That’s version infinity. First launch version 0.1.
I hear lots of business plans.
Most of them are trying to do a ton of things.
For example: “It’s a social networking e-commerce portal for live music, where everyone creates a profile to enter all their dates, if they’re a musician or venue, or their available dates if they’re a music fan. Then we connect the fans with artists’ dates. Then we can sell the tickets for the events, and give a digital download preview of the music. After the show, the artist uploads the video from the night, and people can purchase the video of the show they were at, and connect with other people who attended that same show to create tribes of people, who will recommend other music you may like if you like that. Oh and it will have a dating component, and real-time chat.”
It sounds like I’m exaggerating but this is unfortunately a very typical example.
I have to say, “OK. You know software version numbers? Mac OS version 10.4? 10.5? What you just described is version infinity. That’s everything it will ever do in the future. First focus on launching version 0.1.”
What’s the one crucial part of that giant plan? What’s the one killer feature that nobody else is doing? Get it launched with just that. Then add the rest later.
The book “Good to Great” studied hundreds of companies that started out as good, then at some point in their history became great.
They found that all of these companies had the “Hedgehog Concept.” They focused on the one thing they do best, and let go of the rest.
A fox is smart, with many tricks. A hedgehog only knows one trick: curl into a ball with its spikes out. But the fox’s many tricks are no match for the hedgehog’s one. A fox can’t eat a hedgehog. Many companies are trying to be the fox. The book says the winners are like the hedgehog.
Got a complex business idea? Break it down into its ingredients, and let the specialists do what they do best.
Video aspect? Let YouTube handle that part. E-Commerce aspect? Use Amazon’s system. Payments? Use Stripe.
Don’t reinvent any of these wheels. Focus on what’s left — what hasn’t been done.
Specialize at that one thing, and become that go-to company that nobody can beat in your niche.
(P.S. I think the term “version infinity” came from a talk with Jason Fried.)
Yup.
Dude, you are the shyt! Just want you to know that ...
Holy crap! My band has been trying to be "Version Infinity" all along! Again, Derek delivers a powerful wake-up call...
Ok, confession here. Had no hedgehog inklings before today. I found this fact on bing: "All hedgehogs are similar in how they look and what color they are. They all have sharp, narrow snouts, small eyes, and short legs...They have a very good sense of smell and hearing." So, the 'similar in how they look and what color they are" is so spot-on. Look at any music site now...look the same, all vying
for attention. Well Derek, I already have a narrow snout and short legs, and now am working on my sense of smell. I need to sniff out where I can help the most and be the best. I may even change my name to Sonic. ;-)
Hello, this post cut to the chase and reminded me how important it is to be remarkable.
"What’s the one killer feature that nobody else is doing?" That is the clincher!
Question...
Do you think this applies to musicians as well regarding their music? Do you feel that its better to start with a very clear distinct definable "thing" and then once you get that off the ground and you have fans who know you for that thing you can branch out and expand your sound?
Hmmm.... No, unless that's more inspiring to you, to focus on one thing. But if playing with many styles excites you, do that. Not many similarities with the business idea I can think of. — Derek
This reminds of me a couple of years ago trying to be an artist, musician and run a label. It was very difficult. Too many hats to wear, but I did learn a lot and developed useful skills.
Business and Management side:
Accounting, Procurement, Legal work, Bookings.
Marketing side:
Album art, Music video production & Editing, Photo shoots, Web site design and maintenance, Myspace, Advertising & Promotion
Music Production:
Writing, Rehearsing, Recording,
Performing.
Although I'm doing some of the above now with my current musical project, it's not as taxing as trying to run an indie record label and be an artist.
You just made my day with the example! :)
It's eerie how close you come to the project I was working on three years ago. Minus the "the user can describe what sort of piercing he/she wears"…
If you want to read about how I found my hedgehog concept, see
http://bobueland.com/cocos2d/?page_id=231
It might help you to find your own.
The hedgehog concept is one of my favorites and I couldn't agree more.
A great compliment and further food for thought is the D-Day landing analogy that Geoffrey Moore uses in "Crossing the Chasm". Starting small means being niche and highly focused.
when I googled my question I ended up in this very useful post. But the question is:
what kind of developer do I need for my website?
-or-
What are the key operation my site needs to do that will determine the software I'll need to use?
I don know witch one is the right way to ask
Good job, D.. U are my "to go person", if I need any advise. Keep it up, you are helping us save time and money, I love ur whole concept of V 0.01-to infinity. Ur doing good thing. Thanks I will pray for u....
I've just across this article and it's been so helpful. Thank you!
Great article! I think a perfect example of your methodology is what Uber is doing. Go download the app and take note of the experience...what will you see? Engines powered by four square, payments powered by merchant processing, digital payments powered by Google wallet etc...
Leave the essentials you're vision is NOT about to the ones who do it well. The infrastructure is there.
Well spoken! Use everyone else's "wheel" to launch your idea! I used to describe this as simplicity. if an idea gets complicated, people lose interest or cannot complete the task. Thanks for the reminder, Derek.
If applying for a patent from the project and or copyrights, how might that be defined, on how to do or when to apply?
Very helpful to someone who is looking to create their first gaming app
But,how I could conglomerate a lot of actions together which are interconnected with each other ie,financial,FMCG,entertainment,insurance,pension.
THIS IS EXACTLY WHAT I NEED TO DO CAUSE I HAVE A GREAT IDEA FOR A SITE AND HAVING ADHD HAS ME RUNNING IN CIRCLES STARTING A MILLION THINGS AND NEVER FINISHING ANY OF THEM , GOOD ADVICE! I RAN A MULTI MIILLION DOLLAR CONSTRUCTION COMPANY AND STARTED WITH NOTHING AND BUILT OVER THE YEARS ADDING DIFFERENT TRADES EACH YEAR, WOULDNT HAVE MADE IT DOING EVERY AT ONCE.
The more I read, the less I know, the further from my goal I get. How about helping a totally clueless teacher find a place to start? I want a drag and drop online worksheet for students with vision problems to use with a Saxon math book lesson. Did I mention the school district probably won't pay for this?
Where do I start?
Hi Derek,
I have an idea for a Language learning program.
For any language that has a written form.
How can I ensure that a programmer wont run away with my idea?
Regards,
J.
What's the easiest way to protect the idea so the programmer won't run with it?
I love the hedgehog analogy. Fox is cunning and wily, but no matter what it does, it can't eat that hedgehog, because of those damn spikes.
Now apply that principle to your business idea...
Thanks Derek!!
I have developed a new way to play the very popular,most played on the internet
Solitaire. I need a programmer to partner with me ,protect and sell my idea
It's very simple and has the same skill required to finish and win the game
I like how you take time to come up with working metaphors. I'm sure you first thought of the fox and cat from Aesop's fable and then, since foxes don't eat cats, switched to a hedgehog. Good.
I think fables and sayings are excellent mental tools. Strange that so many people don't know them, don't make an effort to get to know them.
I once read a little book, from Shambala publishing, of old Chinese sayings that the author had found valuable, and wanted to share with English speakers. He tried to make translations with rhythm and rhyme like classic English sayings.
I'm sorry to say I memorized the sayings but not the book title or author.
I really love this article.
Complexity is the enemy of execution
I love the hedgehog analogy.
I've also read Good to Great and think it is a thought provoking book.
Thanks again for always sharing your straight to the point insights!!!
I wish I could have a personal mentor like you derek