How to implement "infrastructure" ideas?
I have several ideas that I label "infrastructure ideas" (both physical and virtual). This means that the ideas will create completely new infrastructure (I use a very broad definition of the term) that it is very hard to see any use of. I have read about the first railroads to be developed, where there was a problem that people simply did not see the purpose of travelling large distances fast, so the first railroads were built for transporting goods. Later investors were surprised to discover that there was actually a market for transporting people.
My specific question is: What strategies can be used for implementing infrastructure ideas?
So far I have come up with the following:
- Implement the whole value chain, which includes the infrastructure (make a transportation company in addition to creating the railway). The problem is that this is very expensive, risky, and means that one does not focus on core competences
Bootstrapped Ideas Infrastructure Chicken And Egg
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I'm not following, suggest getting more specific so the concept your trying to convey comes through. Thanks – John Bogrand 14 years ago
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find a client, that is the minimum requirement. then find an investor, which is a good to have. then implement, which is a must do. if it works as you thought it would, its an achievement. – Ashish Rana 12 years ago
1 Answer
Which problem are you trying to solve?
Can you build a prototype and then it will be obvious that your product is useful? No? Does your product assume/require that everyone in the world use it before it becomes useful? That's a major issue.
Often, you can have a vision for how the world could be, with millions of people doing things a new way. But today, no one is doing it. How you go from 0 to millions of users is the challenge.
For instance, it's easy to say that eventually everyone will carry a super-powerful cell phone in their pocket, capable of augmented reality and live streaming. But you wouldn't even know how you could make that happen.
