Don't Be the Paranoid Entrepreneur Who Talks to His Dog

At the end of Chapter One, The Art of Starting, I really appreciated that the author addressed fear and paranoia. One thing I always thought was that if you have a good idea, then you should keep it to yourself until it's so far along that it'd be too late for anyone else to steal it. The author said that sharing your ideas offers room for them to improve though. He said, "There is much more to gain - feedback, connections, opened doors - by freely discussing your idea than there is to lose." This is something that I'll need to remember if I want to actually start a business and make something happen. People always say that two heads are better are one but I guess I only applied that to people who are actually working on a project with you. I've always been scared about asking other people for advice or help if I thought that maybe they would steal my idea. Obviously I'm not afraid of asking my parents or my friends, but I've never reached out to others who would be able to actually put my plan into action for themselves.

One of the questions in the back of the chapter that the author answers is "How far along should I be before I start talking to people about what I'm doing?" and he says that you should start right away. This is another example of something that I don't do. I keep the idea to myself until I actually get started on it. That why I seem to know more about what I want to do and it gives me a feeling of security that someone won't steal my idea. For example, today was the NH Media Makers meeting that John Herman told us about. I had it written on my calendar and I wanted to go, but then I decided not to. I felt that my idea wasn't solid enough yet and I didn't have enough of a plan. I thought that the people would think that I was wasting their time by not having a solid enough plan. In this chapter though, the author said that it's ok to do that because people will give you ideas and help you make yours stronger. He said, "The more people you talk to, the richer your thoughts will be." Maybe if I had gone to the meeting, people would have helped me develop my ideas and I could have a solid plan. Now I have to wait until the next meeting and in the next month I'll have my own ideas, but that's all they'll be. They'll only be mine. They won't have influence from others. Now I realize that the influence of others is a good thing and that I should be seeking this out. I'm glad I read this article because not only has it given me a new perspective on how to grow my ideas, it's given me the confidence to do so.