…Visiting Xerox PARC probably wasn’t just a big waste of time. Gates was one of the less well known visitors.

…Gary Kildall – the guy IBM tried to meet up with – developer of CP/M the most popular operating system in the world of 8-bit microcomputers. Therein lies a story.

Astonishing when you see the brain farts turned business fling, clear nobody put in much effort or thought. Yet they hang onto the McGuffin like they actually tried.

You would have done well to at least mention how many successes were ‘pivots.’ Expressly examples that canceling a project in no way, shape or form means giving up.

On the other hand, wantrepreneurs have a genuine talent for taking any advice then twisting it so they can screw themselves over. They’ll always find a way to snatch failure from the jaws of victory. Bless their hearts.

what does history teach us?

Past performance is no indicator of future profit. Trees don’t grow to the sky.

Completely optional, usually only presented at the POS, not pushed at all and easily ignored. As is the wantrepreneur push to make mountains out of mole hills and call that a business opportunity.

You can become rich when you develop some tolerance for reality. So let us get on with that.

What Is the Real Survival Rate of Franchised Businesses? What a reasonably bright eighth-grader could apply homework skills and find. But when is there ever an eighth-grade student around when you need them?

You have been institutionalized for an embarrassing number of years, K-12 at taxpayer expense. Please don’t make the nice taxpayers cry.

It may work the way the video portrays. And there is nothing ‘wrong’ with the video – technically speaking. However, you don’t state the purpose or target audience for this video, nor at which point it is to be used.

The video assumes the visitor is completely converted into a customer at the point of watching. Fine if that is the case and adequately suited to task. Not if you’re using this video for the purpose of conversion, promotion, or introduction.

In that case, it is typical tehno-wonkism, and suggests the company has a disdain for the marketing function. It’s way too boring for anybody who isn’t completely converted and using the app. As explicitly stated in the video, it is a how-to of features without benefits.

I always suggest two things. Any agency should be able to write a book about their value proposition, differentiating from competitors. The other is really be “done with that.” Cut out the client entirely and do what is called eating your own dog food.

Take your own advice. Sell your own stuff – and no, not how-to about digital marketoiding. Real product or service. Real market demand. Your results are your pay.

A genuine test of the prowess most boast of is cutting out the middle-men and doing regular business. Then you eliminate all the problems with every know-nothing.

First off, this question gets asked every few hours. Next, success is an equal mixture of problem, ability, and knowledge …of the domain a solution must work within to qualify as a genuine fix. Nobody seems to get that.

I suppose a newbie would figure being the ultimate outsider is some kind of off-kilter advantage. Best show some respect to any problem existing in the now, with eight billion people scrambling to buy the crotchfruit that hot Christmas gift.

People are going to flock to your cause with an established track record of having banished real problems, for real people. Otherwise, you’re just one of millions calling what they do a fix without any proof.

What Are Your Tier 1 Problems? Figure out what swiping up does, crawl before you walk. One dipshit actually bitch – with all of that – I didn’t update the list of lists. He failed to grasp the point. Much as the people who thought they’d just trot on over and fix the US healthcare system …because it would make a nice bullet point on a résumé.

What’s the pitch here, “I can help. Mom said I could?”

It’s always difficult to advise when it’s about whipping out your bliss and playing with it in public. Plenty of people have been shocked the positive comments they receive were never accompanied by any money.

My product validation is completely different then real results. Advice?

Need a bit of help; Created an amazing product, posted some images on social media, all the feedback has been extremely positive… but ZERO sales. How do I change this?

How To Crash Your Startup

So shocked they write “zero” in all capital letters. Point being, from a pure business standpoint it will be very difficult to monetize at any more than ramen level. What you actually decide is up to your preference for keeping this going.

All of them are good. And people who have achieved success could understand the problems and figure out anything that seems confusing. Newbies, well …not so much. They tend to take instructions much as a buffet, choosing this or that crumb based on ‘newbie tingle’ then rewriting the rest to suit preconceived notions.

Like PayPal didn’t have competition. Or Lean Startup endorses Build It And They Will Come. Heck I can’t even get the impression people know what “lean” or “minimal” or “viable” mean from their posts. It is bizarre.

And you ain’t helping. You get it that this exercise is dependent on using your words, right? No matter. This goes much faster when OP plays no role. Got twenty minutes?

Customer versus Product Development lays out the theory – completely compatible with lean. This is roughly the same online or offline, wait for the passage “…Toyota was doing this before anybody…” Basic diagram. Mostly small words. Shows a procedure to follow. (That’s that thing where you don’t edit the parts you don’t like completely out – then complain about the inevitable here.)

3 Awesome Minimum Viable Products are only awesome because they didn’t get it completely ass-backwards with the wantrepreneur misinterpretation: How To Crash Your Startup.

The Business Model Canvas – 9 Steps to Creating a Successful Business Model is compatible with the books. If you just put a checkmark in each box, you’re doing it wrong.

The only problem with reading a bunch of books is invariably wantrepreneurs throw up their hands in mock confusion … then do what they would have done without reading the books. They waste their time but feel really good about it.

Thanks, zombie.

Congratulations. If I understand what you wrote – you created postage. People have known this for some time – ‘spam’ was a nuisance long before the popular modern internet – and there are nuances to making it work you haven’t mentioned.

The only place I know this to be a working solution is corporate nets. Where it curtails the tendency for cover-your-ass rampant CC inclusions.

This is so old I no longer own the books it was written in. It was a popular proposal in the 1990’s.

