"I think it is often easier to make progress on mega-ambitious dreams. Since no one else is crazy enough to do it, you have little competition. In fact, there are so few people this crazy that I feel like I know them all by first name."
Larry Page, quoted in Re-Invent Yourself, by James Altucher
One of the stories from that book is about how Mick Ebeling saw a report about a young boy in the Sudan who had both arms blown off by a bomb. Ebeling, without any relevant experience, got together a bunch of experts who helped him figure out how to 3D-print prosthetics for the boy.
START BEFORE YOU ASK FOR HELP
He asked Intel to sponsor this work, but not until he'd gathered the necessary information and started experimenting. Altucher writes:
"Too many people say, 'I have an idea. Now I need funding.'
Don't do that anymore. Stop it!
Say instead, 'I'm already doing this. Here are the 10 or 20 things I've done so far. Here are the results. Are you in?""
WHY THIS IS DIFFICULT
That's great advice but I know it can be difficult to follow. If you're like me, you'd like somebody to endorse your idea right away. Then we feel more confident going ahead. But if we're reluctant to take the plunge on our own idea, I guess it's no wonder other people will be even more so.
Something to work on...
