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I'm not a native speaker. My apology for mistakes of following question.

Hello,

It's been 2 years since I've started to learn HTML to build myself a personal homepage.

Now I'm able to code in all major programming languages to solve wide range of problems, from artificial intelligence to signal processing. Also studied composing and producing music, designing 3D & vector graphics; followed social and cognitive psychology lectures on my own to improve my startup ideas.

Well, I have tons of startup ideas. But, I fail at starting things up. I have no idea about bureaucracy, finance, accounting, finding out what is in demand in the market, social marketing techniques etc. I've tried to study traditional syllabus of finance and business management before, but simply I couldn't get motivated at that time.

I have some difficulties. The country I'm living in lacks startup-minded people that I can co-found a business or ask for investment. My lack of language skills stops me to establish conversation with international investors and potential customers. And I can't even afford to lease more than a VPS, file a company or register a trademark.

Recently, I stopped looking for a messiah and decided to learn every aspects of launching a business and finding resources alone in the startups universe. I guess, being an entrepreneur won't be so difficult since business-minded and techy people have a common characteristic: thinking analytically.

So, what do you suggest for me, and others, who want to be both tech and business person on their startup? Where to start to learn bringing a product to real life, and converting an idea into a startup?

In sum of, How to be a "business guy"?

Thanks.

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This question is so broad as to be fairly useless and impossible to answer here. – TimJ♦ Jul 7 '11 at 14:25
@Tim, what makes this question "impossible to answer here"? – Jeff Jul 7 '11 at 19:39
Hi Jeff, welcome to the site! Your question is too broad, which makes it impossible to provide you with a good answer, so it must be closed. Please see How To Ask for some help. Also, review our FAQ. And to help you get started with business stuff, take a look at this question: answers.onstartups.com/questions/13694/… – Zuly Gonzalez♦ Jul 7 '11 at 19:41
@Jeff -- "So, what do you suggest me -and others who want to be both tech and business person on their startup-? Where to start to learn bringing a product to real life, and converting an idea into a startup?" is so broad, subjective and general that no one answer can be useful. This site is focused on Q&A - it is not discussion based or a set of advice/opinions. There are many good sites, books and other resources out there for general advice. If you have specific questions this site might also be good. – TimJ♦ Jul 7 '11 at 21:07

closed as not a real question by TimJ♦, Kekito, NetTecture, Joseph Barisonzi, Zuly Gonzalez♦ Jul 7 '11 at 19:31

It's difficult to tell what is being asked here. This question is ambiguous, vague, incomplete, overly broad, or rhetorical and cannot be reasonably answered in its current form. For help clarifying this question so that it can be reopened, see the FAQ.

4 Answers

up vote 3 down vote accepted

Here are a couple things to think about – people with your dilemma tend to come from a couple different perspectives.

Creativity does not always play nice with business

I’ve seen quite a few people who have several great ideas – and they spend all their mental power developing those ideas. They haven’t learned business, and why should they? They are good at coming up with ideas. If you feel like that describes you, I would really strongly suggest you try and find a partner or mentor. You mentioned that you don’t know any one locally, but you’ve already proven you know how to use the web as a great resource. Grab a blog and get your ideas online!

Afraid of starting and shipping

This is probably the most common side people come from. At first, business and creativity seem like polar opposites - but you can use your inventive and creative ideas in your business, and be more successful because of it. Don't be like many people who have a great idea, but they are afraid to take the plunge and truly try to develop and execute/ship it. They just keep going around it in circles, thinking and rethinking it, but ultimately never getting anything done. Don’t be that person! Even though having a partner may help a lot, you can start with anything and slowly make progress. Start in your garage, draw up ideas, write articles, gain interest. But please, plunge in and get your hands dirty! Ask questions, keep reading, and before you know it, you’ll have a start-up running!

Don’t let the seeming mountain of tasks in front of you to get your idea running discourage you. And don’t be afraid of it actually being successful – or failing. Failure is not defeat, it is only a learning process.

And remember, you don't have to have fancy services, or an amazing final product, or expensive consultation. Start with what you can, use common sense, and think outside the box. Try ideas, and ask "what does this do?"

Seth Godin's materials are a great place to start - he'll inspire you to think and not allow you to make excuses for yourself.

Best of luck!

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Great answer, thank you very much. – Jeff Jul 7 '11 at 19:39
up vote 1 down vote

Seth Godin's The Bootstrapper's Bible looks like a good start.

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Are you answering you own question? – Ross Jul 8 '11 at 6:26
@Ross, found out that book after I've asked my question. It looks promising for cases like mine. – Jeff Jul 8 '11 at 13:52
up vote 1 down vote

Seems like your more of the tech-side. Don't try to do everything yourself. Stick to an idea and develop it with a 'business partner' .

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up vote 1 down vote

To paraphrase from Nike: "Just Build It!".

You have an idea you think is worth turning into a business? turn it into a working idea. As a technical person, you have the power to do that, which is quite an advantage. Once you have it built, try to recruit a business partner to help you move forward. But don't let "business" get in the way of building the idea from a technical aspect. Even if the idea doesn't take off- it will be a good experience for you to build a "beta" from A to Z. Will help you in the future. This is what I'm doing now.

Sometimes, we think of the steps we have to take to do Everything and we bulk at that and just stop. Start with what you know. Build your idea and then worry about getting someone to market, promote, sell or manage it. I say this because this is your first time and you need practice, confidence and experience. If you were a veteran startup entrepreneur i'd say don't build before you know where you expect revenue comes from.

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