You want more benefits for this to be any commercial product sold to a general public. Ideally, the way to get a prototype up-and-running is to start an online community – just like Reddit – then work out the nuances I mentioned but won’t tell you about.

Included in that process would have to be, oh I dunno, becoming a better marketer by one order of magnitude or thereabouts. And perhaps only one hundred times better at eighth-grade homework skill, which then qualifies you to begin research.

I have always imagined potential for wider acceptance of a modernized reimagining of postage. And I can think of a hundred interesting experiments to prove out in a working prototype. A genuine pity you do not seem to be the one to execute on this – at all.

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Postage Due — for your corporate e-mail as always, potential without any interesting actuality. This needs to be thoroughly rethought to have appeal for the ‘free internet’ folk.

Realize what is causing a dysfunctional relationship with money – then end it. The people here will all tell you an ‘entrepreneur’ is one who starts a business. Entrepreneurs are ingenious largely self-reliant decision makers first and foremost. The decision to start a business is one of many.

If (if) money flows through your fingers like water, that won’t change – starting a business makes that worse. A business is not a magic money machine. And an entrepreneur is no get-rich schemer.

In a larger, philosophic sense, entrepreneurs make money. They do not ‘get paid’ as an employee would, they are not ‘given’ a job as such, they carve out a share of the market. To a disturbing many here, this whole paragraph means absolutely nothing. Just as the concept of “value” online is nil. Entrepreneurs create value. Collecting the money is a follow-up task.

If you want to be an entrepreneur, start by not having this question.

I suggest something for focus starting out. You can always create an umbrella later.

Here’s the secret. Monetization is never that last minor step. You have a plan before you start. You test along the way. Then you can claim you meant for success to happen.

Otherwise, you’re taking a whack at a piñata, wearing a blindfold, in a dark room … you don’t know has a piñata hanging in it.

I might sell a course in the future or e-book on how to change your life haha.

Change from watching to buying one hopes.

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Overcoming the Monetization Paradox because, in a more civilized time if you tried to explain the concept of ‘monetization’ to businesspeople – or any adult – they would consider you as insane.

This sort of question comes up frequently. Many want to post to a forum and get random positive encouragement – no matter the idea.

Okay: You go grrl.

I don’t think anything of it because you haven’t posted one single solitary detail worth consideration. My default suggestion is – provided you perform due diligence – it is not a bad idea. Everybody thinks I am consistently negative because of this. That is true enough for wantrepreneur work.

I’ve had dozens of businesses ideas, but I always end up in a dead end, facing the harsh reality that the idea was not so great, and going back to 0.

People post two-word-ideas here. …Power Washing. Web Design. Toy Store. And now “shoe brand.” That is not an idea. It’s a lame excuse for a launch monkey – wanting to start a company in the worst way – to get what they ask for …good and hard. Basically, the plotline of every Twilight Zone episode.

You must have more than the two words, especially in order to foster some kind of discussion.

For this I suggest moving through the ideation continuum: Brain Fart. Concept. Notion. Napkin Scribble. Idea. Plan. And THEN post the damn thing. You just went on and on about having an idea, okay then: SPIT IT OUT.

…How do you plan to compete against entrenched competition? You don’t say.

…Who is the target customer? No Comment. (Hint: Shoe buyer ain’t it.)

…Where is underserved or unserved strong market demand? Crickets.

You get it that part of this SNAFU is using your words, right!!! If you can’t successfully carry on a forum discussion, you have all the information you need about starting a successful shoe brand. Wait … did that need a spoiler tag?

Here is how to write a post about an IDEA: Describe the brand as if presenting it to your target customer. Describe the audience for your brand messaging and development in specific terms.

News Flash. If you can’t do those two things you don’t have a brand and do not have any form of idea. It’s not even a shower thought. You incant this word “Brand” as if saying “Abracadabra.”

So, if you wanted permission to try, consider permission granted. Try using your words. That happens when you depress all those buttons in front of you. Because you’ve depressed the hell out of me with this pointlessly vague wonderment.

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The Problem With Online Clothing Stores is the problem with everything else: Not having a business, then starting one just to prove that. Take a look at the POD link. If I know more than you do about your ‘inspiration,’ then you have much bigger problems than taking a blind business fling.

You mean, in order to get their money back and make a profit?

…Proof of product-market fit.

…Product-market fit.

…Market Traction.

…An exit path.

I swear to god, the people here think investors spend their day shoving money under random doors.

You mean ice skating uphill against market demand you have little to no interest in? You’ll need better search engines skills than you now possess.

I get it. You did stuff. The stuff that happened was “Meh.”

Now you seek a constant injection of miracles.

Time consuming work that will not scale. For a commodity product that is unlikely to be priced at breakeven for the overhead. Sold to strangers that have nothing better to do than pay you for, well …whatever pops into your head.

No market research. No target customer. (Partygoers doesn’t qualify). For something you’re just going to take a fling on blind. Plus the added cost of printer supplies.

Yeah …no.

You don’t have a profit. You’re selling for more than the immediate cost of the McGuffin, but are not accounting for all of your overhead costs.

And you’re not very good at providing information. So there’s little help to offer.

…You may test raising prices.

…You can try looking through articles for your mystery business type.

…You should always be working to improve your marketing and value proposition.

…Ask yourself if there are efficiencies or opportunities to increase business effectiveness.

Who knows what’s wrong, you’ve communicated nothing. But there are some basics anybody can try. Many haven’t been in business for fifteen years. They’ve repeated that first year fifteen times. You should be looking to work on your business rather than in the business.