Reality Check 101

One of the easiest things for an entrepreneur to do is to fall in love. You have this truly inspirational idea for a world-changing gadget or cool net biz and you’re hooked.  An emotional bubble forms around the idea effectively inoculating it against reality. I’ve had more than one of these “idea crushes” during my career as an inventor.  In one sense, it’s perfectly natural to get excited about a new idea. You will need that enthusiasm to get the idea off the ground. In a more reality-based sense, I’ve learned to be much more cautious about pursuing ideas.

We discussed this issue to some degree in our last Top Gun class. We were talking about the importance of market research and the need to do it before you launch a product, not the other way around. Market research, done by you or an independent third party, is essential for identifying what your customers really want. In other words, there should be “pull” for your product instead of you needing to “push” it.

This is important for me in my attempt to start up a company around NeuroCheck.  I have to guard against buying into the idea to the point where my objectivity goes out the window.  I need someone else to validate the market for the product.  To this end, I will be using a market research firm here in Maine to help me out.  As one of my Top Gun mentors said, “You want to make sure you’re not hallucinating.”  Sage advice in a variety of circumstances.