As long as...

Very interesting story! Enjoyed your trials and t...

2009-12-27T23:55:30.940+01:00

Very interesting story! Enjoyed your trials and tribulations of being a web traffic junkie!

Yes, Marc. Motivation is crucial. But transparenc...

2009-08-25T11:34:34.852+02:00

Yes, Marc. Motivation is crucial.

But transparency isn't necessarily easy. Have a look at the majority of negative or skeptical comments to this post:

Employees, Freelancers and Entrepreneurs – How to recession-proof yourself, where Carsonified mixes business advice with their own lay-offs.

Dear Arild, Thank you for your reaction. I was al...

2009-08-24T18:54:57.245+02:00

Dear Arild,

Thank you for your reaction. I was already busy, last week, to try to start a blog (campuzz.nl). The comments on your blog motivates me to continue with the blogplans.

And you're all right about transparancy. And another reason: you are the only one who's motivated for 200%. And the one who steals your concept can't even approach alittle percentage of this level of motivation.

Best regards,

Marc Winters
The Netherlands

"If an idea constitutes the majority of your innov...

2009-08-24T15:34:57.460+02:00

"If an idea constitutes the majority of your innovation, then it probably isn't that strong of an idea."

Well said, Mike!

I agree with Rodrigo. The idea is really a small p...

2009-08-24T15:15:13.436+02:00

I agree with Rodrigo. The idea is really a small part of it. If an idea constitutes the majority of your innovation, then it probably isn't that strong of an idea.

Part of the reason I'm doing my Swarm project very openly is that I feel like my ideas are only a part of the project. The implementation of them is something that the other companies in the market are unlikely to risk attempting because their current infrastructure is geared towards a very different approach. In other words, my innovation changes how companies in the market operate which makes it difficult for existing companies to adopt.

Dear Marc, thank you very much for your comment. ...

2009-08-24T12:43:57.703+02:00

Dear Marc,

thank you very much for your comment.

I'm sure many of our potential competitors haven't read WWGD. And if they have they're not obliged to follow the "rules" of transparency. That's the risk, and I'm aware of it. That's why don't reveal 100 % of my plans. For instance I might explain in public what I hope the result to be, but I will not explain exactly how I'm planning to do it. So, of course, we have to use common sense.

In other words: We might tell the world what our house looks like on the inside, who's living there and what they're doing. But we might not trust our readers enough yet to give them the key to the front door.

I believe the principle is the same for both new and old companies. Old companies can start today by being transparent about their ongoing projects. I don't expect Coca-Cola to hand over their recipe. But on the other hand, much of their success comes from branding. I guess, if Coca-Cola's competitors would like to get their hand on the recipe by using illegal methods, they might succeed. The difference is the ability to execute the production, and not least: Building the brand.

In Norway, the ferries over the fjords are famous for their thick pancakes, called "svele". For many years the recipe was a guarded secret. But then Fjord1, which the company is called, decided to free the recipe. Now it's printed on magazines and posters. And, although you can make the svele at home, you still buy them while you're on the ferry. Freeing the recipe didn't treaten their revenue at all, instead it helped in branding the company as a sharing, caring company.

I wish you all the best in building your new company. A good start to spread the word is to comment on i.e. student blogs and websites, asking for comments like "What what your perfect student residence look like?", "Do you mind sharing bathroom with others?" and so on. And then link to the homepage for your project.

Good luck! Would love to hear about your progress.

Arild.

I recently came across your blog and have been rea...

2009-08-24T09:09:52.904+02:00

I recently came across your blog and have been reading along. I thought I would leave my first comment. I don't know what to say except that I have enjoyed reading. Nice blog. I will keep visiting this blog very often.

Margaret

http://grantfoundation.net

Dear Arild, Nice toe meat you on the net. I see m...

2009-08-23T13:31:16.960+02:00

Dear Arild,

Nice toe meat you on the net. I see many matches between your situation and mine. I just sold the goodwill of my old little company to start something comletely different: a new concept foor student residences (name untill now = MASTERROOM). I'm also alone, being thinking, writing plans, and talking to as many people as I can. Because the experience is that the concept is improving by these assesments and opinions from professionals and non-professionals. The devolepment stage will take about 2 or 3 years.

I also read WWGD (even twice)in this august. Very inspiring. I already start to twitter, try to 1start a blog, so it really 'kicks your butt' as you say.

But honoustly I have the same doubts to start spreading my plan on the internet. I believe in the growing value of sharing your plans. The difference between planning a businessconfersation with someone you know, or is known by a friend, is that you know the person.

I agree in the advantages of transperancy, but wonder if it only works if everybody think in the same way. And I'm for sure that not every potential competitor already red WWGD.

Anther doubt is: will there be a diffrence for a starter in steda of a consisting company. The project StarbuckIdeas is not threatening the company.

You see, I'm a 90% googlethinker (but to monthe ago I was a 0% one).

Beste regards,

Marc Winters
Groningen, The Netherlands

PS> with excuse of the 'limited' English, but always better than my Norwegian.

Thank you for the comments, appreciate them. Mr. C...

2009-07-31T22:05:28.625+02:00

Thank you for the comments, appreciate them. Mr. Caetano writes:

"I have seen over and over situations, where entrepreneurs are afraid of having their idea stolen, sometimes requiring even non-disclosure agreements to talk about it. They forget that the idea is only 2% of the equation. The remaining 98% is execution."

Very well written! And regarding the non-disclosure agreements (NDA): When I tell people about the business idea I'm trying to execute, they ask me if I'd want them to sign a NDA first. At first I wasn't sure, but now I'm certain. I'll save both them and me the hassle.

Arild, I subscribe to your idea. Being transparent...

2009-07-31T21:50:08.462+02:00

Arild,
I subscribe to your idea. Being transparent is an essential element of breaking through the initial stages of your startup. Some entrepreneurs are tempted to keep their business idea hidden from everyone and they don't realize that the discussion about the concept is what generates the value. Discussing and having different perspectives about a business is what is going to validate what value the idea is bringing to the table. I have seen over and over situations, where entrepreneurs are afraid of having their idea stolen, sometimes requiring even non-disclosure agreements to talk about it. They forget that the idea is only 2% of the equation. The remaining 98% is execution. To implement a business opportunity to its full extend, it is required to have a good management team, a good board of advisors and people who know how to execute a project. It is virtually impossible to keep things secret if you want to recruit the brightest to help create a dream startup. Yes, I agree with you, transparency is essential.

Regards,
Rodrigo Caetano
www.invisiblebalance.com

I appreciate your specific focus on transparancy. ...

2009-07-31T21:45:21.675+02:00

I appreciate your specific focus on transparancy. The subject matter could apply to many catagories, one of them being the Evangelical church of America today. Transparancy is a subject I would like to read more about--a subject I would be happy to live. Thank you.

Thank you for your comment, Terje. Have you stoppe...

2009-07-30T15:19:00.822+02:00

Thank you for your comment, Terje. Have you stopped using the animated gifs now, or do you have a secret place on the web or at a home PC where you still experiment on them? I was never really into animated gifs, but I admit I've used a few of them. I was more fascinated by the scripts, like "Make me your start page". (Yeah, very interestering to have a start page which was last updated six years ago.)

Hey web traffic junkie, excellent story! Did you u...

2009-07-30T08:47:24.141+02:00

Hey web traffic junkie, excellent story! Did you use animated gifs too? I sure did :-)