So it all started with the idea that we would get together to figure out if we could come up with an idea that was worth pursuing. We wanted to use our time productively so of course we had to come up with a plan. Here was the basic plan of attack for a few days:
Agenda
Primary Objectives:
- Set context and expectations for the “venture”
- Establish a qualified list of “venture” opportunities
- Determine working model (especially since we are both in different cities)
- Agree upon an action plan for pursuing venture(s)
- Build prototype and define business model
Day 1 - Laying the groundwork
- Review Agenda
- Come to agreement on context and expectations for the “venture” (results, goals, commitment, investment, etc.)
- Determine the criteria for evaluating venture opportunities. Come up with an objective list of criteria along the lines of revenue opportunities, feasibility (for the 2 of us), resource commitments, market competition, differentiation, etc.
- Open brainstorming of venture opportunities.
- Opportunity qualification using the criteria list to begin evaluate and ranking opportunities.
- Decide on 1 or 2 opportunities to pursue after further qualification and prioritization.
Day 2 - Defining the business and plan
- Opportunity visioning. Long-term and short-term vision for opportunity.
- Define business model and show market opportunity, business differentiation, high level approach, revenue generation, costs, etc.
- Execution planning. High level task breakdown. Come up with a project plan.
- Prototype planning. (for a technical idea) Define basic functionality that needs to be tested. Technical Research. Environment setup.
Day 3 - Prototyping and planning
- Begin prototyping and further technical research.
- Review progress and decisions.
- Plan next steps. Refine working model approach if needed. Plan next working session trip, along with how it fits into the project plan and what milestones should be reached by that time.
The plan was intentionally ambitious to force us to be productive with our time, and it worked as planned since we got an amazing amount done. With any plan though, one of the most important things you have to remember is to be able to adapt the plan to the energy flow because that excitement can tremendously enhance any creativity and productivity. In our case, once we got through day 1 and decided on our idea, we adjusted the schedule and moved some of the technical research earlier to further qualify the feasibility before going into the details of the business plan.
I’ll go into the details of each activity in a later post.
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