Of Course I Love Your Terrible Idea

Never ask anyone what they think of your idea.

Jun 25, 2023

I was recently visiting our space in Bicester and was having a really good chat with a new member when I got that question that I dread:

What do you think of my idea?

If I could change one thing in the world of entrepreneurship, startup and freelance it would be to retire this question.

So let’s get that ball rolling here. Please, please, never ask anyone what they think of your idea.

No sole person can honestly tell you whether it is a good idea, you need to take your destiny out of their hands.

I don’t dread the question because I have to be honest when it’s a terrible idea, I dread it because it doesn’t matter what I say, I want to instead go on a rant about why they shouldn’t ask that question.

There Are No More Good Ideas

There’s an old story of Henry Ellsworth, the Commissioner of US patent office in the 1840s, and a quote attributed to him:

"The advancement of the arts, from year to year, taxes our credulity and seems to presage the arrival of that period when human improvement must end.”

It was echoed in an apocryphal story credited to Charles H. Duell, the Commissioner of the same office at the turn of the 20th Century who it is claimed said: “Everything that can be invented has been invented.” It seems the line is one of those that feels so attractive that it doesn’t matter whether it was true or not.

A more truthful perspective on this came from Mark Twain: “There is no such thing as a new idea. It is impossible. We simply take a lot of old ideas and put them into a sort of mental kaleidoscope. We give them a turn and they make new and curious combinations. We keep on turning and making new combinations indefinitely; but they are the same old pieces of colored glass that have been in use through all the ages.”

We can remix, we can introduce new approaches into new environments, but the idea of having a wholly new idea is flawed.

Our human needs remain quite simple and basic, we need to connect with each other, collect resources, and find ways to communicate our complicated views of the world around us.

This idea of being the hyper-creative genius who has invented something truly novel and innovative is pervasive, but most businesses and start-ups don’t need this to succeed.

We talked about technology saving us through the first part of the 21st Century, but so far all it did was made it easier to spend money and argue with each other.

Our focus on technological leaps has created a bit of myopia, an so we look to “experts” for their advice and approval.

There’s another take on this in which I will talk more about why you shouldn’t build an app in 2023, and there’s a bigger chunk in there on the opportunity cost of this distraction.

Don’t worry about whether your idea is good, instead focus on whether there’s a place for it in the world.

The Mom Test

I do book recommendations at the end of every talk or lecture, mostly highlighting some books I wish I had found earlier and I change them based on the audience.

In amongst books like Range, Black Box Thinking, 15 Commitments, and many more, one book stays permanently on the list no matter what.

The Mom Test is a decade-old book from Rob Fitzpatrick which still rules when it comes to engaging with customers and developing your start-up idea.

I met Rob at the Cardiff Start launch back in 2013 and have been recommending the book ever since.

The principle of the Mom Test is simple: if you ask your mum for advice on an idea she’s going to tell you whatever you want to hear. People can’t be trusted, not because they’re not trustworthy but because they can’t tell you candidly what they really think.

The important lesson in the Mom Test is to move your line of questioning away from “what do you think about my idea” and more over to direct questions about their behaviour and habits.

This is a better way to understand whether they’re definitely a potential customer and not just a well-meaning friend.

You need to move away from the hypothetical and get the questions grounded in reality.

I had a very good example of this when delivering a workshop earlier in June.

All through May I had been telling friends about how I was going to have a healthy diet and lifestyle in June.

Then on the first of June, at my first hurdle, I totally flunked it at lunchtime.

If you were pitching me a healthy food product, I would have told you that I was doing this health kick and I would be a definite customer. You’d go away feeling convinced there’s a market for your product and everyone would leave the meeting happy.

When you ask questions, you need to ask about what they last did when they had an opportunity to be a potential customer.

If you asked me instead: “what happened last time you tried a health kick?” you would get a much clearer idea of how well it was going this time.

Don’t ask “what do you think you will have for lunch next Thursday? If there was a healthier option like a salad would you go for it?” if you know that I know you’re pitching a salad product.

Instead, ask questions like “can you give me an idea of what you have had for lunch over the last fortnight?"

You don’t want people to love your idea, you want customers to buy it.

If you lead with questions like “what do you think?” more often than not they will tell you what they think you want to hear.

“I love it, I’d love healthier options for lunch! Let me know when you go live, it would be great to learn more when it’s available!”

These responses make you feel like you’re on to a winner, but you’re fooling yourself. Don’t make big decisions based on bad data.

The problem with talking to customers is you get compliments and opinions instead of data, people can’t predict their future buying behaviour, and it takes a long time.

You need to know about specifics from their past not hypothetical changes in the future.

I can’t recommend this book highly enough, if you haven’t already, go get a copy now.

Bicester Conversation

Going back to the conversation I had with that founder in Bicester, a better question than “what do you think of my idea?” would have been something more direct and specific. That could be something like:

“When was the last time you purchased this service?”

“Do you think I’m targeting the right customers?”

Sometimes you have an opportunity to speak to a leader in your industry, or someone who has significant experience or knowledge. These are the moments you especially need to avoid just asking them what they think.

As a team, or with your trusted advisors, come up with a list of areas you need extra data. These might be things like:

When do they need a product/service like this (time of day, week, month, year)?
Who makes the decision on whether to buy the service, or who to buy from?
What are competitors doing well or poorly in this space?

Look for the signal not the noise, what are the patterns? What is opinion and what is insight? Over time this gets a lot easier. Sometimes people just want to rant, other times they’re giving you gold.

There’s one last point on this, and it’s when you’re being the Mom in the Mom Test example.

Especially if you’re an entrepreneur yourself, you will get people asking you for advice and your thoughts regularly.

Go easy on folks, but not too easy. Don’t just say it’s a good idea in order to get out of an awkward conversation quicker.

My standard trick has been to call out the question and direct them to the Mom Test, but now you have this post up your sleeve too.

What’s your response when someone asks for advice? I’d love to hear from you what else is working well.

Of Course I Love Your Terrible Idea

Never ask anyone what they think of your idea.

There Are No More Good Ideas

The Mom Test

Bicester Conversation

Read next…

Part one

Part two

Part three

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