That's version ∞. First launch version 0.1.
2009-06-15
Version ∞
I hear lots of business plans.
Most of them are trying to do a ton of things.
EXAMPLE: “It's a social networking e-commerce portal for live music, where everyone creates a profile to enter all their dates, if they're a musician or venue, or their available dates if they're a music fan. Then we connect the fans with artists' dates. Then we can sell the tickets for the events, and give a digital download preview of the music. After the show, the artist uploads the video from the night, and people can purchase the video of the show they were at, and connect with other people who attended that same show to create tribes of people, who will recommend other music you may like if you like that. Oh and it will have a dating component, and real-time chat.”
(It sounds like I'm exaggerating but this is unfortunately a very typical example.)
I have to say, “OK. You know software version numbers? Mac OS version 10.4? 10.5? What you just described is version infinity. That's everything it will ever do in the future. First focus on launching version 0.1.”
What's the one crucial part of that giant plan? What's the one killer feature that nobody else is doing? Get it launched with just that. Then add the rest later.
The Hedgehog Concept
The book “Good to Great” studied hundreds of companies that started out as good, then at some point in their history became great.
They found that all of these companies had the “Hedgehog Concept”: focusing on the one thing they do best, and letting go of the rest.
(A fox is smart, with many tricks. A hedgehog only knows one trick: curl into a ball with its spikes out. But the fox's many tricks are no match for the hedgehog's one. A fox can't eat a hedgehog. Many companies are trying to be the fox. The book says the winners are like the hedgehog.)
Got a complex business idea? Break it down into its ingredients, and let the specialists do what they do best.
Video aspect? Let YouTube handle that part. E-Commerce aspect? Use Amazon's system. Payments? PayPal. Social networking? Facebook.
Don't reinvent any of these wheels. Focus on what's left - what hasn't been done.
Specialize at that one thing, and become that go-to company that nobody can beat in your niche.
(I think the term “version infinity” came from a talk with Jason Fried.)
I've been using g2g for the past 5 years in the management class I teach in Loyola's business school.
it's a crucial book.
the HH concept involves 3 elements:
1. what you do best
2. what you're passionate about
3. what gives you an economic driver
it's the overlap of these three things that provides success.
many musicians are passionate about playing piano, but aren't that great at it, and thus can't make any $.
many people make a lot of $ doing something they're not passionate about, and end up burning out.
addressing the HH forces you to make some hard decisions, and - sometimes - compromises.
here are some slides for a lecture i gave that talks a bit about this:
http://www.9giantsteps.com/?p=1016
more on the Hedgehog:
http://www.artistshousemusic.org/articles/music+business+101+the+essentials
yes, i geek out on this stuff.
sorry.
One of the best suggestions since I've been reading your blog, Derek.
Thank you! I have a Hedge Hog Beanie baby, now there is a mantra associated with him:
Simplify...
Great link from George too...love the Kurt Cobain part. His book
Journals is a wild read.
Thanks for this great article Derek. I've had to read Good to Great for two of my Berkleemusic courses, and think it is an amazing book with very interesting insights.
I especially love your sentences: "Don’t reinvent any of these wheels. Focus on what’s left – what hasn’t been done. Specialize at that one thing, and become that go-to company that nobody can beat in your niche." Wow! Think I will print that out and pin it on my wall...
Thanks again (and thanks to George for his link too! Good slides!)
Yup.
Dude, you are the shyt! Just want you to know that ...
Holy crap! My band has been trying to be "Version Infinity" all along! Again, Derek delivers a powerful wake-up call...
Ok, confession here. Had no hedgehog inklings before today. I found this fact on bing: "All hedgehogs are similar in how they look and what color they are. They all have sharp, narrow snouts, small eyes, and short legs...They have a very good sense of smell and hearing." So, the 'similar in how they look and what color they are" is so spot-on. Look at any music site now...look the same, all vying
for attention. Well Derek, I already have a narrow snout and short legs, and now am working on my sense of smell. I need to sniff out where I can help the most and be the best. I may even change my name to Sonic. ;-)
Hello, this post cut to the chase and reminded me how important it is to be remarkable.
"What’s the one killer feature that nobody else is doing?" That is the clincher!
I'm releasing today http://betterworldify.sebastianconcept.com lacking a couple of features just because of this.
I totally support this pragmatic approach.
Sorry but this post looks like:
"Hey people! I discovered warm water!"
Question...
Do you think this applies to musicians as well regarding their music? Do you feel that its better to start with a very clear distinct definable "thing" and then once you get that off the ground and you have fans who know you for that thing you can branch out and expand your sound?
Hmmm.... No, unless that's more inspiring to you, to focus on one thing. But if playing with many styles excites you, do that. Not many similarities with the business idea I can think of. -- Derek
This reminds of me a couple of years ago trying to be an artist, musician and run a label. It was very difficult. Too many hats to wear, but I did learn a lot and developed useful skills.
Business and Management side:
Accounting, Procurement, Legal work, Bookings.
Marketing side:
Album art, Music video production & Editing, Photo shoots, Web site design and maintenance, Myspace, Advertising & Promotion
Music Production:
Writing, Rehearsing, Recording,
Performing.
Although I'm doing some of the above now with my current musical project, it's not as taxing as trying to run an indie record label and be an artist.
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It is more difficult to get your
material before the public when you aren't an artist.
i have 100 ideas every month but cant carry it out , can i sale my big ideas to you to buy frm me ,then implement on it to make money
You just made my day with the example!
It's eerie how close you come to the project I was working on three years ago. Minus the "the user can describe what sort of piercing he/she wears"…