Have an idea. How to start?
I actually have a very nice idea in IT field. It is a large online game which is easy to monetize in case of popularity. I am also a programmer myself so I generally know how to start with my idea. I also have a friend of mine (also a programmer) who will help me with half of the project. I also have friend of mine who is an artist so he can also join later.
As for now, me and my friend started doing the project - quite slowly. The reason is - even though I am working quite much time, the project is so large that it will take at least half a year to produce even a model (if there 2 of us). Genereally, it can be done, but too much time required.
What shall I do to bring this idea to reality? Shall I produce a model and then go to the investor, or shall I just find a large team of collaborators each of us getting the same share in the future startup, or how is it done? I have no experience in business, I have no influential friends to help me out, no dad working at the bank. What are the general steps?
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Half a year is nothing, just go for it. If you get too many people involved you may slow down, due to the communication/management overhead. Get a working prototype and put it in front of prospective customers. Get a copy of The Lean Startup by Eric Ries. – Steve Jones 11 years ago
2 Answers
If at all possible, I recommend you bring your project to investors only after you've launched and after you've found someone who can advise you on how to prepare financial projections and on how to pitch the investment. Unfortunately, since you have no business experience, most investors will probably not take you seriously unless you have your product already built and showing at least some degree of traction. In the meantime, you need to incorporate your business and for that, you need to find out how it's done in your jurisdiction. If you can't finish the product without investors then it's going to be hard. Take a look at the top 100 questions on this site, that should help too. I think these questions might help you: Losing Controlling Interest in a company, can that be bad?, What are the elements of a one line pitch?, how secure is sharing business idea for investment and How do I make an angel investor move faster on a deal? But overall, if you've got a good idea that can scale, then in my opinion you've got half the problem already solved.
Good luck.
What you can do in addition to the other ansewrs above is find another, more business/law/marketing oriented person. You are in a quite usual startup situation where the "team" is compounded only by "technical people" (in your case two programmers and one artist). It would be much easier for you if someone more businens oriented joins your team. Perhaps a friend of yours... Perhaps not as a cofounder but just as a consultant (maybe some PC game player who would do it for free)... Even for some occasionnal talks/checks/brainstormings.
It would remove your worries about the business part of the project and let you the freedom to concentrate on development.
Good luck anyway!
