hours online and no one recommended that site. Thanks guys.
Fuzzy Dunlop: I’m in the Raleigh area in NC.
Disheavel: Thanks, that’s all great stuff to know.
Currently I’m not ready to incorporate as yet (I think?), still at the “discovery” stage (eg: can I make money from any of this). Or maybe not. Never did anything like this so the order of operations is part of the reason I’m stuck.
I’m looking at 3 things right now.
One is a desalination process using reverse osmosis (using existing technologies but in a way that I THINK will significantly reduce energy costs (actual money cost not energy usage). I’ve done some small scale testing in my yard and everything seems to work. However, my research is inconclusive if this would be economically viable compared to how things are currently done - though (assuming I didn’t make some stupid mistake) I think it would at least benefit non - profit endeavors (say NGOs or aid groups working in areas unable to pay for expensive plants).
The second is a device to aid the blind or partially blind - I’ve done the research as far as I can and don’t see (pardon the pun) any issues with the theory/technology since it’s using off the shelf already tried, tested and working tech.
Sticking point is lack of actual background to build a prototype means I could be missing something that would make it impractical or uneconomical (though I’m fairly confident that it’s doable).
Third is a cutting device - honestly this one is purely theoretical. Given that it’s based on a paper I read some years ago this one is purely speculative as to if it’s even possible. But if it works, damn it would be cool.
I’d like to follow up any one of these things, but as you can see I’m not certain where to go beyond the idea stage. I’ve a strong background in technology and physics (started out in engineering waaaay back when) so I can follow someone else’s work but I’m not strong enough in it to do it myself from scratch without going back to school so to speak. I’m actually really good at macguyver-ing existing tech to new uses though.
Do I start up a company and try getting the techies? Do I somehow find some technically proficient mentors and try to build proof of concept by myself? Do I approach existing entities and see what happens? Take the time and teach myself what I need to know? All or none of the above?
All very exciting but useless if I cannot figure out what the “first step” should be.
I would recommend doing a search for your ideas on the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) website (www.uspto.gov) to make sure your ideas haven’t been thought of and/or commercialized already. While they do have their own search engine, I find searching through the specialized Google patent search engine is far better: Google
Also, be very weary of ‘patent trolls’, which are companies that patent ideas and never commercialize them because their real goal seems to be to wait until someone else makes something close to what they patented or tries to come up with their own patent, at which point they sue them and/or extort money from them for a ‘license’.
I have twice been involved with ideas that I tried to patent - one with a company, and one on my own. Both times the process was abandoned because of a combination of costs, patent trolls, and examiners who wanted to shoehorn the idea and make it so specific as to make the patent worthless so that anyone else could get the idea and do it another way to avoid your patent. In my case, one was a piece of specialized security software and the other was an anti-counterfeiting device.
I also had the terrible experience of working on a grant with a university for a method of detecting hidden currency to prevent bulk cash smuggling in the drug trade. It was absolutely a patentable idea, but the Ph.D.s at the university were so hot to publish a paper about it, and my company so slow to start patent paperwork, that the idea was effectively given away in their forensic paper.
Try getting in touch with the economic development folks at the local research universities. You’re in a perfect area to make such connections. It’ll still take some leg work to get to the right people but you’re more likely to find advisors who’re capable of helping someone who is developing serious technology.
I don’t actually know the area but - http://techincubator.ncsu.edu/ - in my experience the people who run technology incubators would be thrilled to introduce you to promising connections. They’re desperate for serious entrepreneurs, not tenants. They’ve probably got a lack of actual space and would be happy to merely counsel you or make introductions.
I don’t know how closely you’re used to working with universities, but resist the urge to expect them to be focused on teaching basic stuff to undergraduates. You should be able to meet plenty of people with absolutely no interest in helping 20 year olds - people who spend all their time helping serious entrepreneurs.
I know what you mean about too much knowledge online. It’s almost overwhelming! I would suggest having a consultation with a patent attorney. He or she could steer you in the right direction. Good Luck
I actually did do patent searches and I think I’m good there. I even met a patent attorney (took him out for a beer or three to pick his brain) and he gave me a fair amount of insight in the process - which is why I’d like to get more into the development before I go there. After all, you need a patent attorney that specializes in whatever I’m patenting, plus the costs are pretty crazy. (Not to mention as Yarster mentioned they can get pretty specific).
fuzzy Dunlop: can you offer any particular way to approach these (or any) incubators? As part of my self guided attempts I did come in contact with one but I honestly had a total breakdown in communication when I’d ask how to work with them. Not sure if it was my questions or their answers but I walked away with no idea what I had to do/what they were looking for etc.